|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 Posted: Tue Dec 15, 2009 4:16 pm
 |
|
|
 |
Eris smiled and went to her husband, wrapping her arms around him and resting her head on his cool, bare back.
"Certainly. Human squabbles grow tiring, but there's plenty of drama on Olympus to keep us occupied."
She smiled against his skin and placed a gentle kiss on it.
"Have you heard of the Trojan War? That was us." She laughed, a sound like wind chimes tinkling.
-----------------------------------------------------------
Alessa quickly took inventory of the women in the room. Not nearly enough.
"Dark energy is like..." She tried to think of something human to compare it to.
"Oh! You know when you open an oven? Exactly like that. But it breaks your bones." She said calmly.
"But, we do have an advantage. Dum's powers are brand new and more of a novelty to him. He won't know how to wield them like Eris. He can't channel the Dark Energy, so if he tries to use it, he could kill Eris on accident..." Killing a Goddess took strength, but if Dum got angry enough and simply released pure power, he might be able to do it.
Alessa took a deep breath.
"If we can get Zeus on our side..." She looked around the room, holding eye contact with each member for a moment. She finally came to Nana and held her gaze as she spoke.
"There will be no war. Ever. But, at a great price."
|
|
|
|
|
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Thu Dec 17, 2009 9:36 pm
|
|
|
|
Dum felt his wife's warm cheek against his skin, felt the muscles of her gentle face pulling into a still gentler smile. The sensation made him smile as well, despite himself. "I heard of it once, indeed," he said, nodding as he remembered bits of the story he had heard long ago. "And... I suppose we could find ways to amuse ourselves." He added this as almost an afterthought, but it carried playful and not altogether inconspicuous undertones.
~~~
"Of course, milady," said the robot closest to the group of six, but through its single mouth came the voices of each and every one of its equals in the rows behind it. Jasper's face pulled into a frown; he and the others were far out of their comfort zone here.
"You will exit through the back of this room and follow the path I have given you in your programming," Dee instructed. "From there you will move into the streets. Destroy anyone who gets in your way."
Tick's eyes widened. "What?" she cried in horror. "This wasn't a part of our plan-- why would you give them an order like that?"
Dee smiled wickedly at her. "Because, my dear," he said, his voice languid, "my brother and I have been struggling to be the first to announce our rule over the people. I do believe my brother will be first, and he can take responsibility for the destruction of the city. Mark my words, he will not gain the hearts of the people."
~~~
Nana felt locked not only into Alessa's gaze, but also into the absolute severity of the situation. It reminded her of that night over three years ago, when they had destroyed the Heart palace, and that morning not nearly so long ago when they had destroyed Rosalie Heart herself. This, however, seemed to be much more dire.
She hardly dared to ask, but she had to. "And what price is that?"
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Thu Dec 17, 2009 9:57 pm
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Mon Dec 21, 2009 7:15 am
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Mon Dec 21, 2009 11:35 am
|
|
|
|
Mimicry gaped at her. "Dee," he said urgently, "it is not a brilliant plan. You can't do this! You said we were going to use the army to fight your brother-- you can't destroy our home just to try and frame him!"
"I can," Dee snapped, "and I will. Look-- they're already on the move."
~~~
"You're not smiling so much anymore," Dum said gently. "Is something wrong?"
((Sorry, lame short post. It's 11:30 and I need breakfast! lol))
~~~
There was indeed an uproar. Other than Alessa, the only grown women in the room were Nana and Alice, who clutched her infant child to her chest with one hand and held Clairice's with the other. Both stared at Alessa in pure shock and disbelief.
"Our souls?" the Caterpillar repeated, almost snarling the words. He, Cheshire, the White Rabbit, March Hare, and Dormouse were the only men in the room-- though the last could still easily be considered a boy. Marchy and the White Rabbit clung to each other in what might have been terror.
"What is this?" the Caterpillar pressed feverishly. "Our bodies, and quite possibly our souls? Explain yourself!"
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Mon Dec 21, 2009 12:47 pm
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Mon Dec 21, 2009 2:44 pm
|
|
|
|
Dum felt Eris' smile broaden against his back, and for the moment he was satisfied. "Ah, but dwelling is what I do best," he said, smiling vaguely himself. "There's so much to dwell on here."
~~~
Alice's eyes widened and she opened her mouth to speak, but no sound came out; she had no idea how to respond to the question. Cheshire stepped forward and slid a protective arm around his wife's shoulders.
Nana, however, understood what Alessa had meant, remembering their discussion in her prison cell. "This is Alice," she said with a nod, although she frowned as she did so. "But why does that matter?"
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Mon Dec 21, 2009 3:59 pm
|
|
|
|
Alessa walked in a slow circle around Alice.
"You don't look at all like they say..." She muttered, examining Alice.
"Pretty, sure, but you're not her, at least, not if the pictures are right." She turned her attention back to the group.
"You are why Eris was sent to marry Dum, why Hades chose this king for his daughter. You! You have changed fate. Zeus himself adores you, he has searched for years for you!" Alessa was pacing again, her fingers running though her hair over and over.
