The Curious Corundum of Galatea

This is a Role Play based on the Greek myth of Pygmalion, the story following a young boy from birth to young adulthood, one who knows very little of the godly influences upon his life, and the powers he was granted. When he creates a masterpiece comparable to that of Greek sculpturers of millennia past, something starts to happen...


Characters (That I play):

The Gods (mainly Aphrodite, Poseidon, Zeus, Ares) These may be shared between posts.

Jonah, the main protagonist

Fillers n such.






Prologue:


It was late night in the city of Athens, and one of the hospitals were handling a very complicated birth, the woman they were working on becoming very ill as she continued to push the child she had told to keep, for it was the product of a drunken rape almost a year earlier. "Your going to be okay, just take it easy! your almost there!" one of the nurses said with a quietly frantic voice, the woman screaming in pain, though the weakness in her voice was evident. Just as she pushed out the child, a agonizing scream pierced their ears, the woman going limp, her gaze going toward to the child they pulled out. As another nurse took care of the newborn, the others checked the woman, her vitals dropping fast. "She's not going to make it... give her the child at once!"

They handed her the baby boy, everyone helping her to cradle the child in her arms. She looked to the boy that had come out, a handsome child, her thoughts silently wishing he had not been born through her circumstances. "...I'm sorry, my child. May the gods be with you." she whispered silently, her vision going black as her arms began to go limp, a nurse nearby ready to grab the newborn as they witnessed the child's mother pass away before them, and for split second, the power in the building flickered. the ground shaking. Everyone looked around bewildered as everything went back to normal, the doctor on duty clapping his hands, pointing to the nursery. "one of you come with me, we need to get that child to the nursery. Everyone else... prepare the body for a autopsy. The police will need to have her cause of death on record."

They all nodded solemnly as the doctor had a baby gurney wheeled in, the doctor and the nurse he had called out for walking with him. She was a greenhorn, a very, very beautiful one at that. She had arrived only a month earlier, the doctor feeling guilty for having put her on this birthing. "I do apologize for having you working on this one, your still quite new to everyone here. Since you where the one who helped the mother prepare for the child's birth, you will be taking care of the child and a few others. You got that?"

[ATTN: Baby Person Thing]

Leanne had encountered very strange things in the past. This had to be the oddest... Definitely the oddest child birth she had ever seen, but something about this encounter made it so ultimately... sanctimonious. That wasn't the right word for it, by ANY means of the word, but it was just so weird that the mother died right after saying her only words to her son. In the month that she had been here, she had never seen anything so strange... that sounded odd. She had only been here a month and already her midwifery degree was being put to great use.

"I'll take care of it, sir." The doctor nodded his head and left her with the child...

[Enter Aphrodite]


Leanne took the newborn child to the nursery, noticing the child’s silence, unusual for a newborn. As she was laying him down in the bed, an unusual breeze blew through her legs, prompting her to see another woman entering the nursery, a nurse she has never seen before, but that wasn't what caught her off-guard. This woman was beautiful, her appearance akin to that of ancient goddesses from millennia ago. This wasn't far from the truth.

"Who are you?" Leanne asked, the woman smiling as she moved toward her, speaking with a elegant and formal voice.

"I am a new nurse on duty, my name is Venus. The Doctor sent me here to take over watching the newborn when your shift ends, which he said would be very soon.”

Leanne looked to the clock, the time was almost midnight. She watched as Venus caressed the child, the child cooing, the nurse gently picking the baby up to cradle him in her arms. The Doctor came in to check on the two, his tense mood relaxing upon seeing the child.

“Looks like he got away unscathed, I wish we could say the same for the mother.”

“What happened to her?” Venus asked, looking at him, though she already knew the answer, her eyes picking up a soul watching them from the window. She re-focused on the Doctor as he briefed the both of them on the situation at hand.

“The mother died from complications during childbirth, the child born out of a rape that occurred about a year ago. For now, he will be staying here in the hospital until we can find someone to adopt him.”

Venus nodded as she continued to cradle the child in her arms, Leanne walking away with the Doctor.

“Now Leanne, you and Venus will be in charge of the newborn until we can get someone to adopt him. Do you understand that?”

