Archived/Gavriel & Samirah

* Basic Info
* History

**Name:** Gavriel

**Age:** More than three millennia

**Creation Couple:** Perseus & Andromeda

**Personality:** Gavriel can be a nice person, and sometimes, he's the total opposite. He was once innocent and frivolous, even, but reality was too hard on him to still let those qualities continue living in him. Dividing his time among people and solemn pondering about how to accept everything helped him get over losing those he'd build a relationship with easier and less painful. Although he tried to forget them, they'd always come back in his mind, bugging him every single day. So he doesn't forget them, and always put the thought that they are in peace, in a better condition. That puts him in ease. Gavriel can get really moody at times, turning from a jolly to a harsh person in a blink of an eye.

He loves having someone around, even though he doesn't speak quite that much. Taciturn and imperturbable, his demeanor may seem capricious to others, some may find it comforting, knowing that he may not do any harm. Even though he holds himself with a seemingly regal air, he is polite and generous as his temper holds long. Though his temper metre magically grows longer when it comes to Samirah, or Sam, as he calls her.

*Creation*
Perseus had a hard time planning about how to take out Medusa and prove to Polydectes that he could be worthy, and save him and his mother from shame. Now, thanks to Athena and Hermes, he’d gotten Medusa’s head as a handy tool. He flew, with Hermes’s magical slippers, by the coast of Africa – a wrong direction – and spotted a beautiful, young maiden chained to a slab of rock jutting from the edge of a cliff that fell off to the angry waves of the ocean.
Like the gentleman he was, he asked the maiden why she was in such situation. So, Andromeda, as she introduced herself, told her tale and Perseus saved her and Aethiopia from the sea monster Cetus. After dealing with all her family problems and got married in her kingdom, they flew back to Perseus’s mother in Seriphos. With the head of Medusa, he sought a bit of revenge and killed Polydectes and his men. Danae then married Polydectes’s brother, Dictys, and became rulers of the kingdom. Perseus and Andromeda flew to a new land, and became the fairest rulers Greece ever had.
As their kingdom, Mycenae, started thriving, Aphrodite, the goddess of love, found their bond requited and strong enough that she produced something out of their love to forever symbolize them. A new thing, she created an erotios. Gavriel, as he was named, was the perfect incarnate of Perseus’s and Andromeda’s love for each other. He was resolute but sweet, brave but kind. Gavriel had made his couple’s castle gardens his home, gaining friends from the other nymphs that resided there or nearby.
His life should’ve been the happy one, like he thought it would always be. The famous couple soon had kids, became grandparents, and later, had given the throne to the next rightful ruler. Gavriel stayed the same, learning more about life, until the impending day he had hoped wouldn’t come. Perseus and Andromeda left a huge legacy among their people and Greece, and Gavriel was a huge proof of it. Although they died, their unwavering love still sparked and kept him alive, despite the arduous years he would have to endure.
*A new life*
Gavriel stayed in Mycenae for a few decades before moving somewhere else. He prayed to the goddess who created him to somehow help him in this new chapter of his life. Fortunately, Aphrodite blessed him, in a way that he could be discerned by mortals like they would another mortal. He made to stay like that for a while, keeping his name. He settled in Megara, having his own home and establishing a new life.
Upon arriving, he immediately gained a new friend – Lysandros. The mortal was a cheerful Greek who had his own little vineyard behind his house. He was Gavriel’s new neighbor, and that didn’t seem to bother him. Being all alone at home, Lysandros offered the nymph help and eventually became his best friend. Soon, the mortal admitted that he was a demigod, a child of Harmonia, which totally explained the sudden encounters with terrifying monsters. Some attacked, and for a child of the goddess of harmony, Lysandros was pretty violent. And with that deadly calm, he taught Gavriel how to fight.
The erotios spent more time with mortals longer than he thought. He then told Lysandros what he was, and the demigod gladly accepted him for that, dancing in joy that he met a nymph (which he thought was rare that time), to which Gavriel just laughed at. It seemed that it had only been a few years since he met the demigod, but the next time he blinked, he saw his best friend smiling with a beautiful mortal girl by his side. Gavriel thought he should be happy for the two of them, but instead, he felt the same hollow feeling he had had until he finally left Mycenae. He stayed in the little house he had there in Megara, helping Lysandros and his wife for some times and giving them advices, but he thought he needed to leave once more. His friend soon had three, wonderful children, and without minding to spend time with them anymore, he moved to another city-state.
Gavriel stayed in Corinth for a while, and found himself helping demigods he would happen to pass by. His lessons with Lysandros became his starting point in adapting more skills and techniques, which he so humbly used. The last monster he had in the city-state was a Laistrygonian giant, and cutting off its head with the sword he had kept since Perseus did the trick.
The nymph moved up the map, occasionally meeting spirits like him on the way, from whom he asked directions. He got stuck in Macedonia after some quarrel between enemy camps, and wondered around the place before finally settling in a spot there where no one would disturb him. He supposed solitude was better than repeatedly hurting himself when a friend of his gets to leave him. Although he was someone made from a strong bond of love, he then found himself rarely feeling such.
Maybe with visiting the bustling centers, he remembered that there was still a world beyond him, and that he wasn’t all alone. Years passed, and to him, it felt like millennia. Only until he met someone he never thought he would.
