Here We Go Again [Nine]

[SHIRIN SHIRAZI]

Six years. It was absolutely nothing, only a grain of sand in the hourglass. But it had been six years since her transition from the Hunters to the Amazons and she hardly recognized herself. Shirin had been off-balance for six years. Physically – she was no longer just a girl of 15 summers; the aging process meant she needed to recalibrate her training and knowledge of self. Mentally – she was no longer removed from the world, immortal as it changed around her; now she needed to learn how to rejoin it. And emotionally – she now possessed only a finite lifetime and the power to project her thoughts and memories and emotions; now she needed to learn what that meant.

She was uncertain of what these changes meant, but there was nobody to share it with. That was purposeful – Shirin would never again allow her future to rest in another’s hands. She had made friends among the Hunters, yes. She had now made friends among the Amazons. But by the gods, she would never have another confidant. So she kept her face passive and her observations sparse to those around her.

It couldn’t be said that New Rome wasn’t a pleasant enough city. The Amazonian presence was modest but sufficient. She conducted her work efficiently, trained ruthlessly in the Persian style, and spent the remaining time away. She loved to leave the city proper – the best view was not from within, after all, but from without. Her breathing was controlled, consistent as she stood on a hill just outside the city boundaries. Shirin was motionless, posture perfect, eyes fixed on the nearby Camp Jupiter – but still distinctly aware of her physical reality. She intended to be alone, but that was never a guarantee. So Shirin was motionless but tense, the paragon of intense concentration. So it would always be.

Thanos "Nine" of Ithaca

[Thanos "Nine" of Ithaca]

Time changed many things, but Nine had found it rarely changed people. Everything he'd ever encountered was proof of that. The Gods didn't change. Those he'd met in the hunt never changed. The rare few immortals he encountered never changed. He himself never truly changed. Yes, he was different over his many lifetimes but the essence of him never had changed over all those many years. Every time he encountered a rare case of somebody that did change, they were gone in the blink of an eye. He had gotten into the habit of living one life at a time and not getting attached to anybody that was mortal. He couldn't really bond with anybody. As a man, he was anything but popular with the girl that surrounded Artemis. The Gods didn't care for mortals, even less so when they were already cursed by somebody else. Nobody seemed to be in the mood for confronting Hades lately.

So when he walked through New Rome he was ever the surprised to see somebody so similar to a huntress he'd known a couple hundred years or so ago. He'd never talked about family with her so he wasn't sure if she'd had any mortal relatives. Even if she did, the comparison was rather uncanny, except for the fact this girl or woman looked to be older than the huntress he'd met all those years ago. If he didn't know any better he'd say she'd aged over time. That was impossible, unless something interesting had happened. He walked over to the young lady that looked every bit the statue he had known back then. "You look older." He commented rather dryly as he walked up to her. "Either that or I know your many-greats-aunt or long lost twin. While the world is rather small I'm not sure which option seems more far fetched." He said with a grin as he leaned against a wall. It was good to meet a soul here or there that knew him longer than one life. If she was the person he'd known that was. He wasn't quite just it was Shirin just yet.

SHIRIN SHIRAZI

[SHIRIN SHIRAZI]

As Shirin absorbed the view, she could feel someone approaching from behind. Her posture was tense and motionless, save for each deep breath she took, and she did not shift her stance. The timing and depth of the footfalls suggested it was not a foe who had come to attack her, but rather someone casually approaching. So if there was no danger, then there was no need for the Amazon to bother moving. She enjoyed the quiet – it was so rare to find silence in the modern world like the kind that had enveloped her youth. Now everything was in motion always – so the world could afford to have one thing that did not move constantly.

The man came to stand beside her, and Shirin only moved her head slightly to examine him. She was surprised to find a familiar face, not that the expression crossed hers. He was mortal, but a cursed one, and his path had crossed the Hunters multiple times over the centuries. As a man, he could never quite get too close to the Hunt, but she still knew him well enough (all immortals knew each other to some degree). He spoke ironically, mentioning that she seemed older or must be (how laughable) her own mortal relative. As a form of answering, Shirin simply replied, “You look younger.” It was true – he had been at least an additional ten years of age the last time their paths had crossed.

He would surely have questions, now that she had confirmed it was indeed her. That she looked like a woman now, and not a girl. That she was alone in the Roman city, instead of on the move with Artemis. Those answers would come – and he surely had his own stories that had led him here. “You never struck me as the domestic type,” Shirin observed calmly, moving slowly to face the city again, before her eyes found their way back to Nine. “New Rome must seem dull to you.”