[ATTN: Baby Person Thing, Venus]

Holy mother of... well, Venus. This girl was smokin' hot. Leanne didn't just mean smokin', she meant that her temperature could melt metal hot. God, what was a girl like her doing here at a hospital? Fortunately, Leanne didn't have too much time to think about it. Her shift was almost up, and she only had ten minutes with Venus, really. The first priority, however, was the child... which the Doctor was updating her on, with her walking beside him. Something was drawing her to the child... well, more Venus than the child. She could feel something different about her. Both her and the child.

"Yes, Doctor. I'll do my best... in fact, let me go back to him, make sure he has what he needs before clocking out." Leanne gave a soft smile, as she creeped back into the nursery. The Doctor simply nodded, sighing. Women. They needed to calm down, little kids were little kids...

Leanne walked into the nursery, almost expecting something out of the ordinary. When she saw Venus just sitting there, however, she was almost incredibly disappointed... "So, Venus..." Leanne took the seat beside her. "What are you doing here?"

Venus looked at Leanne, her expression never-changing, the child in her arms the only thing she was focused on, everything else secondary to her real mission. "Oh, my father insisted that I should do nursing, since I have a knack for being very good with people," The other nurse looked at her, disappointed with the story, as it seemed there was nothing out of the ordinary with the other new nurse, the clock ringing in the end of her shift.

"I guess I going now" She said simply as her eyes looked upon the child, walking out the door to the lockers, checking out for the night, the doctor going back to check on Venus. When he came in, the nurse had put the child back into the crib, the doctor happy with her work.

"Well, I guess I can be comfortable with leaving you and Leanne in charge of this newborn, as I got bigger operations and patients to worry about."

Venus nodded, the Doctor replying with the same gesture, leaving the nursery to check out as well, confident in the new nurse's ability. The nurse sighed as she looked down on the child, her fingertips seemingly glowing as he passe dher hand upon the baby's body, the child falling asleep calmly, his vitals as healthy as could be.

"I will always watch over you, my child. I will be your mother, your guide. I give you gifts, yours to figure out and embellish. You will never go astray."

[ATTN: Venus, Baby Person Thing]

Leanne nods in affirmation. Her nodding stopped with a bobbling head, as she spaced out. She was also a little beautiful herself, though she did not hold a candle beside this... goddess. Everything somehow didn't make sense, how could someone this beautiful not have hooked up with a rich husband and live a life of luxury? Now, there's no point in asking about that, since she seems like a pretty adamant woman, but still. "Alright, Doctor!" Actually, it was good that the doctor was leaving, she wanted to probe into Venus' life, though that stupid shift marker made it so that she had to leave...

THAT was when things got incredibly odd. "Um, Venus? You do realize that the child is PROBABLY going to an orphanage..." She scratches her cheek when Venus giggled.

"Yes, but it's best to know that we've given him all we can. You never know." Venus gives her a great big smile, one with beautiful whitened perfect teeth. She loved it when mortals asked her stupid questions like that. "After all, I think we should always be aware that what we do now can affect someone else later." Leanne cocks her head to the side.

"I'm confused."

"My dear, sweet child, you will understand soon." Child? what? Leanne was now full-on confused as she got up, ready to clock out. "You will understand incredibly soon." She giggles. This mortal would be one to watch.

Leanne gave her a confused look, deciding not to question anymore, leaving the nursery for home, though inside her mind, she regained hope in the weird woman, as in maybe something will happen, something that will make her boring life a heck of alot more interesting than it is now.

For the next month or so, the two nurses worked together, both learning more and more about the other, though Venus was the more secretive one, her interest in Leanne growing. She was a smart woman, kind, level-headed, the type she could trust, but alias, the time has come, the child deemed old enough to be given up to one of the local orphanages for the rest of his childhood.

Venus sat in the nursery alone, her eyes looking over the child, concern and sorrow racing through her mind. No matter what she did, other forces over-turned her will to make sure the child would go into safe hands, her powers not as strong as they used to be. She looked up into the ceiling, as if she was staring into the barely star-lit sky over the land that she has bound too since her birth from its oceans. She remembered how she and the others had absolute power over their land, but nowadays, others have drained most, if not all of the control they have over their home.

"Venus...Venus...Venus!"

The woman snapped out of it, the baby crying in her arms, Leanne looking at her with a saddened expression. She felt the same way about the child, as they both tried to make sure his fate would not be one that she had said not so long ago.

"I...I guess I was right. The child is going to be placed in the hospital's closest orphanage, hopefully he will be okay..." She looked at Venus, her expression on the verge of crying.

