Centuriae has a minion!

Legion the Gallowing

Centuriae

Owner: dalice
the galactic neela
i feel comfort among the stars, among the vastness.
Ria climbed out of her apartment window onto her balcony. Well, "balcony." Her building was adjacent to another building that was shorter, and she was fortunate that the builders had put side windows from that building's roof and upwards. Her apartment was just the right height that she could climb out of it and directly onto the roof - fondly called her balcony! She reached back into her apartment to grab her telescope. She was always tempted to leave it out on the roof permanently - it was Centropolis, no one would mind - but as it wasn't even her building, she decided not to chance it. Her grandfather would never forgive her if she lost it. "Hello? Is there anybody out there?" she asked under her breath, peering into her telescope. She let out a small laugh as the stars twinkled back at her. She loved the twinkling, it always felt like a wave from her grandfather. Since his passing, the stars seemed to twinkle more. He taught her all the constellations ages ago. He often spoke of a rare constellation that Celesse and Itallo told him about during a visit to the Coda Caves. They didn't know much about it having only seen it once themselves, just the shape. They described it as a neela: some stars dotting backwards as horns over a long stretch of stars as the neela's body, and then dotting upwards into the tail. It's quite rare to see as everything has to line up: the season, the weather. Her grandfather had never seen the constellation, lovingly dubbed "Centuriae," a combination of his favorite mythological creature Centaur, and her name - though he always tried to see him! "Him," the constellation felt like a friend after all that time. The cloud coverage would always be the thickest ever, foggy below, completely obscuring it from him every year without fail. She had the same experience; the dreariest night, that would be the night the neela would pass above. She tried the days surrounding the date he was told in case it changed, or they were wrong. After a few years of trying, she decided to take her telescope out every day for an entire year. She didn't have any luck, but she kept a journal of all the lovely constellations she did see! Although she couldn't call her grandfather or go visit him anymore, she still felt close to him. She'll make him so happy one day when she finally sees Centauriae! In the meantime, the stars, and her grandfather, would always be there to twinkle back at her.



credits
profile and story by dalice in april 2023.
stars done by me in GIMP using the default star brush, following placement of stars in hover neela art credited in the next line.
neela art (left on hover) by Choco.
human art by atempause.
font from google fonts. bg from colourlovers.