Virginia
*Olivia landed in the oasis with melancholia and gasped at how beautiful it was not to mention the sheer peace that came. For the first time in a long time she felt at peace she didn't need to worry about a realm, she didn't have to worry about her dragons it was just her, melancholia, and the oasis. She sat down on a log she found and took it all in.*

"This... Is so beautiful, where are we?"
Ernest
With the majority of her fragments reunited, her atmosphere was great enough to unleash a small drizzle of rain upon the two goddesses. The droplets were large, crystalline, and magnified the flowers, gently descending upon the Garden of Gaia. A blue hibiscus materialized between Melancholia's fingers. Darkly straightening her face from a frown to something less unhappy, she handed it to Olivia. The edges of the plant's petals were pale shades of indigo, while the inner core exposed rings of violet and a jutting stem of gold.

"These are the gardens," She could not see well, but there was enough clarity through the precipitation for her to make out the silhouette of upper branches. "This may look beautiful, my dearest, but do not mistake it as a representation of Yggdrasil."

Besides the pretty blossoms, a gray one grew and shriveled, dissolving into ash after only a few moments.
Melancholia looked at the young deity.
Virginia
*Olivia couldnt believe what she saw beautiful purple flowers everywhere. She attempted to smell one and the little flower hugged her nose as she sniffed it making her laugh. She looked at melancholia as she tried to not be so sad and to that Olivia gave her a reassuring smile*

"Why did a Grey one grow amidst all these purple ones? And then it turned to ash? Did I kill it?"
Ernest
"The fire burns with warmth and life, but it also burns," She quietly murmured, stroking another hibiscus of cerulean. "Sadness may be a comfort, but it also grows too heavy."

In an attempt to regain control of Olivia's emotions, she intertwined their fingers. Her touch was addictive, numbing and icy. It could not be felt at first; it took time. It would come both suddenly and slowly, a surprise to the unsuspecting.
But the melancholia would come.

"The garden bears many flowers, strong and beautiful, but they steal life from each other."
She gestured towards a gorgeous blossom, which was right next to the dead one.
Virginia
*Olivia felt the icy calm come over her, slowly at first it was like a frost that slowly took hold then like a blizzard that came on suddenly the god found herself shivering. Olivia gave a chuckle at the irony the god of fire, cold?*

"It is certainly beautiful but it hurts to see such beauty stal life from another flower just to make itself prettier."

*The shivering began to grow worse the longer she intertwined her fingers with melancholia, out of kindness she did her best to remain for she liked melancholia. She didn't quite understand why or how, for she didn't understand love only friendship. Could this be called love or was it just a strong friendship? The confusion began to be evident on the young goddesses face as she stood with melancholia*
Ernest
She watched her victim shiver, feeling that same cold within her own heart. Fire could not warm it. Joy could.
"It is a terrible phenomenon, but *Un*Fortunately, a common one. Yggdrasil herself partakes. Deities such as I are comparable to that flower, withered, without life nor beauty." Gently tightening her grip around Olivia, her fingers attempted to warm the poor goddess. 

"Our lives our outshined by those who are greater: The flowers who have gotten more nutrients and thus, grow bigger. I bear the burden of heavy sadness as you bear the uncontrollable burden of fire."

She had planted the seed. The next step was to cover it with soil and douse it in water.
Virginia
*Olivia looked at melancholia with a shocked look, she took her hand not being held and turned her face to look at her.*

"Listen to me... You are not without beauty! Do not compare yourself to this withered flower, you are just as beautiful as any of these other flowers. I don't want to hear such nonsense come from you!"

*Olivia feels her passion warm her hands and melancholias as they holds hands. As if not expecting this she looks down, a bit perplexed that her own body was responding to the passion she felt for melancholia.* 

"If you don't get anything else just know you are beautiful..."

*This is all she can get out before her voice trails off as she looks at melancholia*
Ernest
Her words of reassurance caressed the desolate goddess's skin, but they did not sink any further than that. 

"Perhaps, I was not born that way..." The blue hibiscus revived itself. As its buds slowly bloomed and leaves stood proud once more, she softly gazed into the eyes of Olivia. "But this.. This melancholia, this natural hatred... The innate desire to dislike such feelings.. Everyone's views have contorted me, and I have contorted them."

The plant withered again. "I have failed Yggdrasil, dearest. You may not see yet, but you will slowly understand. The animosity towards me shall come to you in swift, short-lived episodes.."