*Mishael*
After a few centuries of existing, and maybe living, he visited Cyprus, hopping aboard a scheduled ship. The sail took a few days, a time in when Gavriel read some scrolls and ate apples. As soon as he stepped out from the ship, the warm breeze of the island kissed his face, and he immediately wanted to stay there. He went riding on horses and walking and riding with deliverers of hay until he reached the town of Yialia, and again chose a spot near Mount Troodos. The forests became a home, and the spirits dwelling there kindly accepted him.
There he met Sfikia, a mortal girl who was a descendant of Athena. She believed in everything her bloodline had meddled with, and that included the Greek gods. She immediately knew Gavriel was different, and he soon admitted that he was a nymph. Sfikia was delighted, and started to invite him over in her house, and they spent time together. He felt something weird, and asked about it. Storm nymph, Mishael, gave him advice. Love, she told him. Gavriel was feeling love; he was in love. But the typical thing happened – he found Sfikia with another man, intimately touching each other.
He didn’t know what to do. Was he about to break apart and never return? Mishael then comforted him, telling him that he would feel something like that yet would learn something better from it. She held him like a best friend would, although she was so much younger than him. Mishael knew he was pretty much naïve, and she knew that she had to help him open up and see the world for what it was. The world would always throw obstacles at him, and he had to stand and fight them.
Mishael was the one person who accompanied Gavriel. He had so many wonderful qualities that never bothered showing, so she tried to pull them out. And before she knew it, she realized that she didn’t want to leave him. She wanted to stay, and keep staying by his side. Before they both knew it, they shared their first kiss.
Mishael was Gavriel’s best friend, lover, and adviser. She was all that he could ask for, and he felt completely content with just being with her. She revealed to him a collection of Celestial bronze weapons that she found by the shores of Cyprus, probably throwaways from Hephaestus’s forge nearby – wonderful throwaways they were. Gavriel took some weapons for himself, and taught Mishael some techniques with the sword and the bow and arrow. Their training time became one of the times they spent so much together, and fighting monsters became a joyous celebration of her leveling up in practices. They helped demigods and kept them as safe as they could.
However, after some years, a huge fire had started in the forest where they lived. The blaze traveled throughout the forest in a blink of an eye, swallowing everything in its path until the flickers of flame were the only thing to be seen. Dark smoke rose to the sky, and the couple flew – with Gavriel turning into a dove – and found a way out of the burning forest. Mishael had tried to go back and see if she could save someone else, but Gavriel held her back, knowing she had might as well burned herself. Storm clouds then appeared later, and Mishael was completely angered when it came too late. Although she was a storm nymph, she couldn’t do anything against the fire, and the natural storm that came was just so, so late.
The heavy rain extinguished the fire, but the conflagration also took the lives of many of their spirit friends. The trees were burned until only their ashes were left, and embers died together with the life if the once-lush forest. It was hard to move on, so Gavriel brought Mishael out of Cyprus and traveled all the way back to Greece, but this time went north and ended up in the forests of Germania. They needed, most especially Mishael, time to heal and face a world without her friends who had been with her through so many years.
But moving to different place was horribly wrong in that time. The couple stayed in a little town near the borders of a forest, and started to establish a new outlook. However, a group of young demigods came running towards their house and begged for shelter. Mishael asked what was going on, and, without hesitation, the oldest among the group told her that monsters were chasing them, trying to kill them. Immediately, the nymphs lashed out their swords and stepped outside their simple, wooden house. Three hellhounds greeted them, and with five moves from both of them, the hounds turned to dust. However, two pairs of the keres , and they immediately lashed out at the nymphs.
Gavriel ducked and watched out for their horrible talons, striking only when it was clear that he could hit them. He had pulverized one pair moments before Mishael had done the same to the remaining ones. Glad that they defeated them with little bruises, Gavriel took notice of a fifth keres flying so fast towards Mishael too late. Even though he tried to stop it, they were too far apart from each other. Before he could even finish his warning, the monster swiped its talons at her, hitting their mark, and dug deeper until the nymph gagged in her blood. Gavriel, blinded by terror, anger and vengeance, ran and drove his sword down the keres’s throat and cut its head clean from its neck.
The erotios held the storm nymph in his arms, cradling her head and whispering pleads in her ear, begging her to live, to stay with him. Mishael stared at his beautiful and tear-tainted face, and smiled at him one last time before reaching to touch his face. Her fingers left a trail of blood on his face, and she closed her eyes, and breathed her last. The sky grieved with Gavriel as he shouted at it.
*Travels with rain*
Decades passed since Mishael left. Gavriel couldn’t even tell apart his life from death. How was he made from love when he didn’t seem to be intersecting with love itself? Maybe he was destined to never have one. Maybe he was ought to wander the world, and help people gain what he didn’t have. Maybe he wasn’t meant to have a joyful life, a life full of grief and misery. A life that was all about loving and breaking and trying to move on. Through the years, he traveled and jumped from place to place, learning things and keeping himself busy to prevent him from feeling the pain buried deep down inside him. Whenever he saw couples deeply in love with each other, with him knowing their romance wouldn’t go down to ashes, he’d pushed away his sorrow and had created an entity out of the love they shared. He would help the nymphs around, and have them learn to treasure their couple’s love and their own life.
