Welcome to Gaia! ::

Sekhmet was wandering about the halls of Asylum Academy, both to explore and get to know the place and to alleviate boredom. She wasn't exactly sure what her destination was, or if she was hoping to meet anyone or not. She simply wandered, and didn't think much about what would happen next.

As Sekhmet turned a corner, she suddenly spotted another student. She appeared to be part human and part some sort of bird, and she did not appear amused.

Sekhmet walked a few steps closer, but did not say anything. Not only did the half-human look like she might be unfriendly, but Sekhmet was not one of many words. She decided that, should the girl want to talk to her, she would start a conversation herself.

So Sekhmet simply watched Astrid, waiting for her to do something different. Whether or not this was considered rude Sekhmet did not know, nor would she have likely cared.

"Hello," Sekhmet replied. She could tell the girl was uneasy. That was something that happened a lot when she was around humans. Or, in this case, part-humans. "You are a student, correct? I am. I am new here, and looking around the different corridors." She kept her eyes on the girl, gauging her emotions. Her head was tilted and her gaze was steady. It was not unfriendly, yet somewhat strange and a bit unnerving to many who met her. "I am Sekhmet," she said, slowly and carefully, expecting the other student to reply with her own name.

But before she replied, Sekhmet noticed someting else. Something small, near the girl's shoulder. Her gaze went from the Astrid's eyes to this, trying to figure out what it was.

Sekhmet, wanting to investigate further, approached Astrid and saw that it was indeed a snake. "He should not be afraid," Sekhmet said. "Though most are afraid. I am unsure why, for I have not done any harm to anyone yet." She knew that she very well could, and perhaps the others could sense that. But she had no desire to hurt anyone here, at least as long as she did not feel badly threatened. And with everyone being afraid of her, she did not feel threatened at all.

Sekhmet's eyes went to Hod once again, and she watched him carefully, waiting for him to relax.

Interested, Sekhmet held her hands out for Hod. She knew what snakes were, and had seen them many times before, but she had never held a real, earthly snake.

She took the snake and held him carefully, watching him as she answered Astrid.

"No, I am not from here. I am not really from this world at all. It is a bit confusing. I got an earthly body, and I came here to the Academy to learn." Sekhmet didn't know how to describe where she had come from, at least not to one who had never not been on this plane of existance.

"Something like that. Do you know who the ancient Egyptians were, from Earth? To them, I was a goddess. I suppose that is what I am," Sekhmet said, still seemingly facinated by Hod, keeping her eyes on him instead of Astrid, even as she was talking.

But then she looked up at Astrid, meeting her eyes instead of the snake's. "Would you like him back?" she asked, raising Hod up a few inches to demonstrate that she meant him. "I like him," she stated simply, and left it at that.

"Yes," Sekhmet replied. "Or at least I was, before I got this body and came here. I cannot do quite as much here, but I wanted this experience."

She was unsure if Astrid believed her. Either she didn't believe her or she was shocked. Perhaps it would be better, Sekhmet thought, if the other students didn't believe that she was, or had been, a goddess. She would not go about lying and saying she was something other than she was, but if they did not want to believe her it did not bother her. They must be able to feel better if they don't, she thought.

But Astrid, on further thought, didn't seem to not believe her. She just seemed shocked, and perhaps had a bit of healthy skepticism. She had found that she liked the girl, though she was unsure quite why that was. She did not think that she'd form any sort of friendships at the Academy, at least not with regular students. This wasn't exactly a friendship, at least not yet, but just liking the girl was more than she thought would ever happen to her.

Sekhmet was a bit unsure how to explain being a goddess to a mortal. It had been one of the things she'd mulled over when she had first arrived. She knew that students, and perhaps even teachers, would ask such questions. But how do you put the answers into mortal words? She had never figured that out.

"I suppose, to a mortal, it is like being able to do whatever you would like," she said. "Only it is not always as great as mortals make it out to be. There are other gods and goddesses. Some of them like you and some do not. You have to deal with them. None of you can die. Even though you might like to murder each other, you cannot, and feuds can last forever. It is rather irritating. And then there is having to deal with the mortals, who from time to time worship you. My peak, as I said, was with the ancient Egyptians, though there have been a small few who have also done so throughout the years. Most of the time you do not need to do anything, for they will attribute natural happenings to you. But if you do not intervene now and again, then they lose faith in you and worship others." She realized she was saying quite a bit, and decided to stop the description there before she lost Astrid. Besides, it wasn't even the best way to describe it. But it was the best way that Astrid would understand.

"I wanted to come here for an experience. When you are immortal, you will eventually have time to do everything that you would like to. I wanted to spend time with mortals, and this was the first chance that I got. I have made myself a mortal body before, but never to become like a mortal as I am now. I just simply wanted to do this, and so I did." Being a goddess was something she always was, and she supposed that she could ask Astrid the same question reversed and perhaps she could see why.

"Does that answer your questions?" Sekhmet then asked, hoping that she had covered it clearly enough. Normally she did not care whether mortals understood her or not, but being in the Academy was quite different, and there was something about Astrid that was making Sekhmet like her more and more. Perhaps it was her straightforwardness. Where most mortals simply stared at her with mouths open, Astrid was asking questions and making good use of the little time she had. Yes, Sekhmet decided, that was why she liked her.