The elves look hesitant. Sillinamius babbles earnestly, "We didn't realize you were here, friend Nissa, but this concerns you too. There is some graffiti that ... well, we we have a Wand coming in to remove it, but we thought that the Marshall ... Not knowing you were here, we ..."
He finally stops and Galladhand says, "You should come with us."
Nissa groans, “Why does every creep think I’m straight?”
Her aura glows red. Whether it’s from anger or embarrassment, she’s not even sure.
Tarokh doesn't have spraypaint. Whoever is responsible, brought their cans with them.
The graffiti style doesn't have the sophistication that technologically assisted artists have in Nissa's time. This is 20th century or early 21st century in style.
Nissa’s heart sinks when she realizes what world this graffiti is from.
“Why…? I was nothing but a friend to her.” She doesn’t want to believe it was really her. Maybe someone is framing her to look like it was…
She dismisses her own thought even as it’s forming.
“Wait.” She turns to Sillinamius. “A Wand can remove graffiti? Because if there are things the Wand can do, I should really learn how to do them. Can you teach me… or if not you, whoever’s coming here with that Wand?”
Nissa’s red aura fades. She’s not even mad about the graffiti. If this personal attack prompts Nissa to take proper wand lessons, it’s done more good than harm, as far as she’s concerned.
“Also, unless a Wand can tell me who did this—though I’m pretty sure it’s someone whose name rhymes with Sir Antula—I want a Sword of Truth or a Chalice. I want to get answers. The porn cartoon bothers me, but not so much I want it erased immediately. I want it erased after we use every tool we can to find out everything we can.”
Nissa turns to L.C.
“Do you agree, Marshall Preston, that we investigate this drawing thoroughly, rather than accuse…” She can’t even bring herself to say her name. A tear of molten gold falls. “She was a friend. I just want to be sure it was really her before I confront her… and I’d love to be wrong. I want to be wrong.”
Theo lays down in the bed and rests his eyes, waiting for The Queen of Blade's return.
** spoiler omitted **
Theo lifts up the matriarch higher so he can kiss her belly. "Will I not be able to publicly acknowledge this one either?"
Unity travel back to the ship along with Henri. They're somewhat surprised when he doesn't go straight to bed. "Well, you can stay up, but *we* are going to get caught up on the however-many-hours-of-sleep-we're-missing starting right now," they say and continue to their room.
They don't even think about changing to their bipedal form. It's useful, but it just doesn't feel right having only one head. It's so... limiting, seeing through only one set of eyes, having to look in only one direction.
But for now, what all their eyes are doing is closing. They sprawl out on the floor and drift off to sleep...
Nissa’s heart sinks when she realizes what world this graffiti is from.
“Why…? I was nothing but a friend to her.” She doesn’t want to believe it was really her. Maybe someone is framing her to look like it was…
"Who?" asks L.C.
“Wait.” She turns to Sillinamius. “A Wand can remove graffiti? Because if there are things the Wand can do, I should really learn how to do them. Can you teach me… or if not you, whoever’s coming here with that Wand?”
"Wands, on this world, get training ..." says Sillinamius trying not to sound patronizing.
"They have a lot of Wands in Tarokh," says L.C. "But only one of them is similar to yours. And most of their holders train for years as spellcasters before receiving one."
“Also, unless a Wand can tell me who did this—though I’m pretty sure it’s someone whose name rhymes with Sir Antula—I want a Sword of Truth or a Chalice. I want to get answers. The porn cartoon bothers me, but not so much I want it erased immediately. I want it erased after we use every tool we can to find out everything we can.”Nissa turns to L.C.
"That would require a Wand with some skill," says Galladhand.
“Do you agree, Marshall Preston, that we investigate this drawing thoroughly, rather than accuse…” She can’t even bring herself to say her name. A tear of molten gold falls. “She was a friend. I just want to be sure it was really her before I confront her… and I’d love to be wrong. I want to be wrong.”
"You think Tarantula did this?" asks L.C. "I'm not sure ... I don't want this distracting from ..."
L.C. pauses and thinks and replies, "I don't want our relationship to hinder TAROT business in any way. Get back to work and let me request Tarantula return at to Tarokh at her earliest convenience. She'll probably be on the team anyhow. I'll talk to her."