As he created more, he felt his sadness lessen, and he found joy in helping others like him. Maybe he could stay this way – less wondering and less pain. More years passed, with him trying to avoid any possible relationships he might have – friends or lovers or even family. It might as well have been cowardice, but he was scared to lose anyone again.
More and more time flew by so fast that Gavriel couldn’t seem to follow it thoroughly. The Common Era came, paving new ways to new foundations and technologies that the world ought to know. Gavriel felt so old that he wasn’t sure if it was still fine to exist in this earth. Nevertheless, he kept doing the job he’d always done after losing Mishael. But one certain day again altered the course of his entire life.
Gavriel went back to Greece, visiting Corinth and Megara and other city-states. When he went roaming around Argos, he spotted someone who looked so familiar to him he felt like the world stop revolving around him. He ran and pushed past the crowd and pulled the girl by the shoulder to face him. She looked at him wide-eyed and confused.
Mishael. She was Mishael. It was her face; he knew her face so much and never had forgotten it.
However, the girl with Mishael’s face grimaced and told him to back off. Gavriel was too dumbstruck to say anything, and the girl just left him without saying another word. He stared at her until she was out of sight. Was it just a dream, or was it his imagination playing tricks on him? Who was that girl, and why . . . why did she have Mishael’s visage?
It bugged Gavriel every single day, until he decided to search for her.
He started asking some people about her, describing her to them, but they didn’t have any satisfying responses. Until when he went to an arena to rest and to watch some athletes, he was so surprised to realize who the person he sat beside with was. The girl with Mishael’s face. She asked him about it, but he didn’t respond save for introducing himself. The girl smiled and called herself Samirah. She really did have his dead lover’s face, but she was an entirely different personality.
*Another chance*
He knew Samirah had a bad past, but that was all. She’d only be an acquaintance. He promised himself not to get involved with people too much, and Samirah wasn’t an exception. Although he always helped her and gave her advice every time she broke down in front of him, crying about someone she couldn’t stomach to bring up. Maybe making her laugh was good, and it really was. He’d learn to come by her house every other day to make sure she wasn’t killing herself or something, and he’d always put in mind to bring food – homemade goods, if possible. It made Samirah’s mood lighten up to a hundred levels.
Then she asked him to train her, with all his enchanted weapons and the like. He supposed it wasn’t very nice – now that it reminded him of his time with Mishael – but the girl was irritating already that he agreed. They set the schedules to three or four times a week, and the other days would be their own business. The erotiad agreed, and he didn’t know, but she seemed to be so glad about it.
Samirah chose wielding the sword first, but Gavriel insisted on the bow, because she had a good aim. Sighing, she took her first aim and hit the mark. Probably it was beginner’s luck; she failed the next time, but the marks were better than most beginners.
The world kept spinning without bothering to know if Gavriel minded. The people grew old, got sick, died, were buried, and were forgotten. Well, that had always been his life, anyway. He should’ve gotten used to it. And he always tried not to notice. At least, he wasn’t alone surviving it.
When war broke out in Rome, which soon spread throughout the lower part of the continent, Gavriel suggested they move inland, but Samirah chose to be in Sweden. Without any planned country to move in to, he gave in to her suggestion. Yet it was freakishly cold there, winter or not.
During the bit of time they spent getting used to the place, they both met Alvar, a young native who helped them pack in and get comfortable. The guy started flirting with Samirah, to which the erotiad found delightful. Gavriel shrugged it off, like the good boy he was. But he didn’t like it. No, he hated it when he’d see some other man making her laugh.
What was happening to him?
When Alvar kept visiting until it seemed like a hobby of his, Gavriel gave in to his emotions. He talked to the other man about it, why he was so insistent on getting Samirah for himself. However, the guy kept prevaricating, annoying the erotios. Alvar was sarcastic, pretentious, and was near-legendary irritating. Gavriel had to admire the man for still being like that when he was already a boiling kettle in front of him. But, in the end, although he really didn’t want it to end that way, Gavriel threw a punch at Alvar, connecting with his perfect cheekbones. Samirah stood by, dumbstruck, as Alvar staggered back. Blood gushed from the mortal’s mouth, until Gavriel sensed something else.
In a split-second, Alvar lunged at him, suddenly growing claws and long, sharp fangs. The erotios stepped away, crashing into a huge vase. He took a huge shard and buried it in Alvar’s eye when he – or it – charged at him. Alvar roared, literally, and grew a scorpion tail, filled with poisonous spikes. Samirah threw at the monster the spear decorating the wall and found its home in the monster’s side. Then it transformed to what it really was. A manticore. Why hadn’t he known the first time he met the guy?
In a blink of an eye, the manticore threw spikes at Samirah. But like a flash of lightning, Gavriel pushed Samirah away and took a spike in his shoulder. His world suddenly began spinning, and searing pain ripped through his whole body.
His head hit the floor, getting the gist of Samirah fighting the monster before everything turned black.

