Prologue.

Tick. Tock.

Tick.

From the glittering abyss of memory a flower sprouted. From out of the fiery roots came a spiraling melody. This is her story. . .

* * *

The Ticking clock was the first sound Alexa heard upon entering. The soft-patter of cave droplets came afterwards, synched to the same uniform rhythm. A dark and musty cavern was revealed next, as her lips seemed to taste the purity of the air. The golden starlight enchanting her ears as out of the shadow stepped a figure. He carried a cloak that enshrouded most of his face and torso. She noticed that it was not any cloak, but one made from the stars. The subtle glows emitting a faint light as the figure began to speak.

"The hands of a clock tick their way into the night. . .

Tick.

Tick.

Tick.

Always on time and never late. Like a spider weaving its web.

It brings me to ask if dreams are not just a reality, that we have not seen? We have the power to make them come to reality if only we believe. Now take my hand and I will show you.

Everything you dream and simply cannot see."

Alexa reached out to the figure and was met in the shadow by his hand. No ordinary hand however, in the shadows only reaching to find a slithering tentacle of starlight. It frightened her to say the least, but she kept her head about her as they sat around a glowing orb. It danced with memories that still lay hidden. Beneath a surface, like the waters she saw when she closed her eyes.

"Alexa's life bloomed on a candlestick." The figure’s words confused her, but they were ever so intriguing. Reverberating off the walls like dancing dragons in winters first snow. Casting the thoughts aside as she prepared herself to listen.

"Travel inside of your mind. Into the unborn dreams which have not yet been sung. The manifested energies lay in this room. Painting the walls of soul with their lingering wills.

The starlight of tomorrow!" Pausing for prolonged effect the figure had indeed excited the part of Alexa that was still young inside. Her skin began to crawl with thoughts of worlds already seen as she once again focused on the displaying lights.

"That embellishes every thought. . . every whisper." Appearing from behind her right shoulder the figure was so near her skin she thought they must be touching. Giving a startled jump she caught her breath before it had the time to run away. Apologizing to the figure as she bid him to continue his tale.

"When you hold light in your mind the make believe is never that far behind." The room was renewed by these words. Casts of tranquil blue lights filled the walls. Painting a portrait of innocence as candied starlight fell from the ceiling. Like shooting stars amidst the canvas that is a blackened summer sky.

"The silky starlight hanging overhead was weaved by the spiders that protect your dreams. They dance and sing just as you and I. Let us shatter the illusion that they make off with your dreams. Why, every one of them still hangs above us. Protected by the light of these innocent creatures."

Alexa took a moment to gaze upwards where she did indeed make out the shifting figures that seemed eternities away from where she stood. Up in the cosmos of this chamber lay three figures that moved in a fluid motion. Much as a clock ticking sounds are how these spiders operate.

Weaving a web of light to catch your dreams. . . and memories. Before they float away. Made up of the ether themselves they wait. For someone to listen? To find their freedom? The questions are endless but they are there indeed.

"I am the eater of stars. The tears you make when you dream." The fanciful words confused Alexa. Would she surely be able to trust such a creature?

That is when the figure removed his cloak. Revealing a mass of tangled webs that made up his body. A face similar to her own and a mass of cosmic black hair that was highlighted by the shooting stars and waves of cosmos. His eyes a veritable sight of magic and wonder as she found herself lost in their infinite spiraling. Their endless waves of ocean that shifted into a starry-sky which shifted again into the spiders that weave their webs. Just as the next shift was sure to occur the creature turned his eyes. "I'm afraid the next is a sight you will have to wait to see."

Anticipation rose in Alexa as she sat and wondered what lay beyond what she could see.

Looking to his torso however she noticed the creatures heart. Juxtaposing the darkness of his exterior was a beautiful mass of crystalline blue. The creatures heart was a stone of magnificent quality. Alexa could only describe it as an electric heart that framed a pastel sky. Floating along innocence as jolts of purity were shot throughout. An electric display of memories and personality.

Alexa knew she could trust this new. . . friend. As he began to speak the nerves faded away from her figure. Melting like an oozing pile of darkness as she felt free.

"With every thought of night a star appears to be caught by that of the spiders in the sky. They weave a dreamcatcher for all the pure thoughts to be displayed."

Pausing as the star eater looked to the orb the fixed image began to move as the ceiling above them shifted as well. As if they were a part of the cosmos.

"Come with me as we open stars. We explore the very tears of your dreams and thoughts once believed to be true. Are looked at. . . from a bird's eye view."

As the figure concluded his speech Alexa sat and waited. The longing in her stomach felt as if it were being pulled by an invisible thread. Pulling her to look closer at the orb as her mind began to slip away. She was being taken somewhere.

Alexa watched as her memories and dreams began to be displayed through the stars. Hazy visions of all she had known.

The last view she took sight of were the glittering patterns of stars above her. Casting a melodic lullaby as she closed her eyes. . . and remembered.

* * *

Broken glass lay in a pile. Coruscating in the corner of a garden as Alexa remembered the day she was born. . . from the perspective of the wind and the trees. The swaying melodies of colors that scattered throughout prisms.

The piles of broken clocks that all told different times lay around them. The Twelve gods that had assembled for high tea after another long year.

Twelve clocks each were broken. One for every hour of the day, so that time would have no effect on their day. This day was theirs and they did not want for it to end.

