The small army of godlings and semi-divine young people gathers around Theo and Enyo and Nissa. They seem kind of pumped up, having thought they were about to go into battle, but they're turning that potential fury into enthusiastic greetings. "It's the mighty Theo!" yells someone you don't know. "And Nissa" adds Adon, who you do know.
Someone throws a rock at Wensworth. Adon and Enyo tell them to knock it off. The robots get a lot of attention from the men, who clearly don't understand what they're seeing.
The tour of World 7's TAROT HQ begins almost immediately after Nissa's bath . Enyo grabs a large enough towel and then reminds the guys to grab theirs as well. "For frick's sake, what is this a frat house?" Enyo asks; they laugh.
As you walk out of the sauna, you look out on a view of the city of Athens, but you soon realize that those are murals. "We're still in the basement," explains one of the men to Nissa. "Simple magic."
Nissa decides that she will bathe in a pool.
She transforms to her halfling self, and is at first in full valkyrie armor. But as she removes her gun belt she lets her light fade, and her armor soon becomes a sundress. She slips off her clearweave armor, neatly piling her gear before the sundress fades, leaving Nissa bikini clad.
This is how she wants to be at the beach. Just like those models in the Caribbean. But looking at Enyo, Nissa says in a tone of resignation, “When in Rome…”
She lets her light fade. All that remains of her stellar armor are a few feathers protruding from Nissa’s bare shoulder blades. The feathers are red and gold, and they emit no light. Aside from that, Nissa is completely nude.
She has refrained from nude shots throughout her career, and is not crazy about being in an almost all-make presence. But the alternative would be to remain clothed, and how fair is that to Enyo.
And it may be for herself to an extent. The stellar armor has always forced Nissa to cover her flesh. She needed a tea cup just to take a bath!
Despite the only other nude woman in the room being a demigoddess, and Nissa not being half a god, or even half-a-woman-tall, she walks tall in terms of confidence.
She walks over to Enyo. “I have not bathed in my human form since the day I got my powers. I know Theo and I will probably need to get back to the others or use the mirror to tell ’em we’re okay. But if you don’t mind, I really would love a good soak.”
"You didn't tell Verve and Charles that you were coming?" asks Adon.
Nissa doesn’t need a towel to cover up. As her aura begins to glow, various states of bikini-clad cover her until her golden bikini includes a wrap skirt. (If the godlings wear just towels, Nissa stays like this. She’ll wear the sundress if they dress, and the valkyrie armor if they don uniforms.) The feathers on her back glow red like ember when Nissa is bikini-clad.
When a man says ‘simple magic,’ Nissa replies, “Magic isn’t simple to me. I’m not sure I even did anything with the wand. I mean, Theo thought to come here—and I kinda guessed he would, so I thought of a different place figuring I’d know who’s driving.
“I am glad we’re here though!” Nissa has a bit of an inquisitive look, but she asks no question. She does have an answer to one: “We kinda teleported by accident.”
"You didn't tell Verve and Charles that you were coming?" asks Adon.
“I am glad we’re here though!”[/b] Nissa has a bit of an inquisitive look, but she asks no question. She does have an answer to one: “We kinda teleported by accident.”
"I don't know exactly what happened", Theo began to explain to those who were interested. "I got called up by Nissa's cleavage to the 'Deck, only to find a portal had appeared. I was attempting to use the chalice to find out where the portal lead, and it engulfed us."
"We just came back from a mission where we saved an Atlantean Prince from some kind of temporary status." Theo pulls up his graphite carbon skin armor to show the still fresh shark bite welts. "Uncle Poseidon gave us his blessing for the mission, but a pod of sharks controlled by some atlantean device didn't want The prince rescued.BY THE GODS!! I wonder if I can thank him personally here. Or! Even see ..Dad?!"
Charles shivers again. "So Theo and Nissa went through the portal? Didn't any of the rest of you get a bad feeling from it?"
He looks around. "The wand was what opened it up, right? Did it go with them? I don't see it, so I'm guessing yes. Which... probably means we're stuck and can't help them."
He crosses his lower arms, tail drooping just a bit behind him. "I hope they're all right. I just... that portal gave me the chills."
Shrugs "All of these portals are wrong to me, shouldn't exist, shouldn't be a thing. So, not really a bad feeling any different than the rest.
Still rather pertrubed by how he's gotten used to Charles' unique physiology so quickly, Zellgato continues "Nissa seems hard to pin down, and apparently Theo has a cup that helps him out. Seems like those two have the best shot in general. Nissa handled the whole time slip dimension conversation well."
"Wait! You guys have a Wand now!? That's awesome, but the religious members of Council are going to have a conniption. They'll be like 'But who is their Celestial!'." Enyo is being loud and dramatic. The others laugh.