She looks a little uncomfortable, "There isn't anything between you I need to know about though? When you were on World 16, you two didn't have a fling? It's fine if you did, but I want all the facts when I talk to her."
** spoiler omitted **
Unity travel back to the ship along with Henri. They're somewhat surprised when he doesn't go straight to bed. "Well, you can stay up, but *we* are going to get caught up on the however-many-hours-of-sleep-we're-missing starting right now," they say and continue to their room.
They don't even think about changing to their bipedal form. It's useful, but it just doesn't feel right having only one head. It's so... limiting, seeing through only one set of eyes, having to look in only one direction.
But for now, what all their eyes are doing is closing. They sprawl out on the floor and drift off to sleep...
"Now. On to the problem", Theo adds with a gently hug to the matriarch on his lap. "You will be the mother of two godlings. One could be seen as a 'Child of Fate' or 'A Gift from The Gods'. Two godling children, well, that just shows a preference."
The Olympian gently places The Queen of Swords down on the bed, while Theo gets up and paces the bedroom. "Now. I have made it clear I wish to life here on Tarokh. You, as Queen of Sword, no doubt rule over part of it." Theo's features darken, then turn to stare at the matriarch.
"I will not lie to say I resented you for not allowing me to publicly claim Caliburn as my son." The godling paused, then continued. "But with you being a mother to our second child. I'm willing to forgo any hardened feelings toward you. We can start anew."
Again, Theo paused, choosing his words carefully. "You are The Queen of Swords, and I have always respected your authority. This is your kingdom and you, of course, will rule it as you see fit. I wish to stand by you publicly. Officially. As your consort. The Consort of Swords, if you will. Since you will be showing your new motherhood soon, make it official. Consider it a political and diplomatic marriage. I will advise, but the final say is yours. And we can create as large a family as you wish." Looking down at his hi-tech Grecian Armor, Theo smirks. "My wardrobe will likely improve. But I will continue to journey into The Worlds, saving the multiverse, and always come home to your loving embrace, and the laughter of our children."
The Olympian paused, awaiting The Queen's response.
** spoiler omitted **...
** spoiler omitted **
Later, as the couple lays entwined in each others arms, Theo asks, "Then what do you plan to do? About Caliburn? About our new baby? About us?"
Theo's tone indicates his serious about getting some answers.
Nissa kind of ignores the chiding. Since Mother demands honesty of her, her knee-jerk reaction is introspection. She actually isn’t the best person to wield the wand, and she hasn’t made any effort to train properly…
Her answer to L.C. is immediate. “No… and a fling would not have been fine. And especially not on World 16—I was worried about you, what that demon was doing…” Nissa thinks about how she and Tarantula were on that first mission.
“I befriended her. I kinda guessed… well, y’know? I was right about you too, right? But she knew how madly in love with you I was. Maybe you remember saying some awful things to me before, but I knew then it was the demon.”
She tells L.C. about her conversation with Tarantula…
“I told Tarantula I found Void inside your brain—’my girlfriend’s brain,’ is how I put it—and she said ‘that’s cool.’ Awkwardly, y’know. And I told her about us. Then we talked about the women in the Aliens and I think we both agreed Vasquez was hot.” There isn’t any detail Nissa will leave out if encouraged to prattle on. She starts to tear up again. “I was trying to help her meet other women. I tried fixing her up with April… maybe that was a bad idea to meddle. But we were friends and I helped April change her life. They were cute together—
“—And Tarantula knew about us. Me and her was just not a possibility. I wasn’t interested in her romantically at all. I just thought it was cool to have like a BFF I could talk to about stuff that none of the guys on my team wanna talk about.”
She looks again at the graffiti. And she remembers…
“The photo shoot!” Nissa’s aura glows red—definitely from embarrassment—as she recalls making those sexy poses on Greer’s helmet while Tarantula snapped photos. “I told Tarantula how my body was… well, I just wasn’t feeling confident about being like this. She said something about Tinkerbell getting whatever she wants from the lost boys, and she had me pose while she took pictures. She was flirty. I was clear about being faithful to you.”
She flutters close to the word SLUT.
“Is it because I refused your unwanted advances?” she yells at her own phallus-straddling image. “That makes me the opposite of a slut!”
