A Game of Gods Season 3: Renaissance

Key Card in hand, Puru stepped off of the tour lift with the rest of the group. She watched as their band split up in different directions. Many of them made a beeline for the lines that would supposedly allow them to send messages back to people in their home worlds. It was a nice gesture from the higher-ups of this outfit, even if they didn't really have a way to confirm it was true.

As she watched the others sending their messages, Puru wondered if she should send one herself. Then she realized that she didn't really have anyone to message, even if she wanted to. The captain and the crew of the ship that picked her up probably didn't care. They'd just be happy with one less mouth to feed. Anyone who mattered in her life was gone.

Now that she brought herself down with that thought, Puru made her way out of the hotel. Now that they had been given free reign for the moment, she had no idea what she wanted to do. They had so many options, but she couldn't bring herself to be interested in any of them. A young soldier like her felt out of place in this completely catered life they had been handed.

The thought of seeking out some of the others crossed her mind, but the idea was pretty quickly shot down. She still wasn't really sure if anyone liked her or anything. Sure, Lady stuck around the young Newtype a good deal, but Puru felt like she had unloaded too much baggage in her face. Lucina and Hana had been nice and used the word friendship freely, but the cynic deep down wondered just how much they could really mean that about a girl they just met.

A jolt of loneliness shot through Puru. Deep down a part of her realized that the only person she could blame for these feelings were herself. She knew she was abrasive at times, but the child soldier didn't know the right way to deal with people. She'd speak her mind and instantly know it was wrong. It was so frustrating.

As she reclined against the wall, her gaze drifted upwards, towards the artificial sky. That wasn't what she wanted to see though, she wanted to see what was behind it again. She wanted to fly again, just for a little bit, and let the cold vacuum take these thoughts away. Once again, that inner voice told her that it would be a waste of time and resources for something so frivolous though. She couldn't just ask for something like that of people that were giving so much already. With a slow and deep sigh she shook her head, resolved to just daydream for the moment.

Aegis Hotel - Lobby (Lillie, Zima, Maria, Maki, Lady) ~ Seems Familiar

Lady's response first made Lillie raise an eyebrow. Then a small smile crossed her face, and then she made a valiant but alas not entirely successful attempt at stifling an oncoming giggle.

"...You sound like me right now," she said once she regained her composure, "Do you know that?"

She wasn't planning on being that insistent about it, but the others were and so Lady wound up coming along anyway. She made a small, barely-noticeable shrug before rejoining the group.

"I'm surprised they could fit an entire island into a spaceship...." She glanced around the immediate area. "Feels like Alola, almost. Or maybe that one resort we stopped at a while back...." She turned back towards the others and frowned. "...Definitely better than that spaceship I first met you on."

Ozma's expression was slightly skeptical at Ranma's insistence of being fine despite there clearly being something troubling him, but she decided against pushing the subject. Instead she simply offered her usual formal curtsy of greeting.

"I am Princess Ozma, ruler of Oz and leader of the Emerald District of the Frontiers."

She wasn't entirely sure what Ranma meant by "school," but it didn't take much thought to conclude that he was referring to his fighting style, given the words "indiscriminate grappling." That was more than she could say for the kinds of things Hana spoke of, for which she still had no idea what they were.

"I am indeed a new arrival, only having been here since the start of the tour. To be more specific about what Miss Song said, we were going to go shopping. I'm looking for more practical traveling clothes myself, but we're likely going to be looking at...." She waved her hand vaguely in Hana's direction. "...Other things, as well. You're welcome to join us, if you wish. Perhaps it might help take your mind off whatever's troubling you?"

That toblerone was taken, with a gruff "None of your business thrown in afterward. The lovingly crafted container, with its resplendent mountains, was carelessly torn apart as she tore into the chocolate underneath. Santa accidentally got a bit of the foil wrapper stuck in her mouth, like a tiny bit that was hard enough to get out that she just swallowed it like a champ.

She continued to ignore her Master for as long as it took Carmilla to open her big, fat mouth. There wasn't a moment of hesitation for her response: "No, I do not care about the life of my worthless son, otherwise I wouldn't have killed her in my own timeline. You have it wrong...entirely wrong."

With a burst of    evil energy   , Santa was wrapped in ebony flame that came over her entire form in an instant...

...then, suddenly, Christmas had been stolen.

Arturia, King of Britain, looked like she was on black fire like an edgy DBZ villain. She shifted her armor, looked up at Carmilla once more...and then went back to staring at Mordred like none of that happened.

"I am merely ensuring the continuation of my lineage in its purest form, by any means necessary."

Tiki - Aegis Hotel Bar

"Oh no, I'm sure with the bartender out of the portrait you'd have nobody barring you from simply hopping the counter and getting the bottles yourself," Tiki said over a forkful of macaroni.

"No, I think in the end that if I can't convince you otherwise and you're determined to test the limits of your tolerance, I'd rather you at least do it somewhere I can keep an eye on you to make sure you're safe."

Tessa - STEALTH MISSION (and Chocolate)

"What, you've never had Toblerone before?" Tessa asked Sypha with a mixture of confusion and curiosity. Well, whatever, not a big deal.

What was slightly more of a big deal was Santa turning into... into.. a freaking paladin! A dark paladin!

"Wha- how- why- where- your face- what about- how did you- why am I- fwaaaaaaa...." Tessa took a step back and rubbed her forehead, then adjusted her necktie. "S-S-Santa? What... what happened? And why do I suddenly feel... different?"

Byleth, Aegis Bar

Now that everyone was off doing their own thing, Byleth had a choice in front of her. Except this time it wasn’t the side we she was going to fight in in some war, but where she was going to goof around next. After some deliberation, she decided it might be nice to get a drink. She wasn’t actually sure if she could get drunk, but the company would be nice all the same. She rolled on up to the bar and greeted the others.