- - - - - - - -
Gavriel woke up with a flickering heat warming his shivering body. The fire was burning brightly on broke twigs, and the trees blocked his view of the night sky. He heard footsteps, felt cold hands cupping his face, and sobbing. He whispered her name, and he fell into unconsciousness again.

- - - - - - - -
The light seeped into his eyes, and woke up, feeling light-headed and dizzy. He tried to recall all that had happened a while ago. Or was it yesterday? Last three days? Last week? He didn’t know how long until he found Samirah sleeping across him from the ashes of the twigs. He got up and stayed still for a while, easing the unsteady weight in his head. He spotted some red fruits in a makeshift basket of leaves and took one. The juice filled his mouth and in that moment, it was the most delicious thing he’d ever tasted. He ate a few more, then inched nearer to Samirah. She looked so peaceful in her sleep, and he said a silent thank you to her.
Later, his stomach rumbled for more food, so he took another one and slowly munched on it. Suddenly, before he even caught her, Samirah threw herself at him and hugged him really hard he thought he was going to die, yet he didn’t push her away.
After a few minutes if making sure they were both alright, she asked him why he started a fight with Alvar. If it weren’t for the fight, the monster might’ve attacked later and they might’ve had more time to realize what he really was. Because I can’t bear the thought of you being with someone else. How much more the sight of it? he thought. But he babbled about things he knew prevaricated her question. But Gavriel thought it was time to tell her, and so he did. He loved her, that was it. She was so wide-eyed and silent that it was so awkward.
But she said, “Why did you dare say that? Why did you tell me you love me – before I ever did? I’ve been waiting to surprise you. You ruined it. And now that you said it, I really do think we can’t contradict our very nature. Because no matter how many times I try avoiding love, the crazy thing we came from, I knew I’d always betray my mind. And here I am, breaking my oath to myself. You ruined everything by finally breaking my wall to let the light in – the more reason to fall in love you.”
Before she even caught her breath, Gavriel took her face in his hands and kissed her. Gods help him, he was indeed in love with her. If the odds were with the demons, then let them hurt him. He’d still never let go.
*Travels with radiance*
It was starting all over again. It was like Mishael all over again, but this time, with someone different. Someone he’d never lose again while he’s living. Time and again flew by him so fast, but while everything around him was passing by in a blur, his life with Samirah was as bright as the sun. They’d travel around the world, they’d mischievously trick or play with people (nothing that harms), and fight troubles away. Sometimes it’d be from between them, like fights on jealousy, when Samirah didn’t talk to him for a length of time when she spotted him talking with an attractive young lady in the streets of Elizabethan London. He was just having a bargain with the lady to get the pretty, antique pocket watch he wanted to give to Samirah. She’d forgiven him after knowing.
Then came some nasty monsters. The worst one was when they visited one of the islands in the Pacific that they were chased by a hungry drakon. They escaped it by flying away as doves, but he was severely wounded. They landed on the other side of the island, where a demigod couple helped him. Samirah had held his hand as the female demigod, a child of Eileithyia, calmed him down and numbed his pain while her partner, a son of Phlegethon, cauterized his wounds. He tried not to scream, but even though with the demigod’s numbing, it seared every part of his body. He’d passed out, and had stayed in the couple’s home for two weeks to heal and he and Samirah went back to Europe.
Going back, they heard about a camp that served as a haven for demigods. After world wars, they sailed to New York to see it for themselves. They went through the forests of Long Island until they found it with the help of some nymphs. It was indeed a home, but it was constantly attacked by monsters, and he and Samirah helped defending its borders. Until Zeus created protective barrier around the camp to ensure everyone’s safety, and to commemorate his daughter’s sacrifice. Gavriel and Samirah lived in the Camp’s forests, helping and watching as more and more demigods came, some even being the greatest heroes since Gavriel’s time with Perseus.

* Basic Info
* History

**Name:** Samirah

**Age:** More than two millennia

**Creation Couple:** Calix Gavia Elerius & Valerie Severus

**Personality:** Samirah is not a quiet person. She'd probably do anything to annoy you. She is compulsive, impetuous, and brazen. She is worse once you get to know her well, but her heart is soft and fragile. However mean you find her, she is as kind as she is brash. Moreover, she's smart when it comes to trusting people, given her history of meeting lots of different kinds of people. She loves fashion, but isn't the really-girly type of person. She loves showing off, most especially to her partner, Gavriel, who seems to be the only one who can beat her.

Judging from her past, she is broken and confused, so sometimes she gets stuck in dilemmas, whether choosing the side that is right or the side that she *feels* is right. She tries not to get involved to a lot of people, not wanting to be hurt again, although she's overcome that fear. She likes being comforted, or told jokes to, or being flattered. She tends to play along with people, like flirting when someone does, acting sad when someone is, and laughing when people are (when it comes to corny jokes, she'll stay away). Overall, she's a sort-of-complex person, but a sweet and caring one to those beloved to her, like the kind of love she was born from.