** spoiler omitted **
Unity dream that they're hunted.
All of them are running, pursued through forest, through jungle, through plain. Some of those hunting them are Peters. Some are Moreaus. They can outrun them, outwit them, but they never stop coming.
They know they could turn and fight, but even now, they're not sure they want to just kill them. And so they run, and run...
They can't run forever. Eventually, their patience runs out. First one of them, then another, then all of them turn on their pursuers. From a thousand throats they snarl and roar. Flesh and bone tear and break beneath their claws, their fangs, their talons and beaks.
But the clones are endless. For every one killed, two more take their place, firing darts, bolts, bullets, lasers.
...but Unity are endless to, and thus, so is the Hunt.
*********************
Unity dream that they're hunting.
They sniff at the ground and look at the air tracking their prey through the madness of the Shuffle. They prowl through kaleidoscopic colors, paws finding purchase on what could be and what has never been. Soon enough they smell they're close. They lift a talon and rip open a rift and leap through, pouncing on Moore in the midst of giving a speech to the Martian Tripods.
*********************
Unity dream they're both hunter and hunted
They are every beast, every bird, every fish and insect. They cover the world, seeing everything from a trillion eyes. They scream as they sink their fangs into themself, they graze and sting and are ...
...and it is too much. Too much!
“It doesn’t make sense that Tarantula would manipulate me that way… and if somebody could make a Fake You, they could make a Fake Her as well.”
It sounds convoluted, as far as evil plans go… but then, “It really wouldn’t make sense for Tarantula to drop a hint by making the phallus a symbol of World 16. A dildo would’ve been easier to draw, and it wouldn’t point directly at her world.”
Nissa grimaces as she pictures Greer commanding a starship, pointing to his planet with a fuchsia didlo and commanding his pilot, “Home, Tarantula.” Tarantula steers the ship homeward using a World-16-tower-shaped control stick.
Getting back to all the fake stuff, Nissa wonders, “Did that portal to the field of Dawnflowers even exist?”
"Well, we can find out. But, if there is a possibility that she isn't who TAROT thinks she is, we should investigate further ... as soon as she is back here," says L.C.
"So, should we get a Wand to erase this or, perhaps, we can cover it with a tapestry for investigation later," says Silinamius.
Yawning but also heading to the bed, despite the relative safety of the ship, Zellgato keeps to built up habits. Placing a small stickyalarm on the door that pulls if it slides open. Sitting down on the floor and meticiulously dismantling his rifle pice by piece until what remains is the frame of his old captiains gone. He spends an hour polishing pieces and reseating the materials.
Is is therapeutic for him, a solid stable piece of his life connecting his past life as a merc, and his current life as.... Whatever his job is now at this point. He hesistates to the label of hero. Someone with enough blood on their hands should not be lauded.
Ultimately he decides he's the hero's assistant. A tether for them and the realistic requirements of living in a multiverse of violence.
Shaking his head, and taking out a small container of alcohol he sips on it. Thinking is painful and tiring. So he takes a long shower, washing off the grime and sweat.
He considers making breafkast in the morning if the ship has a galley. Waffles perhaps?
"Well, we can find out. But, if there is a possibility that she isn't who TAROT thinks she is, we should investigate further ... as soon as she is back here," says L.C.
"So, should we get a Wand to erase this or, perhaps, we can cover it with a tapestry for investigation later," says Silinamius.
Nissa says. “Your call, L.C. I should take a bath and lay down a bit.”
Facing L.C., she gives her a look that—she hopes—makes her a lot more desirable than the porn-cartoon version of her.
“But if you want to ‘talk’” Nissa’s eyes flicker toward the graffiti behind her. “You know where I’ll be.”
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
Unity wakes in the darkness with a start.
But just the one of him. He can feel the rest of themself still dreaming, waking thoughts and dreams mixing oddly in their total consciousness, but he found they could keep his waking thoughts separate enough to mostly make sense if they focused on it. It would be a neat trick to be able to do this at will, but he suspects it wouldn't be easy to do it deliberately.
As the images of the last dream continued to drift through their mind, he pondered if it actually meant something. They often dreamt of being in many bodies but one mind. They'd thought it was just... symbolic, a way their subconscious expressed the truth of them being many but one, but... what if it was more? What if 'Unity must reign' truly meant becoming some kind of... worldwide consciousness? If their mind started bleeding out into the world around them when they arrived...