Thanos "Nine" of Ithaca

[Thanos "Nine" of Ithaca]

So he'd been right after all. Dainty little girl was starting to grow up to be a woman. It was certainly an interesting development. He shrugged slightly. "I'm older, but death will do that to a person. It hides their misery and worries." He winked at her playfully and then looked at her a bit more. "What happened? Did you quit the hunt or did you ask Artemis for a couple of years to your age for some reason?" He was highly confused, and part of him wasn't too fond of this particular change. Everything changed and he liked that a tiny amount of things had been the same for a longer period of time. Shirin had been just that, although he supposed he couldn't blame her for moving forward either. It wasn't like he could. He just repeated the same cycle over and over in endless variations. It was mostly the people around him that changed, not the situations he found himself in.

"My most recent death was in a fire. It took a while to recover so I'm still pretty fresh from the gave this time. I don't think you've ever seen me this young but I'm as young in body as I'll ever be, give a few months." He explained to her, knowing she'd usually seen versions of him of at least 30, once upon a time even as old as 85, although he wasn't fully sure she'd recognised him back then. He'd been exceptionally old for the time they'd been in then. It happened once upon a time.

He laughed wholeheartedly as she commented that New Rome had to look dull to him and that he didn't seem to be the domestic type. "Every place is dull to me. Empires come and go and they are rarely more interesting than the previous ones." He then took of his old wedding band and smiled at her. "I was married, you know? Lovely lady named Aubrey. We had three kids, Jane, Alfred and Octavius. Lost the first kid before she was born, named her Joa. It was a hard time but in the end the other three more than made up for it. It seems Aubrey died not long after I did, heartbroken or something. The kids seem to be fine. I think a few might have their own kids by now. It's good to know they are doing well, although I can't visit them again. They'd lose their minds to see their father younger than they are, alive and well." He shook his head. Those parts were always the hardest, seeing his children grow up from a distance and never being able to see or hug them again. "Such is life, I suppose." He said, the dull statement as old as his curse by now. The meaning for him was a little different of course, due to the nature of his curse.

SHIRIN SHIRAZI

[SHIRIN SHIRAZI]

Shirin had not been expecting Nine to take the news badly, but it was an extraordinary circumstance and she could never quite understand his cavalier attitude. How he could continuously create a life for himself and then be forced to leave it. Again and again and again. As a Hunter, Shirin had known that the best armor against the pangs of immortality had been to become removed from the world – not to participate in any significant way and not to form any mortal attachments. But she’d since freed herself of those chains.

He asked what happened, and Shirin was not motivated to put the complexity of her emotions into simple words that could never capture her meaning. They’d known each other for centuries, had spoken before, so he would know that she had the ability to project her thoughts and memories to others. Shirin raised one hand slowly as a form of asking permission before lightly resting her fingers on Nine’s forehead. She chose a scarcity of images and emotions to convey to him: the disappointed resignation and lack of delight she had felt after 500 years of the never-changing Hunt, her request to Artemis to be released, and her trepidation as she approached the Amazons for a new home. As she removed her hand, Shirin shrugged slightly, only the smallest roll of her shoulders. “As you have learned…immortality is a curse. I want something more…”

Shirin did not know exactly what she hoped for. She had long since learned, as a Hunter, that there was not much more to expect from life and to hope was foolish. She echoed Nine’s words in agreement, “Such is life.” But she turned to face him in a controlled movement, and her eyes studied his face. Did she feel pity for him? Sadness that this may be their last meeting? Relief that she could finally experience all the joys of a mortal life of which she had never had the opportunity? Nine had lived many lives, as evidenced by his stories of his most recent family. But Shirin had only been living a half-life.

He had smiled at her, and Shirin returned the smile with only the barest hint of one on her lips. The reminder of his curse, and of her new condition, also saddened her. Nine had become one of the constants of her life, and she had always known they would see each other again. But that was not the case anymore, and so it was harder to push him away. In that case, Shirin thought she could try something new – reaching out instead of pulling back. “It seems we have much to discuss, then, in only a small amount of time. This shall be our last lifetime together, after all.”

Thanos "Nine" of Ithaca

[Thanos "Nine" of Ithaca]

In a way it was amusing, no matter how painful, that Shirin had taken this long to discover the true burdens of immortality. She had people to share forever with and even she grew tired and weary of a life that never ended. His life ended too often but it always returned to bite him in the ass again. Yet when she offered to explain in the best way she could, he almost didn't want to take the offer. He'd shielded his heart and soul from the pain up to the point he'd almost forgotten the pain and despair he'd felt in the beginning. Yet he could not do that to her. He couldn't let her go through something similar alone after he himself had. The pain of immortality would end for her, even if it carried on for him. He sighed deeply and steeled himself before leaning his head against her fingertips. This was going to hurt.

And hurt it did, even if her memories and feelings already had numbed down significantly. It was clear she'd thought this through as the pain wasn't as deep as the fresh wounds of immortality were. He nodded slowly as he pulled back from her touch. "What is it you search for Shirin?" He asked, allowing the exhaustion of a thousand and more years to seep into his words. He was much older than he looked, far older than she was, even if he didn't look it. He felt the sense of melancholy threaten to take hold of him, something that was dangerous to him. Maybe one day a deity might be born that would take pity on him, but it seemed like none had been born in a very long time. He was doomed to live this endless cycle without mercy. Such was life, at least for him. Shirin could break the wheel and escape, lucky girl.