*Creation Couple*
Life wasn't all that wonderful around 470 B.C.E. Rome. Valerie Severus's father was a proud consul of the Roman Republic, which in turn made the poor girl's existence a jest. Lines and lines of suitors always awaited her from their mansion's doorsteps, hoping to win her hand and gain their family's wealth, Valerie's stepmother wasn't a help; she pushed her to find another wealthy man and go marry him. A magistrate, if possible. Power was still important, no matter what happened. Unlike the other female patricians around her, Valerie felt like she was being punished. Better to be one of the plebeians, maybe.
When she turned eighteen, her father took in a fresh batch of bodyguards. All were from the Roman military, yet most were plebeians, to Valerie's stepmother's dismay, who still sought for a formidable groom. Three were stationed to watch over the daughter, much to Valerie's consternation.

~ ~ ~
Calix Gavia Elerius wasn't born rich, nor lived rich. Raised by a single mother under a dilapidated roof, he'd learned living the hard way. School was at the end of the list of the things he could have. He hadn't known how to write and read. Work and helping his mother and three other siblings was all he had in mind. With the atrocious patricians looming over their misery, it wasn't very facile. All the hard work had him build his body up, practically surviving tough weathers and weights to carry back and forth. He didn't have time for illnesses. Calix would've been handsome if it weren't for his dirty face and the scars running down his hands and back - thanks to those overseers who seemed very eager to punish some commoners.
When Calix turned fourteen, he joined the Republic's special program for plebeians to join the military. Thinking it might be another chance, he signed up and started training as soon as they were chosen. For two years, he and the other plebs trained hard - from running miles and miles to throwing javelins and clashing with swords. Formations weren't that all difficult. Military life, he thought, was somehow more exciting than his old life.
After another four years of serving the Republic, watching from the walls and patrolling, he was called to serve as guards of one of the Republic's consuls. It was indeed an honour to serve the highest in power, but Calix had hoped they'd back him out. The consul was the one who killed his father a long time ago - blamed for theft of the patrician's money. Calix had loathed him all his life. And serving and protecting him was the least that he wanted to do.
He was assigned with two others to watch over the consul's daughter, Valerie Severus. She was pretty, but always locked herself in her room, averting from any attention.