Although the damage from her arms had long been healed, she still traced them as if there were still divine injuries. She remembered the sight of her own ichor, drawn by another. How a love, so foreign, so shrouded by self-loving, loathed. 

"I do not want you to be as hurt as I was. Please, I am no more beautiful than the deteriorated plant. You are still so lovely; it would pain me to see your fate equate to mine. Let me help you, let me show you the woes of the world before you are exposed to them yourself."

Her fingers landed on Olivia's face.
Virginia
*Olivia listened with intensity as melancholia explained how she came to be melancholia. When she said there would be animosity that would hit her, Olivia winced as she thought about the hatred that would try to creep in her heart. But no matter she had to hear this god out, she would steel her resolve but also listen with an open mind.*

"So if you want to tell me stuff then do it, tell me of the evils that exist in this world that I don't see. Show me how powerful I am supposed to be, that I may not recognize yet. It scares me to stare this in the face, but with you by my side I can face any mental strain."

*Olivia then put her hand on melancholias hand as it was on her face. She used her other hand to steady herself, for the contact from melancholia was mesmerizing.*
Ernest
Olivia would hopefully face no hatred, for if Melancholia was successful in her endeavors, she would only ever feel the suffocating embrace of sadness.

The goddess's eyes were empty, yet they bore such depth. With the rest of the world distant enough to be blurred out, she could only properly make out the fire deity's figures. Melancholia was not perfect: her eyesight had never been good, her personality far too introverted, her domain icier than the domain of any others.

"There is no one you can trust more than I, dearest."
A dainty, mumbling song from afar hummed in the background. It emerged from the goddess herself, whom only ever used her musical abilities to enhance moods. "I will show you the truth of this world. We, and very few others, were left this way."

The affect of Olivia's flames on Melancholia's skin was peculiar. Bubbles of purple rippled on rings across her surface, tracing freckles and the occasional birth mark.

"Do not love Yggdrasil. When you inevitably encounter more withered souls, loving the creator would only hurt you more."
Virginia
*Olivia looked at her*

If I don't love the creator who do I love? Who do I trust? How do I know I can trust you?! I've only just met you... Why am I here? 

*She looked down and began to weep, she didn't understand these feelings of sadness and hopelessness she felt. She didn't understand the ache in her heart.*
Ernest
She carefully listened to Olivia's words. As the goddess wept, she wrapped her freezing arms around her boiling body. The embrace united their truths and lies, yet the explosion that should have come of it failed to appear. Her fingers lovingly caressed strands of hair and bits of skin. For a moment, it was hard to believe that she had been the one to cause all of this: Her own selfish pain and suffering, the death of her non-beloved, the twisted torture of her sisters.

"I will show you, my love. Your questions are valid, and even with all of my experience, I do not bear answers to all of them. You simply must trust that I have your best interests in my heart."
To prove this notion, she pried open her ribs and pulled out a hollow heart. The act was bloodless. Any upper layers of her body were ripped apart as though they were mere threats, and the life-sustaining organ was not attached to a single vein.

It did not beat; it hummed. It created a melody, a different song for each person who was lucky enough to listen. It was a beautiful instrument.

An instrument far too beautiful for such an ugly goddess.
Virginia
*Olivia looked at melon and her mouth dropped.* 

You can't give me your heart! You need that to live! I do get your point, but please I can't accept this. Listen, we'll make an artifact that resembles your heart and it'll assist me through all my battles and daily activities.
Ernest
Below her considerate and empathetic facade, she truly had no heart to give. The one she held resembled a cage; strings donned one end, while an acoustic body wrapped around another. She rejected her sister's proposal and smiled. With the organ in hand, she shakily whistled a melody in a minor key and a sharp object appeared in her other palm.

Can live without it, my dearest," The goddess of desolation and music dropped it into Olivia's fiery lap. "It belongs in the arms of someone who will warmly nurture it, who will give its host emotion and care. Someone who will purify the wrongs it has been through."

There was a sharp difference between a

And a want.
This was a simplistic want, an offer that the young deity was free to run away from. However, if she accepted, it would strengthen the bond between them. Melancholia needed that.

``TW: self harm in the next section``


The image was swirled. It was composed of spirals and stars, a night sky that the goddess's own realm would never get to see. Connected constellations were spread throughout the twisted artwork; in a way not yet known to Olivia, each one symbolized a hope.