He looked up in surprise as she seemed to consider opening up to him. Was that for real? That was new, although not fully strange. She was mortal again after all and mortals would always be odd creatures. He nodded briefly. "I suppose we do. How do you want to spend it? Have you considered that?" If he had only one last lifetime to spend he knew exactly what he'd do... make it as short as possible. There was nothing that life had to offer for him that he believed would surpass the sweet relief of the afterlife. To break the cycle. Even if he got sent to tartarus a broken mind would not feel pain to the same degree. Did he not try, still, to be good enough to make it to the fields of eternal boredom where every day was the same? Had he no secret hope left he might end up upon Elysium? Yet only to cease existing such as the atheists of these days believed seemed like a true bliss. To finally stop the torment. He sighed deeply as he passed a hand over his eyes. Yet another person lost from his life that he'd never see again. "It'll be the last time we ever meet. This final farewell shall be the last for all eternity. It's odd, is it not? To know that even in the afterlife we'll never meet again?" He smiled a very wry smile. "It usually gives people hope. Maybe in the afterlife we'll meet again. I'll never reach it, Shirin. Are you sure you want to get closer to a permanent leave-taking?"

The question hung in the air between them. Such was life, at least to him. No happy endings, only eternal ones. There was no joy or trepidation at the possibility to meet again after death. He'd never die. Perhaps some people could bear the thought, but he personally found it difficult. They were all so close, and yet so far away.

SHIRIN SHIRAZI

[SHIRIN SHIRAZI]

Nine’s question gave her pause. What is it you search for? She had never before been asked that question. When Shirin had approached Artemis, she had shown the goddess what had been lacking in her life. How empty she had felt. And when Shirin had approached the Amazons, they had asked few questions. Shirin had only needed a simple touch to convey what was needed to appease the group. But now Nine asked her a question that she could only ever answer insufficiently. There were no words to encompass centuries of aimless wandering and lost opportunities.

Shirin contemplated the vast potential of what she could share against the weight of what she was willing to say. She bit her lip to prevent the words from escaping before she was ready before she spoke. “I have memories of moments. Of happiness, and sorrow, and pain. Moments I no longer experience, and emotions I no longer feel.” She thought of her childhood in Shiraz – there had been a day she had scaled the roof of one of the tallest towers in her father’s palace and leaned over the edge. The knowledge that, at any moment, she could fall to her death had heightened the sensation of flying as the wind whipped through her hair. And she remembered dance lessons with the woman who had raised her – when, away from the eyes of her harsh tutors, there had been laughter over missed steps and the deeply satisfying sensation of knowing she was loved. She’d long buried those particular memories with the knowledge that that woman had likely been gravely punished for Shirin’s disappearance.

But she considered them now. “I want those emotions again. All of them,” Shirin decided, speaking her desire into the world for the first time. She had tried to recapture some of it in New Rome. To taste new foods, to joke with other Amazons…but nothing made her feel anything but emptiness and melancholy. There was nobody that could really understand what she was searching to feel. She locked eyes with Nine, and she saw an echo of that emptiness in his eyes. Their roles had reversed, and now he was the one pushing her away. Warning her against the last permanent fact she would ever have in her life – of her death, and a journey to a place he would never see.

She countered his verbal distancing by stepping closer to him – a controlled movement, as always. “No one has seen more of this world than you. Of the little moments that amount to a lifetime.” Her tone was level, and the calmness she infused into these small observations helped ground her. “Permanence does not scare me. I have been permanent for long enough that I am eager to experience an ‘end.’ And if I must make every choice with the knowledge it could be my last, then I would prefer to spend my remaining moments with someone who will know how to value them.” It was an invitation embedded in a simple sentence, and Shirin left it dangling. She was not accustomed to using so many words, and her fingers itched to touch his skin again and negate the need to speak altogether. But she’d seen his reluctance and hesitation, and so she resisted the urge.

Thanos "Nine" of Ithaca

[Thanos "Nine" of Ithaca]

It was always interesting, after such a long time of aimless wondering knowing the aimlessness had to stop was one thing. Knowing what you wished would replace it was a completely different thing. It took her quite a while before she put the thoughts that he could almost see racing through her mind into words. He waited patiently, he still had all the time in the universe, unlike her. Sometimes he realised that he was one of the oldest beings in the universe when one did not consider the Gods themselves. He still existed somehow and still was forced to find a path in this world. Things ended, shifted and changed before his eyes.