His desire to shiver in discomfort brings no movement. Ah, he may be awake but they are too asleep to move... interesting. But their dreams take the form of their fear, of their body breaking up into more and more animals that spread to cover the world.
This isn't helping. It takes barely any effort at all to let his consciousness drift back off into the sleep the rest of them never left.
**********************
Unity dream they're enormous
They hover next to a moon the size of half their body on many wings, gazing at the dead world below them. But the world is not truly dead. After all, all its life is a part of them now, preserved in some of their appendages and heads and internal organs. Isn't it better this way? The world's life, sooner or later, would have died, but now they will be immortal with Unity.
They turn their gazes to the stars, pondering what next to preserve.
**********************
Unity awake trembling.
That had been worse. Well, surely having such terrible dreams about what was to come would make whatever terrible truths they were about to learn feel a little less awful? Doubtful. They sigh. Clearly, they have too many *maybes* about what they're about to learn and not enough solid evidence. And they hadn't even dreamed about whether or not it had been the right choice to not try to kill Dr. Moreau while they were there.
...
This is not a suggestion to their subconscious!
But they can tell they're still tired. Their dreams have interrupted the sleep they need. Well... better try to get more sleep anyway.
They adjust their sprawl on the floor slightly, shuffling wings and tail and legs around a bit to find another comfortable position. And surprisingly enough, no more dreams come.
Henri pauses, "Mr. Rabbit. Have you ever met a surgeon/physician named Moreau? Incredibly smart man, operates a medical facility in the Shuffle sponsored by an organization that I only know as OMM. Anything you know about any of these things will help us in our next mission."
After the discussion with Mr. Rabbit, Henri returns to himself in Gay Deceiver. Aloud, he says, "Very sorry, Gay Deceiver. Now I'm truly back. What have you learned while I was away?"
Yawning but also heading to the bed, despite the relative safety of the ship, Zellgato keeps to built up habits. Placing a small stickyalarm on the door that pulls if it slides open. Sitting down on the floor and meticiulously dismantling his rifle pice by piece until what remains is the frame of his old captiains gone. He spends an hour polishing pieces and reseating the materials.
Is is therapeutic for him, a solid stable piece of his life connecting his past life as a merc, and his current life as.... Whatever his job is now at this point. He hesistates to the label of hero. Someone with enough blood on their hands should not be lauded.
Ultimately he decides he's the hero's assistant. A tether for them and the realistic requirements of living in a multiverse of violence.Shaking his head, and taking out a small container of alcohol he sips on it. Thinking is painful and tiring. So he takes a long shower, washing off the grime and sweat.
He considers making breafkast in the morning if the ship has a galley. Waffles perhaps?
"Well, we can find out. But, if there is a possibility that she isn't who TAROT thinks she is, we should investigate further ... as soon as she is back here," says L.C.
"So, should we get a Wand to erase this or, perhaps, we can cover it with a tapestry for investigation later," says Silinamius.
Nissa says. “Your call, L.C. I should take a bath and lay down a bit.”
Facing L.C., she gives her a look that—she hopes—makes her a lot more desirable than the porn-cartoon version of her.
[dice=Supermodel]d20+17
“But if you want to ‘talk’” Nissa’s eyes flicker toward the graffiti behind her. “You know where I’ll be.”
L.C. and Nissa find time in the afternoon and evening to 'talk'. Despite her work as Marshall being busy, she makes time.
** spoiler omitted **
After the discussion with Mr. Rabbit, Henri returns to himself in Gay Deceiver. Aloud, he says, "Very sorry, Gay Deceiver. Now I'm truly back. What have you learned while I was away?"
"Sometimes I feel you don't pay enough attention to me," says G.D. still sulking even after Henri hangs up on Mr. Rabbit.
Eventually, Nissa’s time with L.C. is actually a talk…
“Well…” Without getting into specifics of that past few hours, “…this bodily change is obviously different, and it seems we’ve figured out how to make this work.
“But I think it might work better if I stop doing away missions for a while.”
Nissa doesn’t bloviate. She gets right to the chase, that she’ll stick around on Tarokh.