When Theo asks about visiting Mount Olympus, Enyo pauses and thinks, "You'd need to use your wand again, once it recharges. That can take a few hours ... sometimes half-a-day. They're very finicky. But ...." Enyo turns and corners Theo. "The Wand opens the gate and the Cupholder or Chalicebearer or whatever steers the journey. It usually takes you where you truly WANT to go. And, it brought you here. To me. So, Cuz', tell the truth. I'm the greatest and you missed me and that's why you're here."
Everyone starts talking about how horrible Atlanteans are. The phrase "Arrogant pirate scum!" gets tossed around.
Enyo sees Theo was excited about the trip to, potentially, see his father, "If you want me to take you to Mount Olympus, I can. It's a short trip so our Wand would recharge in like an hour, but I'm not talking to certain divine beings there, so I have a place I'll wait there. You can go up alone."
"Well, there's that", Theo nodded, "plus your description of World 7 sounded like everything a godling like me could dream of. I'm so glad we have a couple hours for the wand to recharge, because I want to experience as much of this world as I can!"
Nissa says to Enyo, “I guess I shouldn’t be part of that family stuff either. Ummm...... I don’t suppose Artemis is someone you could introduce me to? I mean, hanging out with you is fine regardless of what we do, Enyo. I’m on a planet I’ve never been to! I’m under a different sun! Errr... Apollo’s sun?
“But anyway, I got this friend with Artemis-themed artwork all over her house. So if you’d have more fun showing me around than just waiting for Theo’s visit to end, and you’re not sure what to show me... that’s the first thing that popped in my head.” With a shrug, she admits, “From the little I’ve heard, and it might not be accurate information, but it sounds like she only wants women around, so I thought if it’s just you and me...”
Her voice trails off. It does occur to Nissa that she’s asking a demigoddess to take her to see a goddess. On Regular Earth, Nissa wouldn’t be able to meet a movie star. (Well, some might meet her now because of the unique and flashy superpower.)
Kai nods at Charles's assessment. "I don't know about being stuck, but yes, we cannot help them from this side at the moment." Kai does not look pleased at the prospect. "Well, at least we know that the wand works. Let's see what readings we got from the flight deck."
Enyo sees Theo was excited about the trip to, potentially, see his father, "If you want me to take you to Mount Olympus, I can. It's a short trip so our Wand would recharge in like an hour, but I'm not talking to certain divine beings there, so I have a place I'll wait there. You can go up alone."
"But surely Enyo", Theo said slightly down-hearted, "one can't just 'Go-And-Visit' Mt. Olympus, right. One has to be summoned, or risk The Gods's wraith."
Enyo sees Theo was excited about the trip to, potentially, see his father, "If you want me to take you to Mount Olympus, I can. It's a short trip so our Wand would recharge in like an hour, but I'm not talking to certain divine beings there, so I have a place I'll wait there. You can go up alone.""But surely Enyo", Theo said slightly down-hearted, "one can't just 'Go-And-Visit' Mt. Olympus, right. One has to be summoned, or risk The Gods's wraith."
"Like I said, I'm not exactly doing the family thing right now. I'm not getting along with Dad and ... If you want to go, I'll take you there, but why not just hang with us. We could ... Oh! Oh oh! Chariot racing!! Let's crash some chariots!!" Enyo gets very excited about the idea.
Theo smiles. "After we get a bite to eat, I think I'd like to go to a temple district real quick. Give some offerings. After that, maybe some chariot racing!"
Seeing her question is ignored, Nissa decides to try a different request that isn’t overstepping.
“Sayyy... before we go and race any chariots, is there a mirror we can use to contact...?” It occurs to Nissa that mirrors can only contact the person who holds the other mirror. “...the Marshall? Or someone who can contact the Marshall? I just want the others to know we’re safe.”
Adon answers Nissa, "A mirror? We have one, but we almost never use it. You know that everything you say on one of those goes straight to World 2, right? They record everything."
"Well, I mean, stuck as in we can't go help them," Charles says. "I just hope they're all right."
Kai nods at Charles's assessment. "I don't know about being stuck, but yes, we cannot help them from this side at the moment." Kai does not look pleased at the prospect. "Well, at least we know that the wand works. Let's see what readings we got from the flight deck."
[dice=Engineering]1d20+17
Kai gathers a lot of data from the Flight Deck. The instruments are designed to gather the samekind of data that Mr. Portly had once attempted to steal and send to Ms. Gray on World 12. They gather information about the intensity of the radiation and the space between the pulses it gave off when it created the gate. Kai has the address for another world.
Theo smiles. "After we get a bite to eat, I think I'd like to go to a temple district real quick. Give some offerings. After that, maybe some chariot racing!"
"You want food?" Enyo asks with a grin, "We've got food! To the kitchens!!"