Then she spoke of faded emotions and times that seemed to dim the light of life that shone through mortal eyes. He understood her words. Years ago the ache would have made him flinch, if not worse. By now it was so dull that it was barely a pang to his soul. This was his forever reality, but he was happy for her and the fact she could still escape it. He was not cruel enough to wish his fate upon others. It was bad enough he suffered.

Yet she understood his words and his warning. No matter what they were now or would become in the future, there was no hope of ever meeting one another again. Eventually, it would hurt her, even if only fleetingly. It had been centuries since he'd last allowed himself such pain over a loss and he knew what it felt like. He was always willing to risk it, but usually found there was more comfort in remembering their souls moved on and their torture here ended. It was usually enough for him. He loved and lost as second nature and had long since made peace with it. He didn't really have much of a choice in that matter. Yet he noticed her movements and smiled ever so slightly as her assessment carried her forward. Yes, she was right. He could value the moments they were to share in whatever context, but he had the feeling she was playing with a thought that had not been too legal to her prior to these times.

He leaned closer and looked into her eyes, searching their depths while allowed his age to show more openly. The vast knowledge of ancient life, the centuries of love and loss that dwelt within his heart. He smiled ever so slightly as he gentle averted his eyes, slowly and with restraint and precision lifted their hands before her eyes and purposefully intertwined their fingers. "All you've shown me has been but a fraction of what I've felt over these last three thousand years, give or take a century." He grinned despite himself. "You are but a young flower, Shirin. Innocent despite your years while weighed down by the weight that immortality pressed upon you. I might not look it, but I'm old. I can make you feel anything you desire." He stepped a tiny bit closer, closing his hand around hers a little tighter as he leaned his forehead against hers and closed his eyes, allowing a soft breath of air to escape his lungs. "I will value all our moments now, for they are the treasures that death and youth will bring us. If you will, for just a moment, I'll forget how old I am and lose myself in what we can feel, for only death could make me more alive. You are young, my dear flower. So do as you wish, an rid an old man of the woes of time momentarily."

SHIRIN SHIRAZI

[SHIRIN SHIRAZI]

This new role was one that was unfamiliar to her, and she had crossed a threshold into territory uncharted and unknown. That thought sent a thrum of excitement running through her veins more than anything had in centuries. Men had always been off-limits, a forbidden topic even from her time as a mortal. In Shiraz, there had been the strictest of divides between men and women, and she had never been obliged to spend time in the company of a man not her relative. And in the Hunt – well, she had served a maiden goddess, and enough of her fellow Hunters had been burned by men to avoid all discussion of the topic. The Amazons were only marginally better.

So despite 500 years of knowing Nine, Shirin had never known this side of him – and the thought brought a small pleased smile to her face. Still, she was reluctant to share too much. She’d been betrayed before, and had long since lost faith in the concept of trust. There couldn’t be trust where there were secrets, and there couldn’t be trust among immortal beings in a life without end. There was nobody living she trusted, and indeed there was only ever a handful she had trusted now deceased. But this was something else, she thought. The two had always had an understanding between them, that of kindred souls tossed into similar storms.

Shirin almost stopped breathing as Nine continued to close the distance between them. The eyes could always communicate more than any simple words, and even more than what her power permitted. And although Shirin had had centuries of crossing Nine and stealing glimpses of his previous lives, there had always been a wall between them. A space that couldn’t be crossed. No such thing existed now, and she could see a depth in his eyes that often remained hidden. It was an odd dynamic – to anybody else, Shirin was ancient. 500 years was a long lifetime. But compared to him, she felt young, in a way she had not since losing her mortality. And the silent permission he gave when he took her hands stole her breath.

In all her life, Shirin had barely been touched, and she allowed herself to sink into the casual intimacy of clasped hands. “I’ve forgotten how to desire,” she murmured as her eyes lowered. “Or perhaps I never had that freedom to begin with.” His proximity to her was overwhelming – her forehead leaning against his, their hands together, and their breaths mingling. She had never experienced any such intimacy and she could feel the fluttering of her heart as her emotions leaked through the physical touches. To someone as tightly-controlled as Shirin, who never permitted any instinctual habits to overcome her own self-discipline, the loss of control was jarring and she found herself pulling away in order to better maintain control of everything inside her.

It was easier not to look at him but Shirin forced herself not to turn away, even as she replaced some of the distance between them. She turned over his words in her mind and committed each one to memory. “Is that your secret, then?” Her voice had dropped and still maintained a breathless quality to it. “You escape the turn of the hourglass by setting aside your memories and forgetting who you are, even if for only a lifetime?” Shirin exhaled slowly as she released his hands. “That has not been the lesson I learned. Every century that passes deepens the rift between who I was and what I’ve become. Every year I have lost another piece of my soul as I forgot how to love the world around me.”

