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some time has passed since prism's execution. the star goddess, glimmer, who has disappeared from the public on an indefinite political hiatus, has left the cloud city in disarray as the citizens handle the shockwave of political scandals and a dead leader. the goddess, unaware of the turmoil in the skies, rests beneath the surface. she has gotten well aquatinted with living below the surface.
"you know," glimmer conversationally murmurs. her and the crystal god, iolite— this territories ruler who graciously scooped her under their wing after she gained freedom— sit together in one of the many homey rooms deep within the cave system. "if you told me, ahh… five hundred or six hundred years ago there was a huge, complex cave system underneath this mountain, i would not have believed you." she finishes, her soft voice echoing throughout the room before fading out. the star element had been preoccupying her time reading, occasionally sneaking a glance at the working elemental across the room.
they're both on the floor, sitting across the room from each other. she rests on a large collection of blankets, quilts, pillows, and various forms of woven bedding that is surprisingly comfortable in the otherwise harsh, unwelcoming cave. the god sat on the floor as they work away on a project. they are hunched over, their large and toned back bent awkwardly to be closer to the ground.
"why is that?" the elemental in question shoots back. their back straightens up and she watches the muscles move and flex as they adjust their body. their shoulders have stopped moving, and their toned arms rest in their lap.
"well.. you are a crystal element, yes?" they hum, nodding their head. "your element did not exist when i was…" she trails off, her eye looking to the side as she finds a word. "… last conscious?"
"is that so?" they go silent. glimmer watches, her eye wide and chest still with bated breath, as the god slowly adjusts their body to twist around, properly facing glimmer now. their usually closed eyes are open, their hypnotically grey eyes stare her down. their loose, easy grin slowly grows wider.
a nauseating lightning bolt of fear rips through glimmers body as they make eye contact, her legs growing numb as her heart speeds up. in the time she has spent within the elements territory, she has learned that iolite is cryptic and odd. they are hard to read, and even harder to predict. even with all of these… quirks, iolite has been nothing but well intentioned to her. the guilt glimmer feels for these panicked reactions are made worse when she remembers that iolite cannot see, and most importantly cannot see her.
"and if i told you they did not?"
"uh, what? th- the caves?"
"yes, these caves. they did not exist." their grin turns giddy, like this is a secret they have hidden away for ages finally getting the chance to share it. glimmer straightens up, the blanket that was previously wrapped around her pools around her waist, the book she was reading cast aside. her face has brightened up, the beginnings of a smile forming.
"oh! do tell me, please! how did they form?"
they chuckle, raspy and somewhat breathless. "this, you will not believe." glimmer watches as they place their hands on the ground, their palms flat against the stone. their eyes close again, and the star elements eyebrow raises in interest. she watches their hands twitch on the caves floor, their head tilting up. "stemtear is here."
glimmer has just a few seconds to prepare before the earth goddess floats into the room, light on her feet as she hums a gentle tune. her grass colored hair is pulled back into an elegantly loose braid, trailing down her back and smoothly following her every movement. she's wearing a pale, loose dress that falls down her full form like hanging leaves. a cloth is tied around her waist, providing overall structure to her outfit and keeping it on her torso. her shoulders remain bare, a golden necklace is clasped around her neck, a deep green gem resting in the hollow between her collar bones. with leather strings tied and holding them up, loose, puffy sleeves hang down her arms and over stemtears hands. her left hand holds up the front of her dress like a make-shift cloth basket, holding various items within the folds of her dress.
"hello you two!" her song-bird voice breaks through the silence, the soft pitter patter of her feet barely heard over her words. "i'm sorry to interrupt, but i am just here to check on miss glimmer's eye." the goddess steps between the two, coming to stand in front of glimmer and her large pile of bedding material. stemtear blocks iolite from view, and glimmer debates on encouraging them to finish their story before she hears,
"no issue, stemtear. let me get out of your way." and the sounds of them shuffling back. "how have you been?"
"i am doing good, the surface is doing quite well!" she softly smiles, head tilted to the side to speak over her shoulder at iolite. stemtear then turns her head again, bending down to properly look at glimmer now. "how are you doing, sweet pea? is that eye healing well?" she has brought her free hand up to hover near glimmers cheek, but not close enough to touch. stemtears dark eyes flit over glimmers face, her thin brows furrowed in thought.