~ ~ ~
Valerie tried not to notice the guards standing outside her room, and had wanted to strangle them for prevaricating her questions. She also tried not to be so annoyed by the one who kept knocking at her door and telling - or demanding - her to get out and have a meal, or have her daily walk. But he was the only one who ever asked how she was doing. Her family never did, nor her friends or the people out there. Solely that annoying guard did. She thought he seemed nice, if only it weren't for his irritating job. She asked his name, but he refused to tell. After a bit of persuasion, he introduced himself as Calix, and didn't bother to answer anything else. In Valerie's morning walks - with Calix as bodyguard - she'd always spill about everything that'd happened to her, not minding if he listened or not.
But when she told her story about her time with her late mother, she swore the guard shed a tear. She asked him about it, and he suddenly burst in tears, saying that he had always missed his mother, who died without him by her side. Valerie comforted him, soothing his pain and grief with words he mustn't forget. And that was the start of a sharp turn in Valerie's life.
Valerie and Calix helped each other. Although he was born poor and wasn't able to enter school, Calix was intelligent. Valerie, although she hated socializing, was great in giving advice. Valerie taught him the knowledge he had missed to know, and he used it against her, pushing her to go speak with people outside. Laughter and tears and joy and sadness - they both went through them together. And Valerie only realized that she wanted him when her father came to announce her engagement with the son of another powerful magistrate. She didn't know what to do. If she told her parents about Calix, they wouldn't let her, and maybe punish him for her carelessness. Both of them hated plebeians. But after all, Calix had hated her family.
Valerie decided to tell Calix all about it, and persuade him to leave the mansion and find another post, when Calix came up to her and admitted what he felt. He loved her, and she almost went crazy in that very moment. They decided to hide their relationship until they could find away out of the problem. Valerie was introduced to her would-be groom. He was nice, rich and handsome, but Valerie kept up the show for the sake of her true love. Unfortunately, they made a mistake. A pretentious adviser of her father caught them both meeting at night in a secret corner near the servants's passage. Using that information to gain more trust from the consul, he spilled them to him.
The consul got angry when he heard of this preposterous idea, but started watching his daughter and the guard very closely. Soon, he found out that what his adviser told him was true. He ordered them both to speak with him, and demanded them to tell the truth. Calix tried to deny, but the consul had seen enough and ordered Calix to be punished by death for having dark notions to his daughter. Valerie cried out and pleaded her father to spare him from any punishment, for she had been the one at wrong. The consul did not listen, and had his guards take Calix to the dungeons and his daughter locked in her rooms. Valerie struggled against the men’s grip, but was still thrown in her room and had her own doors shut in her face. But in her hand clinked the keys of both her doors and the dungeon cells.
~ ~ ~
Calix knew the possibility that they would end up like this, and yet he still did it. He didn’t fight the guards who took him to the prison cell; if ever he did, it would only result to worse things, for him and for Valerie. The cell was dark and cold and he had no choice but to suffer in there. For a week he stayed there, lacking sufficient food and sleep, until the sound of keys rattling and the cell door creaking open awoke him from everything. There was a hooded figure behind the open door, and he had to squint to see its face when it removed its hood from its head.
It was Valerie. With just a finger on her lips to signal him quiet, she took his hand and led him up the stairwell and into a hidden passage on the wall on the top of the stairs. The passage went down deeper with a spiraling stone staircase. More corners and intersections led to even more confusing mazes of cobblestones, but Valerie had led them safely to an old, rusting grate blocking their way to the outside. Calix pulled a lever, and the grate grinded as it went up to give them passage. They ran into the night, and when they were far enough, Valerie burst into tears while Calix held her upright. With what she had just done, surely her father would punish her severely if he found her. And Calix promised to keep her safe.
Valerie decided to leave Rome behind, she’d told him, and she would rather stay in a far place with him by her side. Calix so much as agreed, and boarded a ship that was to sail in the morning towards Greece. This bond of love was strong enough that an Elder erotiad found it worthy of having an entity to symbolize it. She created another one of her kind, and named her Samirah. Samirah, like her couple who was now residing in Greece, was very happy yet careful about her surroundings. Her mood follows Calix and Valerie’s love, and it was mostly as bright as the sun in a clear, blue sky. The couple knew about her existence, and they took her in as if their own child. They knew all the stories and reality surrounding Samirah, so it was no problem for them to believe such things.
The couple soon had three children, the two eldest fond of Samirah. However, when the two kids grew older and the Calix and Valerie had their third, Samirah thought it was better for them if she left – less worries and troubles. Valerie had wanted her to stay, but Samirah told them that she would want to also see the world and travel it, exploring new things and the like. Calix understood, but it took time for Valerie to understand, too. When all were in good thoughts, the erotiad said her goodbyes and left to discover a whole new world out there for her.
*Troubles in trail*
Samirah was a very different person once she stepped out of Calix and Valerie’s sights. She was impulsive and really, really naughty. She traveled around Greece, staying in inns or on tree branches. Then she’d get to play with all the handsome boys she’d spot within her sights – make them fall in love with her and she’d try to catch their heart then leave them. The reactions on their faces were all she needed – they were priceless indeed. Weird enough, for she didn’t take love the way it should be taken. She played with it, some trait she should never have.
There were men who were smart enough to realize the mess Samirah was creating amongst them, and some of them prayed to the gods to punish such acts. Meanwhile, Eros had been watching, watching and noticing Samirah. How dare she do those when she herself was someone to appreciate love? Love wasn’t something to play with, and so he gave her a lesson that she surely wouldn’t forget. Eros had done these things millions of times; this was a piece of cake. He wanted to show her how love could be so dangerous. The god of love made Samirah fall in love with one young man, Eyvindir, and made the man fall in love with her, too. However, Eros made a fair-haired lad named Xanthe fall in love with her, too; he was to be a rival of Eyvindir.
Samirah found so much happiness in Eyvindir. The cared and loved each other so much they’d give either anything, but Xanthe was not someone who backed down easily. He tried all things: talking to her, giving gifts to her, serenading her and anything else good that he could think of. But Eyvindir always found his way through her heart and took it – took it far away from Xanthe’s reach. Samirah started to hate Xanthe for his ridiculous and hopeless acts, and decided with her love that they’d move far from the wretched city they were in. But one day, Xanthe showed up on their secret space – a little garden atop a cliff that overlooked the blue sea. He confessed to her again with so much feeling that Samirah’s heart was moved a little. Still, Eyvindir was the only one who would ever have her love.
Nevertheless, Xanthe was too full of ire that he did what was the only thing in his mind: eliminate Eyvindir. And so, in front of Samirah herself, he lunged at Eyvindir and tried to strangle him. Eyvindir moved away and punched him. They went and grasped whatever they could of each other, trying so hard to pull the other one down. Meanwhile, the erotiad screamed for them to stop, too scared to do anything. Not even her charm-speak could break through their walls of anger. She felt worthless, she felt so much like a coward that moment, and she didn’t know what to do but cry. Cry and plead, like it could help solve everything. One wrong move from either of them and the other might be severely harmed. And that was exactly what Xanthe was thinking.
Xanthe pushed the fight near the edge of the cliff, and Samirah kept yelling at them to stop. Although Eyvindir wanted to stop, he would totally be killed by Xanthe if he did. Realizing that he was trapped between Xanthe’s strong body and the deadly cliff behind him, he had no choice but to fight the man. Unfortunately, Xanthe was swift, faster than he’d ever be. Giving him a wink, Xanthe pulled a tricky step and flung Eyvindir over his back. Eyvindir almost got his footing back but the ground beneath him suddenly cracked. The edge broke and he fell with the loose rocks.
Samirah let out an ear-shattering scream, and, with blind rage, she took the sharp tree branch near her and buried it deep in Xanthe’s back, all her hatred and sorrow and pain she had flung into that deadly piece of stick. Xanthe’s eyes were wide as he faced her, and he genuinely smiled, a really sad smile, before following his rival down the cliff. Samirah fell on her knees, breaking apart bit by bit, tear by tear.
She spent the next days living simply, but wretchedly broken. She always thought about what she could’ve done that very moment, what she should’ve done to stop them. But she was a coward, a miserable, miserable coward. She lived on that thought, and the world continued spinning without her in sync. Samirah had then felt a tug in her heart, a tug that somehow called her back to where she came from. She followed it, and went back to Calix and Valerie. But they were not there. Not even their children were there. She asked around, and people only told her about last year. Because during that past year they died. They died together, smiling at each other before they both closed their eyes. It had been years since Samirah had left them, and she felt guilt. Guilty for not being able to be with them. For not being able to say goodbye to them. For not being able to walk them to the threshold of death.
She felt like the world’s most forlorn person and worse.