She had never done such a thing before, but Shirin raised a hand to trace the edge of his jawline and up towards his cheek. Shirin was not one to be bold, and she had never been allowed to say what she wanted. But she could be forceful and so she spoke with the weight of a noble, a Hunter, and an Amazon. “I want to know what it means to be alive. Spend this last lifetime with me. But not as a new man. As the one you once were – when you remembered what it meant to be human.” It was a take it or leave it command, a lofty one, but Shirin was no simple mortal. She'd seen too much for too long to demand anything less than precisely what she wanted.

Thanos "Nine" of Ithaca

[Thanos "Nine" of Ithaca]

So she wanted to know his past? She wanted him to dive back into the man he'd been ages ago in a time when the world had been younger and humans were still children to the world and animals alike. She was right in her observations that forgetting and not being allowed could almost feel like the same thing. He knew her history as he'd been there for a fair part of it. She'd been too important to be allowed her freedom, but that didn't stop desires by default. His breaths were controlled as ever. But perhaps it was her right to ask questions now. To see a slice of history the way that the Gods as chosen to preserve it. He nodded slowly and released her hand as he took a step back.

He spread his arms and the grin on his face grew far more wicked. "I remember many memories of my humanity. I've been many people." He bowed mockingly. "I've mocked kings and queens and shared the beds of their children just to spite them. I've watched empires rise and fall but in it all I was human. I built lives like all mortals and knew that untimely death would lose everything I had built for myself. I cared about my children and raised them in loving homes long before that grew to be the norm." His face grew proud like that of an ancient king from far before her own times. It shared the arrogance, but ever shining was that sparkle of mischief as he gave her a brief introduction to but a fragment of the lives that he had lived. He stepped forward to her and looked her in the eyes, a glimmer of something almost untracable in his eyes. "I remember more of being human that most humans will ever know. I've experienced every emotion people feel countless times, and yet you have the audacity to ask me to return to a man you've never heard of? A man you never met and would not be inclined to acknowledge?" He scoffed as suddenly the age dropped over his features, a tiredness seeming to sink into his bones as the brief moment was gone. The play was over.

"The man you ask was a liar, a thief and a fraud. He was arrogant, did not know his place and always presumed to know better than even the gods themselves. He was a foolish young man and while he loved his wife as well as he was able, it was a love born out of duty more than anything. I have forsaken the name as I have forsaken the man." He looked at her, allowing in his eyes to show her over three thousand years into the past. "I was once the headstrong and arrogant son of a farmer that believed the riches of others more deserving of his pockets. Guard your jewels carefully young lady, for he would care about them more than you. He was selfish. There is a reason I haven't shared his name in centuries, but now we're on this path I think you have a right to know." He sighed and ran a hand through his hair, absently looking around for a moment.

"Despite my many years, I never lost my grip on what it means to be human. Yes, I told the tales of many lives and wore the faces of my own but that hasn't changed anything. I love fully every single time because I know that if I die, I'll lose the one I choose to love. I'll never be able to see my family up close again, to hug or kiss them. To tuck their adorable young faces into bed or see my children get wed. I'll miss out on a lifetime of beautiful memories if I die. If I grow old and die at least I know that there is nothing more that I could logically have experienced or given. I glance from a distance, perhaps as those they think to be in heaven do. I can have peace when my time has come, but I remember kissing my kids goodnight before going to work like it was only yesterday. I died, burned to a crisp and next thing I know they grew up, got married and moved out. I missed out on so many of the memories and I feel more alone than ever, knowing they had to miss their dad. There is a sadness you can't begin to comprehend in seeing your children and being close enough to touch them, but knowing you never can, lest it destroy them. I grew over the years and became more of a man and husband and started thinking of others than myself when I realised how my death affected them. That didn't happen until after I thought I forgot what it meant to be human. My humanity didn't come from being human, it came from losing it." His voice was hard and full of disgust at those words and he shot her a challenging look, narrowing his eyes at her. Then, without warning he strode forward, pulling his blade.


He walked forward, unexpectedly kneeling before her while offering his blade. "I offer thee, Shirin of Shiraz, a choice of oaths for me to fulfill to thee. Either beseech me to bind my life to thine as Thanos of Ithaca or accept the best in mine ability to offer and accept my pledge of fealty as Nine. Regardless of thy choice I shall pledge myself to thee as the one thou hath chosen. As friend, or as husband as thy will sees fit." He waited there, on his knees with his face towards the ground as was deemed appropriate. His many lives had not lost him his humanity after all. It was the loss of his humanity that made him realise what humanity was in the first place. There was warning implicit in the choice he asked her to make. A choice he could not make for her but one that would define the rest of the life she had left. It would define the person he would be around her.

SHIRIN SHIRAZI

[SHIRIN SHIRAZI]

Shirin could have been carved from stone, so still and silent she was as she scrutinized him carefully through her intense gaze. The curse of immortality without end necessitated that each immortal being define their relationship with the world. It was key to forge such an identity early, lest you find yourself swept away by the trauma of history and your own uncertain role in an unending cascade of sand. Shirin’s path had been decided for her before she had any individuality or autonomy. It was decreed that she be set apart from the world, not a willful member but only an unattached observer. She had taken to the role well – every thought locked deep inside her, every impulse to participate squashed in its earliest conception. As a mortal, as a Hunter, Shirin had never before questioned what it meant to stand apart from the world until the day she found it too unbearable to continue on.

