3.6. The Girl with Purple Hair(Kleio)
While the boys were small, Donte had been going to and from the alchemy store, looking for the things needed for the potion he’d had me research. It was one of the most complicated recipes I’d tried, but shortly before the boys’ birthday, I finally managed it. The bottle was a clean blue and steamed lightly, and when I touched it, it was humming softly in a strangely welcoming way.
I took it to Donte, who nodded, looking impressed. “Nice one. My grandmother never managed to make one of these. She had to buy them at the store – we always had one handy just to make sure. It will-“
“Remove someone’s magic powers. Yeah, I know. I’m an alchemist, I know that kind of thing.”
“We’ll have it standing ready for Minerva. If you’re ever alone and she tries to hurt you or the boys, don’t hesitate to throw it at her. I’m going to get ingredients for more so that we can have one each. Just to be sure.”
While the boys were small, nothing really happened, and it was time for their birthdays soon enough.
Orestes turned out to have an ear for music, and he was also a more quiet, serious boy.
The first one to do his homework, and less inclined to play.
Orpheus was a good boy, through and through. Always gentle and caring, and with a strong connection to the doll he got from Penelope and Hebe. He and Donte came up with the name for her, Galatea. She was a doll who would soon turn out to be quite different from others.
(Orpheus)I always loved Galatea. She couldn’t talk, but she was always there for me and I brought her everywhere. I rarely ever went to school as a kid because it was a particularly bad winter, and when I had no other friends – because Orpheus was always so serious and he didn’t want to play – I had her.
Maybe that’s why I wasn’t very alarmed when that woman mentioned her.
“My my, what a big boy you are.”
My head shot up at the words, and my eyes met a woman whom I’d never seen before. “Who are you?” I asked.
“Oh, I’m family,” she said, and she started helping me with the snowman I’d been building, even though I hadn’t even let her.
“What, like Penny?” I knew mum’s sister very well, and her son Paris, even though he was much older than me.
“Exactly like Penny, only better. I’m guessing Penny isn’t a witch.”
I thought about that. “No, but my dad is.”
“Well.” Minerva helped me lift the larger part of the snowman onto the first one. “The cool thing about a witch who isn’t your daddy is that I don’t mind giving you this.” She reahed out a white gift box with a red ribbon. “Here.”
“Um… I don’t think I’m supposed to take it. You’re a stranger, right?”
“Of course I’m not, I’m family. Is Penny a stranger? Look, I promise it’s not dangerous or anything. Just take it and the thing that’s inside, you need to give to your doll. Okay?” I took the box and looked inside. There was a bottle with a yellow liquid. She added: “Oh, and don’t tell your daddy about me, okay? I’m trying to make him forgive me, because we had a huge argument, and he’ll just be mad if you tell him now. Understood?”
“Um… sure.”
“Good boy.” She tousled my hair and turned away.
At first I wasn’t so sure what she meant. Give that bottle of liquid to Galatea? She was a doll! But when I got inside, I saw a flash of light from where I’d left her when I went out, and Galatea was… like me. She was exactly the same height as me, and when she saw me, she gasped loudly and ran to hug me.
“Orpheus! It’s you! It’s really you, oh and you look so good!”
I chuckled and thought about what the woman had said. “Um… I was told to… give this to you. Here.”
She took the bottle. ”What is it?”
“I’m not sure. But… maybe you should drink it. Maybe it’s just juice or something for people like you.”
“If you say I should, you’re probably right. You’re my friend, right?”
I nodded, and she lifted the bottle, smiling nervously. Then she downed the contents in one swig and a lot of things happened all at once.
(Kleio)There was a loud snap somewhere and a smell like oranges drifted down into the basement where I was studying. I heard someone shouting excitedly and when I got up, there was my youngest son… and a girl. When she saw me, her face lit up in the biggest smile I’ve ever seen.
“Hello!” she yelled. “Look, I’m real!”
“Galatea is real!” Orpheus said.
Both Donte, my parents and Orestes came running. No one looking more confused than my parents. We’d managed to keep the whole magic thing hidden to them until now, and they usually thought my alchemy was basically herbal medicine with a cooler name. This one, though, was a bit harder to explain.
Even Donte, who was the most familiar with magic, looked baffled. “Who… are you?”
“It’s Galatea!” Orpheus said. “She’s real now!”
“Your… your friend from school,” I said, shooting my parents a nervous smile. “How… lovely that she’s here. But you shouldn’t… make loud noises.”
We dragged both our boys out of there, into their room and questioned Galatea until late in the evening. It was Orpheus’ doll, no doubt. She said she remembered him singing to her, and then she sang one of his songs, and she said she remembered sleeping next to him when he was a baby. She knew nothing but the things he’d told her and shown her, but she didn’t know why she was a real. Orpheus did, though. But no matter how hard we pressed him, he didn’t say.
We went to look in our books and for the next couple of days we were so engrossed in the mystery of Galatea that what happened next came completely out of nowhere.
Mum died. I hadn’t even considered that it could happen. Her and dad were old now, sure, but she was always so lively, so happy. And it was nothing like when gran died – she’d been pleading for her life, begging to stay. Mum just left, giving dad a last, melancholy smile. She was ready to go.
Dad hardly even cried, and a bit later I found him on their bed, looking solemn. When he saw me, he looked up and smiled, but it wasn’t a very sincere smile.
“She’d been a bit ill lately,” he said. “Nothing serious, she just got so tired and that last time, when she had a cold, it took a bit long for her to get better... She… she was ready to go.”
“Are you going to be okay?” I asked him gently. “Do you want anything? Can I…?”
“No, it’s okay, love. Just… give me some time, okay? She would yell at me if I didn’t carry on now. Imagine how mad she’d be…”
“Yeah, that was Mum…”
I gave him a hug and let him be, and I tried to pretend that I didn’t hear him crying in there. Donte was in our bedroom, waiting for me. “Is he okay?”
“Yes. Under the circumstances… He… I’m more worried about the girl. We still don’t know anything about her.”
“Kleio, not now. It’s not important right now.”
“What do you mean? You said it yourself. She shouldn’t be… well, alive. She shouldn’t be real, but she’s walking around and she’s playing with my sons and she’s… she’s dangerous. What if this is Minerva? You said it might be and-!”
“Please, love, calm down.”
“No! We should be finding out what she is and-“
“It’s not what this is about.”
“What do you mean it’s not…”
“I miss her, too.”
I blacked out and woke up on his lap on our bed. He was holding me and crying silently. It was like seeing him cry broke me down and I finally cried on his shoulder.
“I want her back.”
“Yes.”
“It’s the full moon,” I said. “It’s always the full moon…”
[Author's note: *sniff sniff* bye bye Passie. It hurts to lose the first heir, doesn't it? I mean, sure you care for the sim you first created and first played, but it's different with the one you played from baby to elder.
Also: I guess multiple viewpoints are a thing now - I hope it isn't too confusing!
Last, but not least, naming thing:
Galatea: Though the name isn't known from any ancient text, Galatea has popularly become the name for an ivory statue created by Pygmalion. He fell in love with the statue and she was later brought to life and married him. That was a happy ending but their kids messed up later on - remember, kids, if you get a happy ending in a Greek myth, your children will probably turn out terrible. Also, you get it? You get the symbolism? Eh, eh, eh?
... Okay, I'll be quiet now.]