She leads her troop of towel-clad godlings to a very well-stocked kitchen.
The more you see of it the more certain you are that the World 7 TAROT HQ is just a giant, very comfortable, frat house.
The godlings, who must also be distant relatives like Enyo, open the deepest fridge Theo has ever seen. In the distance, The Olympian could see three gallons of orange juice, along with breads, pop, cheeses, olives, cold cuts, and some foods Theo could immediately recognize.
A feast fit to welcome a frat-brother/godling/long-lost relative begins. The frat brothers talk a lot about monsters they've slain, bull's they tamed, boars they've hunted, and man-eating birds whose eggs they've stolen. Enyo tells them that you guys beat Grendel and they seem reasonably impressed, "...but, Grendel's no hydra ..." points out one, as if they wouldn't be really impressed unless you fought one of those.
"Say, how do you guys feel about minotaurs?" Theo asked, taking a bite of a stacked-high ham and cheese sandwich.
Nissa isn’t fazed at all by the mirror being a recording device. “I get that I’m kinda ordinary on your world, but in Massachusetts, I’m just famous enough that I can’t walk down the street without people whipping out cons and pressing record.”
She whips out her comm, showing the great shot of herself with the portal behind her. “I gotta admit, I am pretty photogenic now that I’m accustomed to the camera. This is me when I told Theo about the portal. Best. Selfie. Eva!”
If she can somehow get the the mirror after the feast, she will. For now, she’s content to listen and eat a little, just to be polite.
The godlings are more interested in the technology than in the selfie. Although, a few of them do smile at the selfie. They've never seen a comm before. These are the guys who brought a motorcycle chariot to Smallville 1938 thinking it would blend in.
After dinner, they take out the mirror. It's kept in a wooden box wrapped in purple silk.
Nissa adjusts the glow of her armor, wanting to appear more Valkyrie-like as she talks to the World 2 elves, she supposed.
“Hi, I’m Nissa van Donk, calling from World 7. Any chance I can chat with Dr. L.C. Preston of World... uhh... Unnumbered? If you don’t know her, Marshall Alashine works too.”
A pale elven face appears and stares at Nissa passively then fades. The Marshall's face appears 10 minutes later.
She's surprised to hear from Nissa but willing to pass messages along.
Nissa says, “So, uhhhh... I think we aced the celestial’s test. Theo sipped from the chalice and now we’re with Enyo, Adon and the gang.
“We need to wait a day for the wand to recharge. Can you tell L.C. we’re okay, and will be back tomorrow?”
Those on the Flight Deck soon see L.C. running in with a mirror wrapped in purple silk, straightening her hair, unwrapping the mirror, and greeting the Marshall, Alashine.
The Marshall inform you that Nissa and Theo are partying in a frat house on World 7 and will be back tomorrow.
Kai manages to keep a straight face at the news, then goes back to work on Legion Mk II together with Ron, EIG and whoever else wants to help.
The tension goes out of Charles's shoulders (do you call where his lower arms join his chest 'shoulders'?) at the news. "I suppose Theo was the one who drank from the Chalice," he comments.
"So. I'm guessing fine. Party world doesn't sound fun-Sounds like headache."
Taking his chance, He'll opt to try and scan EIG if she isn't opposed. While trying to make a note to figure out methods to remember more readily.
Otherwise, Zellgato has no plans other than to help out Kai if they so wish.
(Coxa? Probably is the closest label for the shoulder for a lower body portion. Bugs anyway))
"Say, how do you guys feel about minotaurs?" Theo asked, taking a bite of a stacked-high ham and cheese sandwich.
They all start jabbering about their trips to Minoa. Apparently the Minoa has a large minotaur population, but 'hunts' are a non-lethal sport. The couple who claim to have 'bagged' a minotaur seem to mean they beat one in a competition.
The conversation soon turns to Atlantis though. On this world, apparently, Minoa became an Atlantean outpost and the site of sea battles in defense of Greece from Atlantean pirates.
They're pretty curious about your Atlantean Prince, none of them having actually met one but all of them being raised on stories of battles against their sahaugin, merfolk, and skum slave armies.
Nissa tells her experience with the Guardian, and also how she blew up her own mech to compel him not to fight her. “If I knew he was a pirate, I would’ve directed my explosion at him.
“He’s actually an egotistical jerk.”
There's some confusion about what a mech is, but they finally seem to understand it as a 'metal colossus' or 'giant golem with a seat inside for a warrior'.
After dinner, the godlings decide to take Theo to the 'Pool of the Delphi'. "It's kind of a temple!" they assure Theo. When they arrive, he sees something that looks part ancient temple, part water park, and part low tech strip club--there are lots of torchlight and lanterns. Barely dressed attendants swim, bringing food to the rocky little islands where guests sit eating and drinking. There does seem to be some genuine worship going on though. Oracles circulate among the crowd taking offerings, answering questions, dispensing wisdom, and divining futures.