There was a fundamental discord between her own allotment in life and the world Nine had fashioned for himself. There was no way this man would ever step aside, no way he would ever waste time. At every turn of the hourglass, at every opportunity his curse afforded him, he was present – building a life for himself, watching it turn to ashes, and then starting again. She saw the heaviness of that burden – as exhausting and tireless as pushing a boulder up a hill, a burden Nine had as much power to release as Sisyphus himself. Oh, he spoke of the deeds he had seen through, mocking kings and watching children grow.

Her eyes narrowed as he questioned her audacity, although she did not speak. He carried many bricks of thoughts he had likely never before arranged into the foundation of his life philosophy. She sensed it would be unwise to interrupt before his project was done. But yes, although Shirin was not as bold or eye-catching as many of Artemis’ followers – yes, she had the audacity. Her nerve had served her well in carrying her much farther than many mortals would ever dream of, through perilous situations countless others had succumbed to. She would end her existence on this planet on her own terms, and that was a gift precious few could ever claim to have. It was her own audacity that gave her that ability that Nine did not have.

Nine had a unique way of capturing dynamic motion through his words while remaining static, so Shirin did not expect him to draw his sword and kneel. Her expression betrayed nothing, remaining as expressionless as a diamond or a shard of ice. But she was internally lit up, electrified as her mind turned over every word Nine uttered and considered its implications. His form of speech grew older, the most familiar form of communication Shirin could ever connect to in English.

She was conflicted. It was unimaginable to believe that there was something that Shirin did not know. She was accustomed to being undervalued, for men to turn away from her as if she was but dust in the wind. She had long since reconciled with the knowledge that her abilities and potential was something lost because she had been surrounded by those who believed they knew better. The knowledge that she was living a masquerade meant that Shirin was constantly firm in her convictions, hidden that they were. So, the possibility that she had erred in a calculation was not one she entertained lightly. But, she could acknowledge, she was very likely in over her head. For once, she was not the oldest being present, and there was someone who outranked her in their worldly experience. This Thanos he spoke of as a persona long since shed and discarded, but remembered as clear as an unflawed crystal. The humanity he spoke of as dim and ancient, but permanent. The expression on his face was one ready for her challenge, knowing he had a higher hand and almost ready to sweep the table.

But she was conflicted, because even one as ancient as Nine did not know one or two things. And even at a disadvantage of a thousand years, Shirin was not one to be counted out from the fight. She studied him intently as he kneeled in front of her, and could not shake the sense that the imbalance felt wrong. She certainly would never bend for anything – it was a lesson learned long ago that any bending Shirin was prone to attempt resulted in a near break. Perhaps this sort of vow was one that women wanted. It certainly seemed to align well with what the Amazons stood for. Shirin was hardly one to stand for the values of another.

“Khaste nabâshid.” Shirin had not spoken in Persian since the day Artemis had bade her speak in Latin instead, but the simple phrase in an ancient dialect fell from her lips in a whisper as easily as rain. Its meaning was simple – do not be tired. In her father’s court, it had been used to acknowledge one’s labors and wish them to ease their future burdens. It made her head dizzy that it was the first thing she could remember now. Shirin moved carefully but firmly to pull Nine up by the front of his shirt. She was strong, not gentle exactly but solid in what she knew would happen next. Her voice was steady, even as she resisted the urge to waver.

“I name you Nine.” She would never voice aloud that she had been wrong, but she had underestimated Nine’s dedication to remembering who he once had been. She did not wish to meet this Thanos, and she gave him back his name in that acknowledgment. “But you will sheathe your sword, for no vows will be made today.” Her eyes had narrowed as she studied him intently. “Do not presume to tell me what I can and cannot comprehend. I am tired of vows. I am tired of forevers. I will accept you today, and tomorrow, and as many more tomorrows as I am allotted. But I will live every one of them only as they reach me, to rediscover this humanity you claim to remember so well.” She exhaled slowly as she examined his face. “I will not accept a vow from you, just as none will ever pass my lips again.”

Thanos "Nine" of Ithaca

[Thanos "Nine" of Ithaca]

Shirin was completely silent as she listened to him speak and quite clearly she heard and processed every word that came from his mouth. He knew she was listening, even if she did not move. He could see the attention in her eyes, which was all he needed. If they had glazed over his entire story would have been lost on her. Yet she paid attention and while her body did not show it, her eyes told him everything he needed to know. She was listening and paying attention to his words. She had enough of an investment in this to at least stand the story of his past, long and repetitive as it had to be. Perhaps he was like a phoenix, in the sense that his death was also his birth.

