Gods & Monsters

The Beginning

The sun shines brightly upon the land I call home, dazzling my golden eyes. They reflect back the glow of the sun, shimmering like stars. The sky above is radiating with light and warmth. It's impossible to feel any type of negativity when the sun is up. The world around me feels lighter, calmer, as though everyone and everything is at peace. The temple where we worshipped was bustling with people and bright colours.

I felt safe here, happy, surrounded by my family. Every time I close my eyes I can still picture it, still see the brightness.

Before everything went dark...

*

The sun on Asgard could never be as bright as the sunlight I grew up with as a child. The first Sun Gods named her Unus Sol. One Sun. For they believed she was the brightest, biggest and most powerful sun in all of the galaxies, in all of the nine realms and beyond. The Sun Gods took their name and power from Sol, worshipping her, believing in her, and most importantly, spreading their light and wisdom throughout all the realms, to every race.

The Sun Gods were one of the most powerful forces ever to grace the nine realms. But now only one remains. Me.

My mother named me Samara, it means 'protected by God'. I'm not sure to which God it is referring. Alas, whoever it is supposed to be protecting me has beyond succeeded in their task. While all my people are dead, I'm still here.

Here. It was true, I was here, and I was very fortunate to be. Here, but not there. There where I wished with all my heart that I could be; back at the temple, worshipping the Sun with my parents and sister. Back with my people who I missed most. Not here on Asgard where, as it just so happened, I had spent most of my life.

I felt it then. The silent tear rolling down my cheek. Stop it now, Sam. Crying about it won't make a difference. It's all in the past, and the past cannot be changed. I quickly wiped it away with my sleeve before Dalia, who was busy putting gold pins in my hair, could notice. If she saw me crying, she would no doubt think she had hurt me. She was a very attentive lady's maid, to hurt her feelings was the last thing I wanted.

"Almost finished, my lady," she said reassuringly, her gaze finding mine in the reflection of the mirror we were standing in front of.

I smiled back, watching with awe as her nimble fingers twisted strands of my gold hair, creating an elegant up-do. She liked doing hair the best she once confessed to me. And I had to admit, I liked watching her do it. She was always gentle, making sure to get the tangles out before starting. Of all the lady's maids I'd ever had, Dalia was my favourite, and that wasn't just because she was good at hair. She was a dear friend too.

The longer we stood in front of the mirror, the closer I came to shedding another tear. They say time heals all wounds, and it does, I believe that. We can recover from tragedy and loss, there are even days where we don't think about it at all. But then there are moments, reminders, the walls we put up come crumbling down and suddenly you remember. Today it was my eyes, my dark, ocean blue eyes.

I had been standing at the mirror for too long, staring at my reflection while Dalia took her time with my hair. Usually, I'm in a world of my own, lost in thought or watching her hands at work. Today, however, I was distracted and instead of watching Dalia, I had been looking into my own eyes. My once golden eyes, now changed to blue. Just another reminder of all I had lost.

I blinked away the tears and forced myself to smile. This was not the time for sadness. This was supposed to be a joyous day. Today Thor was to ascend to the Asgardian throne, as was his birthright. I should be happy for him, and I was, of course, I was, but I couldn't shake off this overwhelming feeling niggling away at my core. Was it entirely grief for the past? Or was it, perhaps, something more?