"my eye is feeling better, so.." the star goddess looks up, smiling weakly at stemtear. "i am doing okay, i think. iolite is good company down here." behind stemtears bent form, she can hear the chuckled huffing of iolite.
stemtear softly giggles in response, straightening up so she can easily sink to her knees in front of glimmer. "yes, iolite is quite good company." she smiles, adjusting her dress to rest the items kept in her make-shift basket on the top of her thighs. "they helped guide me through my first few decades as a god." she conversationally states, beginning her check up of glimmer.
"oh? how interesting. iolite has made no mention of that." glimmer quietly replies. she leans forward, angling her head properly so stemtear can easily peel off the bandage covering her wounded right eye.
"iolite makes no mention of many things." stemtear teasingly retorts, rolling her eyes when the god in question scoffs behind her. she places the soiled bandage to the side, checking over the gouged out eye. she gently notes that it is 'looking better' as her small hand reaches for dampened cloth wipes and a new bandage. "if you cannot handle the truth, my god, you are more than welcome to see yourself out." stemtear snarkily throws over her shoulder, a teasing smile gracing her plump lips.
with a mirthful sigh, glimmer hears more than sees iolite lift themselves from the ground and leave the room. she watches as stemtear focuses her full attention on her again. the star element sucks in a breath when the goddess dabs a cloth below her right eye, the sudden chill making her tense her shoulders.
they continue the routine in comforting silence, one of the many tasks glimmer has come to expect throughout the weeks and months of residing in the truced territories. her body begins to marginally relax, letting stemtear clean off the skin around her eye and gently patting the area dry.
after securing the bandage over glimmers eye, stemtear starts to nervously fidget with something in her lap. "so, during our last visit, you had said you were.. afraid of your eye." her once smooth voice was now stilted, second guessing her words. "or- not afraid, but, another word.. insecure?" the goddess starts muttering under her breath now, pressing the knuckle of a finger against her lips as she compares and contrasts various words she than think of.
"stemtear?"
"oh, sorry, well. i suppose the word does not matter. regardless, ah, i think i understand your worries. so i have brought an… idea? y-you can turn it down, of course, but…" she trails off again, nervously looking up at glimmer and hesitantly holding eye contact before letting out a heavy sigh.
she moves her hand, uncovering a blooming flower resting on the folds of her dress. there must be hundreds of little petals, royal purple blossoming out of a golden yellow middle. the flower looks almost fuzzy to glimmer, the little petals giving the flower a soft and round appearance. stemtear moves a hand beneath the bloom to cup it, lifting it up to give the star goddess a closer look.
"oh, how pretty" glimmer breathlessly comments, her eye zeroed in on the flower.
"isn't it?" stemtear's eye softens, her round cheeks flushing a warm moss green. "this is an aster. they can come in many colors and blooms, with many various meanings" she gently explains, looking at the aster with a maternal fondness that glimmer has not seen an elemental exhibit towards botany. "i have always held a fondness for these flowers. they have been around for centuries- long before you or i came to exist, at least. asters bloom around harvest season, long after many flowers have bloomed and withered."
the star element listens intently, trailing her eye over stemtears face as the goddess rambles about this specific flower. "i do not mean to be rude, stemtear, but… may i know the reason why you are telling me this?"
"oh!" stemtear drops her tan hands back in her lap, the purple flower following suit. "yes! my apologies! w-wearing flowers is already a common fashion choice among elementals f-for various reasons, but we earth elements will wear flowers differently to average elemental n-norms." she explains, flushed and stuttering as glimmer watches her quietly.
"o-often times, when an earth elemental gets wounded, they will grow plants over their injury to provide protection, but also for aesthetic reasons. so, i thought, well…" she trails off, looking down at the aster held in her palm. "growing up, we often compared asters to stars, and the petals are the same color as your eye, so i just thought… i-it would be nice, to place over your bandage?"
glimmer looks up, considering the offer. there truly is no harm, and it might even look cute. before glimmer can give her answer, stemtear continues with her nervous rambling. "and the meanings for the flower, too. there is a lot of meanings, but it… it mostly reminded me of you, that is all."
the star element looks back down, comfortingly smiling at stemtear. "okay." she simply answers. bending forward, she angles her head down again to let stemtear place the finishing touches of her bandage maintenance routine. she holds still as she feels the awkward pressing and fumbling against her sore eye.
after a minute of hushed apologies and many adjustments, stemtear pulls back with a proud look on her face. the goddess stays quiet, looking over glimmer as her eyes squint from her smile. "there you go. i knew this flower was the right pick for you."
"heheh, is that so?" glimmer humors stemtear, straightening up before easing back into her pile of soft comforts and fluff.
"yes, they really do look like stars."