"I trust

Earnestly, but there will... Always be things that you must not know yet," Melancholia distantly whispered, disassociating from the nasty pain within her. Her speech was in reference to her new injury. The deity of flame and truth would understand soon enough.

She
 was
 a
**M**Ournful
**A**Ngry
**S**Ad
**O**Ppressed
**C**Hilling
**H**Armonious
**I**Nsufficient
**S**Orry
**T**Empermental
 disaster of a woman.

"You would like

Make a battle weapon from me?" A cold, emotionless laugh spilt from her thin lips. "My heart is to weave its way into the mind, not the body. It shall crush, it shall heal, it shall numb and it shall save and... It shall steal sadness."
Suddenly, it became apparent that the longer Olivia held the organ, the bluer it got. It was absorbing her feelings of dejection and hopelessness; she would be able to experience them again, but it relieved her for the time being.

Her goals were complex and seemingly nonsensical. At a first glance, a goddess who ruled over gloominess would assumedly want to make people depressed. It was her Gaia-given job, and society would

Her if they were not given explanations.
Sensations gave her power. In a world of physical, tangible ideologies, she was weak on her own. Thus, Melancholia was restarting a practice that she had began many years ago. She leeched onto other people, yet she would not be the only beneficiary, for her anchor would also win. They would feel no sadness.

"Please, help me cut off a few branches of

We can turn her wood into a cage for your... Divine gift..."
Virginia
*Olivia's jaw dropped she knew melon was twisted but to want to kill mother?! She asked too much... But what if she did it and she had a powerful God on her side? What if she gave into the feelings of wanting to be evil to do something so decrepit it would shock everyone around her? Fire could kill or it could purify. Fire could destroy or it could mend by caulderizing a wound. 

As these thoughts ran through her mind she listened to melon and then tried to stop her as ||the blade cut through her skin|| she felt hopeless to help. A tear trickled down her cheek as she felt the emotions the heart was trying to absorb but her own emotions were too strong it couldn't keep up like a fire storm. The fire spread faster than the water could put it out.

Olivia gripped her head as she fought with what decision to make. Whatever decision she made would impact her for the rest of her god life... And she had a while to go.*

"I-I don't know what to do..."

*She set the heart down and began to pace back and forth maybe that would bring clarity.*

"If I do what you want how many lives would be ended... Innocent lives! No matter how much I try to say yes, my mind still screams no..."

But I'll ignore my mind... I'll do it. What do I need to do...*She sits down and weeps for she doesn't know what the hell she's just agreed to... How many lives will perish... If there will be a war started...*

"I am no longer Olivia god of fire and truth, I am Olivia god of fire and destruction."

"MELONCOLIA!!!" 

*This is all that could be heard as she stormed up to the god*

"You are so deceitful! You manipulated me, further more you tried to take people's divinity away?! Why?! Why would you tell me I can't trust people... It's YOU I can't trust!"

*Olivia then stormed off from the godess but before she left she had one last thing to say*

"Your heart you'll never see again, and you are officially my sworn enemy."
Ernest
Olivia had not directly said what she could not do, but they both knew. The sadness deity's motives had infected her mind; they gnawed away at the truths and happinesses, watering down the fires of joy and replacing them with searing blue flames.
As her sister began to cry, Melancholia similarly wept. Her tears fell silently and icily. Those that wove their ways down to the bark of Yggdrasil bore infectious black holes into the wooden flesh, scarring their creator. There were similar marks on another part of the tree: Divine teardrops of the divine desolation, symbols of a tormented creature.

"Do what.. Is right," She whispered. "I am not always right. Use our hearts to conjure a united truth, mix our two mindsets together and create something for the best. It does not have to be this way, we do not have to do such things... I was once wrong.. I was once right."

*Innocent lives.*
Perplexed by Olivia's vocabulary, she closed her eyes and attempted to understand the other's point of view. They would be hurting people, but they would also be saving them. The immortality ritual did not work; she had given up on it before it had begun. However, there could be another way. A way that did not involve people who could not be trusted.

A way that would work.

For such an emotional goddess, she did not react when Olivia screamed in her face. The wicked comments manifested in the form of dark splotches on her skin. They had erased themselves during her rebirth, yet now the same, furious, sable-hearted force was bringing the impurities back to her body. She blinked.

It was happening too fast.
No.
No..
Why could she not see? What was Melancholia doing wrong?
She fell to the floor, overtaken by the revenge of her own lies. 
"I... I do not understand," She quietly murmured, crying harder as though she were a child. "What did I do? What did I do..?"