“—and I don’t want to get in the way of your duties, so my thought is to spend the work hours training to use the Wand properly.”
Other thoughts include being on-call in case the team needs her wand to bail them out of a situation—“like how I helped those astronauts on Apollo 69 who were circling Uranus.”
And Nissa proposes a vacation. “—to that all-female world. I think you’d enjoy meeting our alts. Of course I mean after I’ve trained more with the wand.”
And Nissa does intend to rescue Alashine. But she wants to wait a bit on this proposal. Traveling to the moment Alashine’s soul was taken means she can time-travel from any point. So definitely, this mission will take serious preparation, a deeper understanding of World XX, and… she wants to be sure L.C. is comfortable with this rescue. After all, L.C. is still the Marshall. Alashine being brought to present day won’t disrupt any of that. She may want Darkstar’s opinion on this too. But this can wait.
For now, she needs to tell the team…
“What do I tell ’em? I mean, I really tried to stick with the team even when it…” The quiet part is: it almost killed our relationship.
Nissa wants to say something to L.C. about putting her first. Instead, she just embraces her to the extent that a three-inch-tall fairy can.
"Sometimes I feel you don't pay enough attention to me," says G.D. still sulking even after Henri hangs up on Mr. Rabbit.
"It feels that way sometimes, no matter how time I spend with the ones I want to be with. All I can do is be with you when I can be with you. I'm here now. And I'm hoping you can come with us on our next trip. How prepared are you for an excursion to a primitive planet?"
L.C. thinks about this a bit. She thinks long enough that Nissa might wonder if she didn't like the idea. When she finally speaks she says, "This all makes a lot of sense, and it isn't such a bad idea. We've got a lot of people wanting to join the team and some of them think there are too many active members from World Zero ... It wouldn't hurt to let someone join from another world if the team wants it ..."
"Just tell them," says L.C. "They've survived dimensional collapses, monsters from mythology, and explosive clones. I think they can deal with not seeing you as often."
"Sometimes I feel you don't pay enough attention to me," says G.D. still sulking even after Henri hangs up on Mr. Rabbit."It feels that way sometimes, no matter how time I spend with the ones I want to be with. All I can do is be with you when I can be with you. I'm here now. And I'm hoping you can come with us on our next trip. How prepared are you for an excursion to a primitive planet?"
"I have proto-Indo-European in the language database, if that's what you mean," says G.D.
After some considerable time, Theo leaves The Queen of Sword's Palace and walks to TAROT HQ to meet up with his team.
Nissa smiles at L.C. By the time the team is able to assemble, she’s already had her overly emotional moments either with L.C., or in a moment to herself (to spare L.C.)…
Nissa gently flutters to him. She is dressed in a backless chiton with a golden laurel in her hair.
“Father,” she starts—more formally than usual, the way she addresses The Dawnflower as “Mother” in prayer. That’s not to say Theo will ever be Serenrea’s equal—not because he is a demi-god. Theo is present. He is of the flesh, and Nissa can speak to him, whereas her Mother has only spoken to her in dreams.
Only now does it dawn on her how Theo gave her something she never had: a biological parent interested in being in her life. With this thought, she regrets what she has to say. And, she says it because she must:
“I need to leave the team for a while.” She’s not sure how to explain it, but she knows when the thought first dawned on her. “Someone tagged a wall with graffiti that said I’m a slut. It depicted me… well, like in one of Pah’s filthy comics. It honestly bothers me less than it probably should.
“But then these elves that discovered started dropping thinly-veiled jabs about my lack of Wand-training, and I was kind of half-ignoring them, half-agreeing but silently excusing by busy life. And—” Ensuring it’s just her and her dad before she says this next part. “—I was kinda distracted, hoping that obscene drawing of me might give L.C. an idea. Not the specific idea implied by the drawing, but… the gist of it.
“Anyway…” Awkward pause. “…I came close to losing L.C. I almost gave up. I almost convinced myself that it would be better for her. That I didn’t want love. That this whole demigoddess thing—and the fairy body—made me so far from human I needed to just forget about love, and just be Mother’s instrument. I had this whole crazy idea that Sarenrae saved me so I could do her work—which is true, partly.