"Hey... are you going to be okay?"

[ATTN: Venus, Baby Person Thing]

Leanne gulped and sniffled. God, this little boy had been their lives for about thirty freaking days and they were just going to rip him away from them? That wasn't fair. Not at all, but what could she do? This was not an easy thing to do, leave someone you've bonded with... "It's just..." She sniffles again, "He's not gonna remember any of this! This sucks, he won't know that we did all this for him... I stayed up three nights for this child, dang it, I want to be there when he graduates from elementary school!" Leanne begins to break down, sobbing in Venus' lap. She hated everything about this. Her job wouldn't be good for adopting and she was in no position financially to do anything with her child.

Venus just patted her on the head. This baby, true, was a gift... one that would probably go to the wrong parents. Would it be so wrong, however, to set her friend up with a liiiittle bit of cash? Maybe... just, hm... Leanne continued to sob crazily on her lap, ruining her pants.

"Venus, remember what you are there for... you cannot tamper with what the fates have woven for him. If you want his life to change, you must do it the way it has always been done." echoed a voice inside the woman's head, the woman shaking for a moment, gulping as she attempted to comfort the young nurse.

"I guess that's how life works, I wish I could take him for you, but of course, father is quite strict about money... he wants me to earn for myself and not be a moocher like some of my siblings."

Leanne continued to sob, not even regarding the woman's words, her mind too focused on the baby that was lying in the crib, sleeping soundly despite her misery. The doctor came in, an older woman waiting outside, presumably one of the caretakers of the orphanage he was to be placed in.

"You two, get up" he said, Leanne looking at him with a wet face and sore eyes, the doctor rolling them as he waived a paper in her face.

"You have one last chance, Leanne. You can either sign now or forever hold your peace."

[ATTN: Leanne, Venus, Baby Person Thing, Doctor]

Looking up, the new nurse sniffled... What could she do? She couldn't AFFORD to take care of him, heck, she couldn't really afford to take care of herself. Still, something nagged at her. Something told her to sign the sheet, gosh darn the consequences. Something wanted her to sign it and for a moment, she was going to. Motioning to the paper, she grabbed a pen with a mission. Her tear-stained cheeks burned red with a hot passion. She knew she couldn't trust this kid with anyone but herself. It would take a lot of blood, sweat, AND tears, primarily the last two, but she was going to do it. She knew it.

The pen struck the paper, and soon, her signature was on the contract, as she sighed. "I'm gonna get help from all of you guys, right?"

The doctor looked at her, surprised at her finial choice, the old woman watching shaking her head, leaving the area, Venus looking at the girl. She could feel a ripple in the air, as if someone disapproved of the human's choice.

"The fates are reeling, my child. They did not plan for this intervention, someone else's power overwhelmed them."

Venus sighed to herself, the doctor finally speaking as he looked to the child, concerned by how sudden Leanne's decision was. He put a hand on her back, patting it gently, something that looked like a smile opening across his face.

"I can try to get you a raise, enough to get you stable with the child. And if you need checkups for him, call for me. I won't charge you for anything. But please, tell me this..." he said, looking into her eyes, a concerned expression replacing the smile.

"Are you really sure you can handle this?"

[ATTN: Venus, Leanne, Baby Person Thing, Doctor]

Inside Venus' head, an interesting voice appeared. A ghostly voice, almost. She shuddered at the mere voice, and knew immediately who this was. "Come out, you cad, YOU did this." Seething in her mind, she tried to conjure up power to cast her out of the mind, but found that all of their magics were weaker now. Athena was the only one who knew that she could take advantage of this... "Athena, what did you DO?"

A more whimsical voice chimed in. One of great wisdom, yet also one of great mischief. "Poor, poor, POOR Aphrodite. You KNOW as well as I do that this child needs a good role-model. She IS that role-model!" Athena was a smug little girl sometimes, and now was that time. She always had an answer for EVERYTHING. "Besiiiides, we can help her out as well... right?" A wink in her mind appeared as she nudged a little as well.

"No, we CAN'T. You know that we don't have as much power anymore in Greece!" Aphrodite cast off her shell in her mind and snarled. Athena screwed up the whole plan! Now they were going to have to do something about it.

Meanwhile, Leanne smiled a weak, yet powerful smile. "I don't know if I'll be fine or not. But I'll be hung on Mount Olympus if I don't try."