The words she spoke were unfamiliar but he knew them to belong to her heritage more than the hunt. He spoke Ancient Greek and had seen it change. He spoke Latin, as that had been one of the common languages throughout the empire as well. Whatever she spoke (okay, logically Persian), he wasn't familiar with it. Yet he listened and heard the intention behind the words more than their meaning. Whatever she sad was kind. Yet what caught him off guard was the far more physical response. He knew that she wouldn't kill him, mostly because they both knew it wouldn't really have much of an effect either way. They both had seen each other several times and she knew he never died permanently. He didn't think she'd ever actually seen him die though. She pulled him up by the shirt, which did things to him. It was very.... appealing to have a woman take charge like that and he had to hold back a playful grin. Her words however, those made the impact.

It was amusing that she told him not to tell her what she could or could not comprehend. He knew for a fact she wouldn't be able to know what a life of endless cycles was like, although she understood immortality rather perfectly. There were things she understood far better than he ever would, that was beyond doubt. He wasn't sure if she realised just how much he respected her and he certainly had no idea how to properly show it. His symbolic gesture had been rejected and tossed aside. Yet she had given back the name he had made and chosen for himself. It meant she understood and was very intelligent.

He smiled at her words and drew himself just a little closer to her. He was threading dangerous territory, but he didn't really care. The Gods could smite him, but he would have this moment. He gentle raised his hand and stroked her cheek with it as he smiled a gentle smile at her. "Don't you know, Shirin, my dear friend, how absolutely beautiful you are? The frost of the winters night in your eyes while they greet the precious light of dawn. You do not see what lies ahead and how the frost might thaw in time. No vows or promises, except for those that have gone unspoken since the dawn of time. Rest assured then, my dear flower, that time devours all that dare withstand it. All beauty must die, and you with it." He sighed, the smile never leaving his lips as he leaned in and kissed her forehead. She was a precious change to the world that never did. Lives like the one that appeared to be ahead of him now were the ones he treasured most.

He closed his eyes for a moment, breathing out slowly before stepping back. "We'll do things your way, or at least today. Tell me what you want to do to discover your humanity again. I have a few thoughts in case you don't know where you wish to start of course, but for now I'll leave the choice to you." He smirked a playful and taunting smile at her. "My body is yours." He said, a suggestive smile playing on his lips. He'd always been a decent man and had refrained from flirting with any girls in the hunt but now that she was (physically) older than him and no longer part of eternal maidenhood, he felt free to tease and taunt her just a little. If she reciprocated... well they'd cross that bridge if they ever got there.

SHIRIN SHIRAZI

[SHIRIN SHIRAZI]

He seemed to take her words in stride. It was just as well, because Shirin had not offered any flexibility in her declaration. It was one of the byproducts of immortality, she supposed – things became much more clear when they played out the same way time and time again. One learned to stop playing with indecisiveness and state things as they were – two paths to choose from, one choice to make. Shirin was guilty of it, and Nine was too. He had told her to make her decision, whether he would be Thanos or Nine to her. And similarly, she had expressed her distaste for vows and things of permanence, and given him the opportunity to accept or walk away.

The fact that they could communicate such things of importance with little unnecessary dialogue was positive – for the first time in her life, Shirin had become short on time and she did not want to waste any remaining seconds. Immortality did have its benefits, and the ability to forge connections and strengthen them over centuries was a particularly bright one. In that way, much of the understanding between Nine and Shirin went unspoken, because there were oceans that could pass between them through simple gestures and eye contact. As Nine stepped closer, something similar happened then. Everything that had come before had been akin to setting the terms, so to speak. After such a drastic change in the conditions defining their relationship, it had been necessary. What came next, that would be something new.

Shirin exhaled slowly as Nine traced his hand across her cheek and re-initiated physical contact. He was an attractive man, although she had never appreciated that fact before. The topic had been forbidden to discuss among her fellow Hunters, and he had always appeared in the middle (or near the end) of his other lives. Everything about that fact in those circumstances had screamed at her to stay away. There was no such need now, so Shirin allowed herself to return his gestures with her own. She closed the distance further still between them and brought her hand over his. As a mortal, she’d been called beautiful before, so this fazed her less than the gentleness in his touch (which was foreign to her) and the look in his eyes. She let herself smile softly. “You’ve always had a silver tongue. Doubtless it has gotten you in trouble before.”

But she liked it. The way he spoke to her as if she were something to be treasured. “Still, some sorts of trouble are worth exploring. I admit I am very curious to learn how you maintain your connection to your humanity.” Her smile curved into something more sly as he continued, that today they would do things her way, and it turned positively playful as he promised his body was hers. Now that was a thought worth returning to later, although she allowed herself the pleasure of dragging her eyes down his body to consider it in a new light.