"You have to make your offering at the gate!" yells one of the godlings over the sound of unseen drums that are loud enough to make the water ripple.
The need to talk over such bass is useless. Theo nods exaggeratedly.
The copper bowl in which offerings are placed is enormous. Theo sees coins, herbs, bags of spices, silk, a caged songbird, more coins, rings, belts, and someone's braid. What does Theo offer the gods?
Theo grabs a napkin from a waitress as he makes his way to the offering bowl. The godling removes his Norse warhammer from his belt and places it in the large container. Next, Theo removes his Norse battleaxe, but before he drops it in the offering bowl; The Olympian takes the edge of the battleaxe and cuts his palm deeply. The blood drops freely into the offering bowl. Theo squeezes his bleeding hand, forcing more blood to drip. Theo does this until he can't handle anymore, and takes the napkin to cover his wound. The Norse battleaxe quickly follows the trail of blood.
If I knew I was coming, I would have offered something more substantial, but as always, I can only offer myself. Glory unto the Exalted Lords and Ladies of Mt. Olympus. And Long may Zeus, The Thunderer, reign, Theo said in silent prayer.
Nissa dims her glow, changing her Valkyrie armor to a bikini. If there’s a water slide, that’s where she’s going!
Theo and Nissa are welcomed into this pools. There is indeed a water slide, although it isn't very high compared to the ones you might be familiar with.
Eventually one of the mysterious robed women that circulate among the crowd approaches Theo. "Your offering has been well-received, Theodore, whose name means 'God-Given.' You come from afar, are a stranger, and, yet, are closer to home than you were. What do you ask of the Oracle?"
"So... guess we'll be waiting a while. Umm, I think I was going to get fitted for new armor, after... well, I think I need to get fitted for new everything just now." Charles's clothing does look like it's gotten a bit tight in places after his growth spurt/mutation/whatever earlier in the day.
"So, uh, I guess I'll go now," he finishes awkwardly, before turning and heading back the way he'd come.
As Charles passes the cafeteria a report comes on the Super Hero News. Chicken Caesar and his Feathered Friends were caught by a new team of very polished super heroes you've never seen before. The leader, New Patriot, gives a speech about Chicken Caesar paying for his "fowl crimes" and says something about how he'll be "laying around" for a while without any criminal buddies to "egg on" into criminal ways.
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Nissa wonders, If they welcome a mortal, such a myself, maybe I can leave an offering.
Nissa flies over to her purse. She towels off and takes out her folded charging cloak. It’s 200 bucks. I think this will suffice…
She dons the cloak over her shoulders, then transforms so the cloak won’t get wet. She flies over the copper pot in fairy form, and transforms again to place the cloak into the pot. Nissa’s so short she needs to be above the pot in order to place the cloak in a way the is respectful (as opposed to tossing a sopping wet cloak up from the water like a basketball).
Not wanting to appear disrespectful, Nissa transforms again.
In fairy form, she hovers above her offering and prays.
I am a devout follower of the Dawnflower, but I place this offering to give thanks to the Olympians for welcoming me, a mortal, to their world. I would like to offer this cloak to Artemis in the hope she finds this a fitting gift for a maiden nymph or any huntress she deems worthy. It was given to me by my fashionista friend, whose home is full of Artemisian art.
Nissa sure hopes that regifting isn’t a faux pas, given the context.
Theo was a little taken aback. He was expecting anything other than to do his worship duty.
"Um..well, could I have my future divined? And maybe a clue on my standings with The Olympian Court?"
The Oracle points at Theo's pocket; the one in which he placed those Tarot cards he bought back in Boston. "You have something there. Some source of divination?"
"Those will be added to your offering," with one beckoning finger she signals for you to give them to her.
With only a small amount of hesitation, the godling produces and hands the tarot cards to the oracle.
She studies the cards for a long time, never having seen them before. She raises an eyebrow when she sees depictions of the Celestials. She looks at Theo with renewed curiosity. "Far from home, indeed." She starts shuffling and Theo understand she wants him to tell her when to stop shuffling.
Nissa waits patiently by the bowl, though she stops hovering directly over it now that she’s said her prayer. Seeing she’s no daughter of Zeus, it’s unsurprising she will receive a less immediate response, if at all.
She’s pretty sure she did all the stuff Theo did, except be a god. Oh... and he cut himself with a Nordic weapon. Oh, my Nordic weapon’s a sap. Bonking myself on the head would just make me look dumb.
Ultimately, the fairy decides to skip the hurting-yourself part. She’ll swim and fly and take in all the beauty surrounding her.