~ ~ ~
The Common Era came, and Samirah still hadn’t got over everything. There were sincere people who crossed paths with her and tried to help her, but she was too deep in her own silence, drowning out all the noise that surrounded her. One time, when she was in Argos, the silence let her in reality for a short moment that she heard someone shouting a name, and took her by the shoulder to face him. He called her a name she never heard of. Was it Mishael? It seemed so. She took him in, and examined his face. He was young, but his eyes were old, ancient even. But she found him handsome, and knew in an instant that he wasn’t an ordinary mortal. But she shrugged him off and told him that he had mistaken her for someone else, and walked away. Walked away, and wasn’t relieved when he didn’t follow.
Samirah stayed in Argos for more than a while, wanting to keep being in the spectacles that watched athletes compete in many arenas. When she was observing discus-throwers, the same man who called her a different name had sat beside her, and he seemed shocked to realize who was beside him. Samirah asked about him and who Mishael was. The man introduced himself as Gavriel, but he didn’t ponder over ‘Mishael’. Samirah supposed she was someone he had a history with, and found it hard to talk about her. So she stayed silent about that. But Gavriel broke the silence and told her he was a nymph, and erotios. Samirah was surprised, and admitted to him the same thing.
*Another chance*
Samirah found comfort in Gavriel’s company. She knew he had a bad past, but that was all. Though he was secretive, he was fun and cheerful, wanting the atmosphere to be filled with everything but anything related to sadness. But she’d only let him in her life that far enough – friends would be better.
But she’d burst to him; she’d always cry in front of him, for he reminded her so much of Eyvindir, even though Gavriel looked nothing like him. And in the end, he’d always comfort her, whispering words in her ear that always made her feel better. He’d make her laugh and forget all the troubles she’d been going through. Sometimes food was a delight. But she wondered about him, how he was doing. She felt like a bad friend, making him her lamp in the night but she couldn’t be the stars in his dark skies.
Then she’d find herself finding him, looking for his presence beside her or somewhere around her. It was terrible. She’d push him away from her mind, but he’d always come back, spinning inside her head. No wonder she always missed him. To try fulfilling that, she asked Gavriel to train her, into weapons and techniques and such. The erotios was surprised, but after some time of pleading, she finally made him agree. Well, self-defense was a reason she could use to hide the real thing.
Gavriel insisted on giving her the bow and arrow first. Her first aim was perfect, to her surprise, but the next ones failed. Though he commented that they were better than most beginners, which made her blush. Idiot.
Samirah found training an everyday activity – with Gavriel or no – and it worked out in making her forget everything else once again. The past is past, Eyvindir and Xanthe were gone, Calix and Valerie were gone, and her old life was gone. It was time to start a new one and be a new person entirely – a person not easily broken and a person full of hope and courage. Yes, she’d be that person. She wondered if Gavriel had already changed himself, too, from all that he’d been through (though she didn’t know what they were).
Again, she hadn’t noticed the years passing by. People whom she met young were now walking with canes or sitting on a chair for years, staring at nothing, or buried in the soil. And there she was, young and ethereal. At least, she wasn’t alone surviving it.
They both moved to upper Europe, settling in Sweden, enjoying the cold, when war broke out in Rome, spreading throughout Italy and through Greece. Then, she felt like she couldn’t hide it. She knew she promised herself not get involved with anything ever again, but this was different. It broke all her codes in her life. She wanted to love again, to feel the happiness it gave her over again, but this time, she threw away her oath to herself and promised to never let go. To never let go of that happiness again.
She timed for the right chance to tell Gavriel everything – who she was then, her past, and who she was now. And she timed for the right chance to spill all her feelings to him.
She met Alvar, a young native, and she found him interesting. She knew he was flirting with her, and she played along. She’d take glances at Gavriel, but something hurt in her when he seemed like he didn’t care. However, one day, the erotios talked to Alvar, and in their snapping, Gavriel punched Alvar real hard that blood spurt from his nose. Suddenly, claws and fangs grew from Alvar, and he lunged to strike at Gavriel. Immediately, she pulled the spear décor on the wall and aimed, aimed at the lion-bodied monster that was once Alvar. She threw and hit it on its side and it roared. Then everything happened so fast that her eye couldn’t follow. The manticore, she thought it was, displayed its scorpion tail at her and threw spikes at her direction. Then somebody pushed her down to ground, and a scream pierced through the silence. She gathered all her senses and took everything in before the second ended.
Samirah distracted the monster with all the spears on the wall – throwing them or jabbing them at it – long enough for her to drag herself and Gavriel out the back door. They rolled down the hill and landed before the cold water of a lake. Hesitating for a bit, she threw both of them in the water and stayed down, surfacing for a really short while to take some air. Gavriel was still breathing, thank goodness. He took the spike that almost hit her and blacked out from the pain. When Samirah was sure the manticore was gone, sure that it decided not to jump in the freezing water, she swam to the shore and checked if the erotios was alright. She didn’t feel the cold when she felt the heat of Gavriel’s breath on her ear.