“But when you left me with L.C., you said ‘have fun.’ I know you meant it casually, but it came off as Fatherly Advice that I didn’t even know I needed.” She doesn’t talk about her evening with L.C. But from the way she is blushing rosy-red, it’s apparent that she’s a girl who doesn’t kiss and tell. “So, unless my Mother appears to me in a dream, I’m going to stick to my Father’s advice for now.”
“I need to leave the team for a while.” She’s not sure how to explain it, but she knows when the thought first dawned on her. “Someone tagged a wall with graffiti that said I’m a slut. It depicted me… well, like in one of Pah’s filthy comics. It honestly bothers me less than it probably should."
The jolliness in Theo's eyes dimmed. Nissa could see Zeus's influence in his Father's eyes when he got angry. First the rumble, then the lightning.
“But then these elves that discovered started dropping thinly-veiled jabs about my lack of Wand-training, and I was kind of half-ignoring them, half-agreeing but silently excusing by busy life. And—”[/b] Ensuring it’s just her and her dad before she says this next part. “—I was kinda distracted, hoping that obscene drawing of me might give L.C. an idea. Not the specific idea implied by the drawing, but… the gist of it."
"Well, they're gonna fuc*king die", The Olympian growled, looking into the distance.
“Anyway…” Awkward pause. “…I came close to losing L.C. I almost gave up. I almost convinced myself that it would be better for her. That I didn’t want love. That this whole demigoddess thing—and the fairy body—made me so far from human I needed to just forget about love, and just be Mother’s instrument. I had this whole crazy idea that Sarenrae saved me so I could do her work—which is true, partly.
“But when you left me with L.C., you said ‘have fun.’ I know you meant it casually, but it came off as Fatherly Advice that I didn’t even know I needed.” She doesn’t talk about her evening with L.C. But from the way she is blushing rosy-red, it’s apparent that she’s a girl who doesn’t kiss and tell. “So, unless my Mother appears to me in a dream, I’m going to stick to my Father’s advice for now.”
Still upset, Theo offered Nissa a finger to land on. As the Subatomic Bombshell landed, Theo gently gave Nissa a big kiss. "If you need help, you call me. Contact me.I know you're a big girl, and can handle most things. But you're my daughter. And I'm here if you need me."
After receiving the kiss, Nissa gives her father a pat on the nose. She remains seated on his finger and says, “You don’t need to kill anyone over a petty insult. But I appreciate that you seriously would take defending my honor that far.”
Theo smiled. "We're a part of The Olympian Gods, my dear. Pettiness is Our Birthright!"
"I have proto-Indo-European in the language database, if that's what you mean," says G.D.
”That may be of use. We don’t know what their language is - or if they have a language, truthfully, though I definitely believe they do. Probably similar to what we are using now… but no, I’m thinking dinosaurs and large predators. I’m thinking no refueling or repair stations. We need to be completely self-sufficient, our team. And that includes you. What do we need to have on board to accomplish this?”
"Obviously we need shipboard weapons! Missiles that can shoot dinosaurs," says G.D. sounding horrified and excited.
"Yes, I agree. Some offensive capabilities would be wise."
"Yes, I agree. Some offensive capabilities would be wise."
G.D. starts listing potential weapons and their likely offensive capacity against dinosaurs. Any attempt to discuss defensive capacity is quickly meet with rebuttals like, "We don't need them!" And, "I can blast them all!" And "If I had a lasers, they'd never get that close". The conversation about how different weapons would fare against different dinosaurs, one-sided although it may be, lifted G.D.'s mood and alleviated her loneliness.
Henri nods and makes agreeable noises as she talks. When she finally winds down a bit, he says, ”I have never seen an offense so effective that it prevents every attack and I’m concerned that dinosaurs are not the only threat. But I definitely have hopes to empower you for offense. I haven’t slept for over a day. While you investigate options and possible sources, I need some sleep. Then we can talk about how we can obtain and install something. My friend at the Away Market might be very helpful. I need to visit him tomorrow and would like to introduce the two of you. Would you like that? I like keeping you secret from most people because surprise is a great weapon, but this task requires more knowledge - and connections - than I currently have.”
Thinking… Maybe the Marshall has resources we can leverage, but I don’t want interrupt Nissa’s visit so soon.