[color=2aa6a6][sup][h1]
[center][img]https://i.pinimg.com/originals/04/89/b4/0489b48d5d7674444f9aaa9c1a6e68e6.gif[/img][/center]
[b][center][color=2aa6a6]V E N U S[/color][/center][/b]
[/h1][/sup][/color][indent][sub][COLOR=2aa6a6][I] 𝓒𝓪𝓷𝓵𝓲𝓼 𝓡𝓮𝓼𝓽𝓪𝓾𝓻𝓪𝓷𝓽 10:50 AM[/I][/COLOR][/sub][/indent][indent][sup][right][COLOR=2aa6a6][b]in vino veritas[/b][/color][/right][/sup][/indent][hr]
[sup][right] interactions: [@gothelk][@fledermaus]  mentions:[@Legion020][@Heart of Thorns][@HaleyTheRandom][/right][/sup]


[indent][indent][color=gray]

[indent][indent][i][color=a62a68]
[right][i][color=gray][sub] I open my eyes so I can see with you.[/sub][/color][/i][/right]

The flames of revolution were bright, their heat encompasses all her being, even from the miles she stood away from them. Pride swelled in her heart, growing bigger and bigger, consuming her and then growing bigger yet. Victorious her people were, chanting their praise and appreciation for their great leader, a demigod of great feats, a man favored by Neptune and Venus and Mars. A man who fought and conquered beside his men, a king who’s legacy was of bravery, compassion, and camaraderie. From babe to adulthood, the wonder in his eyes never stopped twinkling, the confidence in his voice never wavered, and the brilliance of his smile never dimmed. There was no other like Aeneas to Venus, the blood of her blood, the sun in her sky, she had given everything to him, and in turn, he gave them all Rome.

[right][i][color=gray][sub]And I live so I can die with you.[/sub][/color][/i][/right]

The flames of revolution burned bitterly this time. The heat was neither felt nor seen by the doting goddess. The Rome she mothered and protected, the history she helped create, and the success she garnered were all burned to the ground. The pain of the land she felt in her bones, the screams of mothers torn away from their children she heard in her dreams and the spirit of the warrior crumbling into nothing she felt in her soul. A single god who promised to heed prayers that had been left unanswered replaced the Romans who once protected the vast empire. Venus had remembered what it felt like to hold a dying Aeneas in her arms as she lived through the fall of Rome. The hollow screams of the mother in her echoed for centuries, that black void of emptiness expanding in the very depths of her spirit, washing everything in a bleak grey almost nothingness. 

Only in the vision of shattered stained glass did she see the glory of her old self. 

[b] Aeneadum genetrix, hominum divomque voluptas,
Animum debes mutare, non caelum[/b]

The voice of war horns, of a  warrior’s exertion, or victorious cheer echoes in her mind until-

[/color][/i][/indent][/indent]

With fluttering eyes, the face of a young woman fills her vision; there’s dampness on her cheeks she sets to ignore. Lifting her head and looking around in a small daze, she sees the familiar surroundings of her Seattle studio and none of her long lost child nor the place of her heart’s yearning. There’s a weight of hands at her thighs directing her vision down to the young woman who has gently woke her, she’s crouched, and worry furrows her manicured brows.

[color=#2a68a6]“Leo, are you alright?”[/color] Lana Morrison, Leona Faustus’ devout personal assistant, reaches a hand upwards towards the tears Venus realizes she’s still shedding. But the realization is all she needs to regain her composure, she pulls back, a wall slipping between her and the woman as she stands, a cold front has swept the room, and stoicism hardens her features.

[color=2aa6a6]“What time is it?”[/color] There was no acknowledgment for her inner turmoil. Decades after building herself anew, these dreams still plagued her, reminding her how far she had once fallen. 

[color=#2a68a6]“It’s um 10:00 am, I was coming in to remind you of your meeting with your brothers, but I can call Westin and let him know you can’t make it if you need time to you-“ [/color]

A single raised hand silenced her; she had been trained well by the unbecoming tyranny of the Mother of Rome, not that the mortal could never know of her many epithets lest she be more useful dead or in hiding.

A sigh rushed out of Venus’ lips, and she shook her curls by the roots, willing her poor mood to simply fall away.

[color=2aa6a6]“No need, it would be more a pain to cancel than to show up. Plus Mr.Canlis was kind enough to send over the wine list, and I think a taste of La Tâche, Grand Cru, 1990 will be enough to sedate my poor mood; otherwise, Marcus will just have to suffer.”[/color]

[color=#2a68a6]“La Ta- Is it wine? You and your fancy wines. What is this one $300 a bottle too?”[/color] Venus only replied with a coy smile and a shrug of her shoulders, she knows she has extravagant tastes, and so she's worked to create an empire that can afford such luxuries. But it is no Rome. 

[color=2aa6a6] “Mox.”[/color] she ascends the stairs with her head held high, and her shoulders pushed back. An image of fierceness simmering in the pools of amber eyes held back by a millennium of practiced poise.

[color=2aa6a6]“Pick something nice out for me while I shower. A woman never arrives at an event on time, [i]but[/i] there is a difference between fashionably late and being disrespectfully laggard.”[/color]


Venus was thankful for her assistant, especially when it meant she could drink as much wine as she wanted and not worry about taking her car home. Of course, that meant one of her fellow Romans would have to drop her off, but that was an issue to deal with after consuming all the wine she could.

[color=#2a68a6] “I know you designed that piece for someone else, but it really was meant for you... Perhaps it was on purpose?[/color] Lana spoke to Venus through the rolled down window letting a playful wink set her tone, [color=#2a68a6] “Don’t worry about calling me if you need anything, I only hav-”[/color]


[color=2aa6a6]“Lana, enjoy your vacation, I am very capable of handling myself… I think.”[/color] The two women shared a light laugh, and Venus waved a friendly goodbye. With her back turned to the departing car and eyes set on Canlis, it was time for business. Venus returned Joseph’s warm welcome with a pair of kisses applied to each side of his face and entertained his musings as he led her to the elevator. 

[color=2aa6a6]“You know what I’m here for Joseph, please send a bottle up right away.”[/color] The closed doors afforded her a moment of quiet before the storm surely brewing in that private room of theirs. When the doors opened again, she was greeted by the beautiful views of the Pacific Northwest and then by her brother’s in arms. 

[color=2aa6a6]”Don’t disgrace our language with such disgusting words, [i]Marcus[/i].”[/color] Venus pulled out the chair beside him and sat down leaning towards the God of War, [color=2aa6a6]”And waiters are people too, or has your self-designated spot above them make you view them as less than?”[/color] Venus’ eyes twinkled with mischief, and her voice carried enough throughout the room to garner a couple of glances from the coming and going serving staff. 

[/color][/indent][/indent]
[sub][right][i]Lyrics from "Die With You" - Beyoncé[/i][/right][/sub]