~ ~ ~
She found a safe place in the forest nearby. She immediately gathered many wood as she could and created a fire to warm them both. She found a tree with a huge leaves and cut one to give Gavriel as makeshift blanket. When she made sure he was warm, she set out to find food. Fruits, thank the gods, were abundant. When she came back, she found Gavriel staring at the sky above them. She ran, dropped the fruits beside her, and broke into tears, holding his face. He whispered her name so quietly that she barely heard him, and his eyes closed again once more.
Samirah panicked. But he was breathing. Probably the poison hadn’t worn off completely, yet. She stayed calm, and ate some of the fruits she found in the forest. They were all edible anyway. Then she stayed up all night to look out for danger, creating makeshift spears from the branches she found.
She didn’t know when she fell asleep, but she found Gavriel beside her eating one the fruits she had gathered. Without any warning, she screamed his name and embraced him tighter than she opted. Surprisingly, he didn’t pull away, and she didn’t let go.
After a few minutes of making sure they were alright, she asked why he fought with Alvar (when they thought he was still Alvar). If it weren’t for the fight, the monster would’ve probably attacked a bit later and would’ve given them time to realize he was a monster. Gavriel responded, but it was like he was prevaricating her, but then he gave a valid answer after some babbling. An answer that totally made her heart skip more than one beat.
He said, “I just couldn’t bear the thought of you being with someone else. How much more the sight of it? I guess I’m just being selfish, but that’s what I honestly feel. I thought I was lying to myself, but it was so real I believed it. And although I swore that I won’t ever love again, it’s probably in our nature to never say such things. I totally believe that, too. So, it’s basically because I love you, Samirah. Whatever you or other people, or even my mind, says, I really do.”
The silence that came felt awkward. So she broke it by admitting the same thing. She loved him, too. Gavriel suddenly took her face in his hands and kissed her. She was so stunned, but she kissed him back when reality dawned upon her. She broke her oath to herself, and now she was probably the happiest girl in the world.
*Memories in trail*
It felt like her life started all over again, like she didn’t know what it felt like to be broken, to be in pain. There were problems, lots of hindrances, but she surpassed them all. She felt like she could do anything with Gavriel by her side; finally, someone who could change her world entirely. And with those, he had just started doing so.
Time flew by so fast that she now got used to accepting how short mortal lives were. No matter how many friends she’d make, they’d surely leave her. She just hoped he won’t leave her, too, in any form.
They’d travel around the world, they’d play as nobles and trick some people (though not harshly), they’d fight the odds together. And they’d always win. Sometimes, jealousy arose, like when she spotted Gavriel talking with an attractive girl down an alley in Elizabethan London and was smiling like the girl had just told him the most beautiful thing in the world. He came home late that night, and she didn’t talk to him for days. He’d pleaded with her to listen to him. Then she’d know that he was having a tricky bargain with the girl to get an ancient pocket watch that had caught his attention in an auction. He took it out, and was one of the prettiest things she’d seen. He gave it to her, and he really did mean to since he laid eyes on it.
Sometimes they’d fight over small things, like which house they’d take, which country they’d visit after which, which event should they attend in. Silly things. Then there was this one time when they visited an island in the Pacific and met a rogue drakon. Like how in the world did a drakon get there? It chased them – through the forests and the shores and the village borders. It was probably very hungry. It almost got Gavriel and wounded him badly. Fortunately he could still shift into a dove, and they flew away until they reached the other end of the island.
Some demigods happened to live on that side. They found the two of them on the shore, Gavriel bleeding dangerously. A child of Eileithyia numbed the pain he felt, and calmed him down through when her companion, a child of Phlegethon, cauterized his wounds. The demigods made them stay in their house for the whole length of time it took to heal Gavriel’s wounds. They thanked the demigod couple, and soon left the island, going back to Europe.
Wars and plagues came to and fro, but she and Gavriel had done their best to avoid them, and they somehow survived them, too. While staying in London years after the Victorian Era, they heard about a camp that sheltered demigods and provided a home for them. The couple decided to check it out, and they sailed to New York after the terrible world wars. The camp was pretty hard to find, but they found it as they searched through the forests of Long Island, meeting some nymphs who showed them the way. The camp was simple yet it did provide a haven for demigods. However, it was constantly attacked by many monsters, and their deaths cost the lives of many of the demigods. With no further ado, they helped defending the camp by watching by its borders, using their weapons to fight off ridiculously large monsters.
Until Zeus created a protective barrier around the camp to shield it from the dark, to commemorate his own daughter’s sacrifice and have what happened to her not be upon anyone else. Since then, Camp Half-Blood became the perfect haven for the demigods, and Samirah and Gavriel still lived in its lush forests.