“Very good,” Shirin responded with amusement, “for I find myself disappointed at your lackluster aim.” He’d kissed her on the forehead earlier, but she was much too impatient for such a slow pace – not that it would show in her cool and collected way of being. She still had one hand on his, and she brought her other to grab a fistful of his shirt (similar to earlier) as she pulled down to bring his face closer to hers. Shirin didn’t take another moment to hesitate as she kissed him -- insistently and unrelenting for several moments before pulling back. Her cheeks felt flushed from what was, shockingly, her first kiss, and words failed her as she raced to process her tingling lips.

Thanos "Nine" of Ithaca

[Thanos "Nine" of Ithaca]

Time did things to people. Having too much of it or not having enough. He'd experienced it when those he knew were dying for various reasons. He'd experienced it with himself as death failed to consume him time and time again. Time did things, and there was never a right amount of it, or so it seemed. He found pain in whatever it was even as it was just starting. He knew that all that would happen for him was that he would get hurt. Not that he wasn't used to the feeling. He'd never been able to hold on to anybody and now she would fade in time like all others he'd care for had. The main difference now was that he'd be near to see the slow decay of time take hold of her and she'd die. Yet this time there would be nobody around for him to look forward to seeing again. Maybe one of the newer ones in the hunt but she just proved everything he'd known and dreaded. It didn't matter if people were immortal, the only ones to live as long as he did would forever be the Gods and he would live on as an image that time had long since forgotten. It was real and it was going to break him the moment she died. Not that he would let her know of that. She deserved a last happy lifetime of her own. He had long since forsaken the hope he'd have that opportunity for himself.

He chuckled slightly but his smile was gentle. "You are like a marble statue. Timeless in beauty yet so difficult to read. Where are your thoughts, my princess? Do you doubt the path chosen or do you hesitate before plunging into the unknown?" He lowered his voice and it was scarse beyond a whisper. His touches were like kisses of feathers as he wished to wrap her up and hold her close while he still could be kept his composure. It was too long to live in the way he had, yet for him there would be no escape. No comfort to ease the pain of her passing once that time had come. "Do you trust me?" He asked gently, the answer ever so important to him. "Do you trust in the man doomed to see humanity end?" He asked in an even softer voice, filled with regret. Perhaps in the time that the Gods would fall the curse would lift, although that seemed unlikely. His curse was powerful and unless the realm of Hades got destroyed along with the world above it seemed unlikely he could escape his doom. Even then, could he rest in peace when there was no place for his soul to depart to? No, the answers were for others to discover when his life was so spent that living was beyond unbearable.

Her comment on his maintaining of humanity broke the chains that bound him in the moment. No, now was time to live. He grinned and turned away from her for a moment to look out over the city around them. Then he turned back to look at her. "I dive in. I experience every moment and seek the precious things that death cannot steal." He said, almost grandly. He pointed over the wall to a small shop in the distance where a man was busying himself, despite the time of night. "Do you see him? Even now, late as it is, Georg maintains his shop. A few kids dashed paint on it and he doesn't want it to scare off customers. He's so kind and gentle, ever so human." Nine said with a smile of pure joy before pointing in another direction. "And there lives Agatha. Terrible woman. She always steal the mail so she can read it in her room at night. All letters there arrive a day later, perfectly sealed back up. There is nothing she doesn't know about her neighbours. She holds them all in high contempt but fails to understand why her husband left her. Terrible person and ever so human." He grinned once again and pointed at a goat not to far below them, quite close to the wall. "That's Bob. His owner has a terrible time remember names so he calls almost everything and everybody Bob. Actual Bob doesn't care since his owner cares for him better than any goat might have hoped despite his misshapen form. Doesn't even give milk but his owner has him for company, not profit and loves him dearly, more because of the deformation than in spite of it. Ever so human."

He then turned to her and smiled as broadly as ever as he took her face back in his hands. "And you. Beautiful as the dawn but as cold as diamond. Done with being immortal yet forgetting the warm blood of mortality that flows by far too fast. You were not made to be temporary and yet you choose to be. Ever so human. Had you chosen to stay I don't doubt you'd have been eternalised in statues and paintings. Yet you choose to run and you choose to die. You are beyond a doubt one of the most interesting people I've met and I met many of them."

He didn't quite expect the way she well.... attacked him. Perhaps that was a bit rude to put it but she either had done quite a bit more than he expected after breaking off with the hunt or she was very enthusiastic about her first kiss. Probably option one, considering how she kissed him. Naturally he didn't need a moment to reciprocate the kiss, even though he allowed her to lead it. He wrapped one arm around her, just enjoying the moment but it ended just as fast he it begun. He smiled slightly, a bit surprised but he didn't really mind. "Unexpected, but good." He stated with a playful smile on his lips. "Oh I do see out little arrangement to work out perfectly. One last lifetime Shirin. That's all we get together this time."

SHIRIN SHIRAZI
He's such a sad boy.