"You. You can save us." She took a deep breath.
"You can save her." She doubted anyone knew her motives, but that stupid comment might have given them away. She hurried on.
"You're the angel girl! The mortal who can travel between lands, like me. Like my kind." She laughed joyously.
"Don't you see? It's her!"
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Eris's hands were wandering her husbands body as she arranged her thoughts. She needed to see her aunt by next sun's rise to see if she could convince Hera to give her that lovely elixir, which now that Eris thought of it, she probably would. Anything to keep her away from her uncle.
Zeus. She needed to see him, too, and take Alessa. She needed to tell him what she knew about the angel-girl and see if that made him want to back them in this war.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Mon Dec 21, 2009 7:58 pm
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Tue Dec 22, 2009 12:18 am
|
|
|
|
Dee didn't turn when Indya's hand left his; he hardly even noticed her exit. His eyes were trained upon his mechanical army as they turned and filed out the back, through a dark hallway and out into the heart of the city.
Mimicry took the opportunity to slip away to follow Indya. When he caught up to her and made sure nobody was observing or passing, he wrapped her up in a tight embrace and kissed her as if he hadn't seen her for a decade. When he pulled away, he asked, his eyes wide, "Can you stop him?"
~~~
Alice frowned. "I've... grown up," she said slowly. "I'm not an angel girl, but I am a wife and a mother of two children." She looked back worriedly at Cheshire, who still had an arm around her shoulders. "I don't know how I can be of help-- I'm not magic or anything."
Nana frowned as well, but for a different reason: she had caught Alessa's slip, and wanted to pursue it. "Alessa... this isn't about Eris." It was a question, really, but she said it as a statement, as if she were afraid to even admit the possibility that all Alessa cared about was getting back into her queen's bed. "Come on, we've got precious little time, I know it. Stop fooling with us. What does Zeus want with Alice?"
~~~
Dum closed his tired eyes and smiled, reaching his arms back to wrap around her bare waist, hands meeting at her back, letting her slender fingers work their magic on his skin. "I thought it would be easier to rule alongside my brother," he murmured almost contemplatively. "How naive and childish that notion was...."
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Tue Dec 22, 2009 8:41 am
|
|
|
|
Alessa looked at Nana, unashamed.
"I love Eris." She said softly. "I can promise you this land, if you can promise to me my love." She spoke only to Nana, though the others could almost surely hear.
"And you," She turned to Alice, smiling slightly. "You are like me. You're an angel...well, at least half angel. Zeus has been in love with you for...for longer than you can know. He couldn't find you in this body, though. We were sent here to find you, to bring you to him." Alessa shook her head.
"Hera hates you, that's why all this" she gestured around the room "has happened to you. She wants you away from Zeus."
------------------------------------------------------
Eris shook her head.
"Not naive, just unknowing. It's not your fault."
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Tue Dec 22, 2009 10:26 am
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Tue Dec 22, 2009 5:42 pm
|
|
|
|
"She's not going anywhere," Cheshire said firmly, and it was clear from Alice's eyes that she was reaching the same answer.
Nana laid a hand on Alessa's shoulder and said, "Listen, I hope you're not saying we've got to bring Alice to Zeus to make him help us. It sounds as though Hera is the one, if not with the greatest power, then with the greatest motivation to use it." She recalled the look of daggers that the goddess had given Alessa.
Her mind ran through the options they had without Alessa's help; nearly all of the scenarios she conjured ended with the entire group of rebels dead. With a sigh, she said, "All right. We're on the same side, at least for the time being-- we all want both of the Tweedles dead. But how can we promise you Eris?"
~~~
With his eyes still closed, Dum's eyebrows twitched as if he wanted to frown; for just a moment he thought he heard a noise like the uniform step of soldiers' feet. Nearly as soon as he noticed it, however, it disappeared. He tilted his head, trying to capture the sound again, but it was gone forever. "Odd," he said softly.
~~~
Mimicry shook his head, and though he did his best to hide it, it was clear he was nearly on the brink of tears. "Indya, no," he whispered, holding her face. "If you've still got control over them, you have to stop them from getting into the city. They'll destroy everyone we know, everything we love.... We can't let him do this."
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Tue Dec 22, 2009 6:18 pm
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Tue Dec 22, 2009 6:38 pm
|
|
|
|
Alessa shrugged.
"Hera won't help us, if it means Dum's death, or even imprisonment. Because that puts Eris back in Zeus's line of sight and Hera's a jealous girl. And, you" Alessa nodded to Alice, "You can't help them. Zeus can't know you're here. Ever." She started pacing once more.
"Well, that's not completely true. If you wanted to play the martyr," Alessa sized the angel up and went back to her pacing, "which I'm rather sure you don't, we could always give you to Zeus. That would guarantee not only his backing but god-hood for all of you." Alessa waved her hand at the group, still chewing on her finger.
"Eris...you can't promise me her. She is something I must deal with on my own. But, if you can destroy Dum then I can take care of the rest."
------------------------------
Eris had heard it too.
"What was that?" She asked, looking up at Dum in confusion.
"Sounded like...soldiers?"
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Reply