The gods took their tea displayed along their antique china. Reflecting the golden lights of their three suns. Blue-lights were held all around as monarchs danced in their sparkling lights. Casting reflective colour along the whole scene as conversation and drink took them to another place.

Athena was the first to speak and speak she did. Her intellect far surpasses conversation for she cares not of social decorum. "Such a horrid thing to make yourself what you are not." Her words were directed to Poseidon. Whom had long been in search of a way to make himself into a dragon. Only for the chance to use this tool in war with Hades.

"Oh, great friend! Why the harsh words? I only seek our best interests. Now if you wouldn't mind passing the drink, D? I have found my cup to be emptied once again." Directing his silvery words to Dionysus as the air quivered with conversation.

When the gods partake in conversation the surrounding nature takes notice. "Allow me." Zeus' words took the air like lightning as the elixir was passed to Poseidon by means of the very winds themselves, picking the decanter from its resting position in an effortless grace.

"Too kind of you, you silly old man." Hera's words caressed Zeus' limbs with a gentle slap. The playful way they acted caused the ground to shake. It rattled with delight as the subtle play began.

The gods and goddess' loved to test each others wits as best as they could. Which allowed for a very grand tea party indeed.

"Now, don't forget this old bird Darling D." Demeter outstretched her hands which were perfectly made. Curving around her golden goblet that reminded Alexa of the fruitful bounty of the year as she looked to Dionysus. Her green eyes alive with memories of the years past.

"Too much tea for me I am afraid. Far too much to keep my head on straight." Ares was no ghost to imbibing delight after delight. Being so kind to himself with pleasure that his speech fumbled and was flawed.

"You'll have to slow down over their are-. Or else you'll have to be coming with me tonight. And no one wants that." Aphrodite the grand beauty handed the elixir to Hermes whom accepted gratefully. A rose-blush casting amid the pale-freckled skin of his face.

"May the sun never set on this grand day. Let us drink to the year!" Apollo was jubilant indeed as he raised his tea cup to the sky. His choice was adorned with a gilded sun. Forming it's way into tangles of branches that formed gilded angels along the edges. Framing a curved bow that shot towards a never-ending spiral, seeming to reveal future events through song.

Hephaestus raised his tea cup in a similar fashion. Which held a single lightning bolt. Having broken his he insisted on borrowing zeus'.

"May the sorrow never take us! From Twilight to 'morrow!"Artemis called to the stars as she shouted her words with great pride.

The milk-blue sky was not blotted with sidereal stars. Framing each laugh that was had. Causing the stirring of Alador to increase in frequency. Persephone being the sole goddess to not partake in substances which dimmed her wits looked to the sky. Tones of sorrow cast their way on her face as she rose from her chair. Being the first to leave was what made her number thirteen.

The shaking decanters of starlight Tea grew more unsteady with each clang of a spoon. The ringing pitch in harmony with the smiling stars. A framed memory of a wondrous day. The strong hands of sunlight were like cherubs playing their flutes. Calling to a force greater than they.

Dionysus had indeed brought the very cosmos for them to partake in. A wine of starlight mixed with a blend of Assam tea. Picked just at the peak of the Eclipse.

Causing the gods a rather robust and vociferous laughing fit. All besides Persephone whom had kept her head. So intense were the pangs of euphoria that fits of shouts echoed along the garden and past the hill-line.

Persephone could not hear the sounds fade as she made her way back to her chambers. Wanting to use the time of her freedom as best suited as possible. The orchids around her were candied by the stars.

Their splendid hues framed the entrance to the garden. Yet, only in spring. They took hold of the energy of the gods and blossomed into stars themselves.

Persephone thought it too much of a shame to let them wilt and die this year however. "I shall take only one. The purest of lights. To carry kindness. To carry friendship. To carry. . ." Her last word was not spoken aloud. A secret hidden by laughs. The party was in full-swing.

Persephone knew joy was amplified when she left, for she was just not the same as her kindred. She still however took great pride in being invited every year. To the same wild, magical, and uncontrollable tea party.

With a childish smile she plucked the orchid her fingers first brushed as she began to dance. Carried by the tempo of laughter and sung by the melody of sunshine. Taking the orchid as if it were a friend.

The laughs echoed far enough to follow Persephone back to her chambers. They grew so charismatic that she herself could not help but start laughing. The laughs became so pure that they turned into tears. Which turned into orbs of light, that shifted into beautiful monarchs. Fluttering like spirits and landing along the newly-plucked orchid.

Her sacred 'Chambers of Time' were filled with laughs and she took great pleasure in the fact. The spirits began to melt into the orchid in a buttery display of light, as she began to sing a melody.

The melody took leaps of sadness and turned them into candied joy. Playing along a pale-white background. The strings of her heart seemed to take over at random moments. The song was a beautiful display of all she felt as she laid her eyes to rest.

The orchid rested on her chest and slowly faded. . .

into her heart.

* * *

The laughter still echoed along Persephone's chamber walls as she was lulled to sleep. As she began to dream, something occurred. The joy and honeydew laughs began to form into something greater. Met by the wonder of the dreaming Persephone they were formed into a spirit.

An Unborn spirit only existing in dreams. The dreams Persephone had not yet had. A pulsing wave of starlight flowed to one tree, hidden by the opulent lights of honey. In her garden lay a single tree that bore no fruit.

It had been destroyed by her. The pomegranate tree which held her missing heart.

As the laughs began to cease a single star fell from that tree. . .

Now let us return to when you met me."