“Hello there. I hope you don’t mind my intrusion, but I figured I’d join you all. There’s been a lot to take in today, and I’d like to unwind.”

The stoic woman made her way over to the bar, where she got the dankest rum they had to offer and got her DRANK on…

"Oh huh, a mecha. I fought one of those before... they were tough suckers. Though I won because whoever made the thing was stupid enough to have installed a self destruct program in it." Reminiscing about ye olden days with a less than appreciative frown on his face, Ranma then shook his head. Nah, this was different. Hana looked a lot smarter than Gosunkugi ever did so they probably didn't have that particular equipment.

Blinking as he looked over Ozma with a more scrutinizing gaze at the mention of 'princess', the martial artist gave her a once over before deciding she lacked the distinctly arrogant air that most if not royal characters he had the displeasure of meeting up had. That already meant brownie points right there.

Then again they had met only princess and not a princess yet so maybe that was probably it. Though... if they were being honest it was probably their world that was the problem and not whatever gender differences had in general. Tenko would have been rather pissed off at that particular line of logic but eh, he was safe in his thoughts.

Taken aback once more by the... relaxed friendliness the two girls had without any sort of confronting hostility or unpalatable personalities that most characters they knew had, the boy zoned out for a brief second. It was a bit surreal and wholly unfamiliar because even Kasumi had a certain vapid air to her character that allowed violence to slide by as though it was nothing trifling when giant boulders were being chucked about.

"Ah. Yeah. I'd like that if you don't mind." Being a bit out of depths since the usual fight or flight instinct was not actually being triggered, the pigtailed boy sheepishly rubbed the bag of his head while looking down at the pavement in a rather meek manner, expression wry but ultimately more on the positive side of the spectrum. It was strange but... it was sort of nice actually. "So uh, what are you guys gonna do? I can carry your bags if you wanna shop around I guess. Got enough muscle for that at least."

Tetra (Aegis Hotel Bar)

"Heh, fair enough. Maybe we'll make a game of it or something, I dunno. You're alright, Tiki. And you too, uhh...you." Considering she hadn't actually learned his name yet, Tetra didn't mind Max's company in the least. Polishing off what little remained of her meal, Tetra leaned back in her seat, looking pretty darn content. "So, what do you two plan to do while we're on shore leave?"

Hana (Outside Aegis Hotel)

"Yeah, who would be dumb enough to do something like that?" Hana replied, now feeling just a little self-conscious about how her own mecha were equipped to do exactly that and trying to hide it...and, judging by the sweat drop that manifested on her forehead, not doing a very good job of it.

Thankfully, once Ranma agreed to join them, that provided enough of a change of topic for Hana to try and move past her own embarrassment, letting her hand drop so as not to pressure him into shaking it if he didn't want to. "Well, like Ozma said, she wants to go clothes shopping, and I guess I could use a change of wardrobe too. But other than that, I was thinking I'd look and see what games they've got on the market around here. Maybe they do have an arcade we could play in. What about you? You got somewhere you wanna look into?"

lol crosspost. I'm fired for this outrage

Edited by tvtropesnoob on Feb 13th 2020 at 7:49:31 AM

Tiki - Aegis Hotel Bar

"Cool? Well, I suppose I'll take what praise I can get," Tiki laughed.

"As for my plans... well, I know at some point I'm going to take a nice long bath until I'm cleaner than I've been in weeks, and then bury myself under my bed covers and take the longest nap."

"That seems to be the general mood around here," she added to Byleth as she passed by, mentioning wanting to drink.

Edited by nman on Feb 13th 2020 at 11:51:24 AM

Zima - Library party

Lady, huh? Well, she'd heard dumber call-signs back at Rhodes. Pushing off of the wall and extracting a paw from a pocket, Zima shook the gunslinger's hand and nodded.

"Zima. I got dropped into this place a few days ago." She couldn't help but glance over Lady's arsenal again, whistling low under her breath. That had to be a fortune in guns just casually strapped on.

Maki's description of the last engagement actually prompted a grin and a laugh from the ursus.

"A monster, eh? Hah, and no-one died? Sounds like a good scrap." She cracked her knuckles, narrowing her eyes as her grin turned into a canine-glinting smirk. "I know you guys just got here, but I hope they deploy us soon. Haven't had a decent fight in ages."

Outside Aegis Hotel (Ozma, Hana, Ranma) ~ Enough Gobbledygook Already

More talk about these "mecha" things, and Ozma still had absolutely no idea what they were. Well, she gathered that having a button to wreck itself was not something they were meant to have, but that seemed rather obvious. Why would anyone invent anything that had something like that?

She simply smiled and nodded as Hana explained what they were looking for better than she could, while also mentioning looking for games and...something called an arcade and...all right, enough was enough.

"What, exactly, is an 'arcade'? Or a 'mecha'? And the concept of buying games sounds quite odd to me. Do you mean buying the necessary materials to play them?" She frowned. "I apologize if this comes of as rude or asking questions with obvious answers, but...this place is nothing like Oz or the Frontiers. I don't even know what this place is. Mr. Kreyuz called it a 'space station', but that means nothing to me. Most of his explanation was just...gobbledygook. He may as well been speaking another language."

"Well, a mecha is one of those robots I guess? Just think of it as a metal suit you either pilot or control somehow. And an arcade is a place where you play video games in. I don't really have much experience with either though so I'm not really the best person to ask there." Hedging as he closely reached a situation where the blind led the blind (flashbacks of Mousse and Ryoga popped up there), the boy glanced at Hana imploringly since she seemed like the resident tech person in general.

"I come from the 1980's and atop of that I spent most of my life tramping around in the wilderness or countryside so this ain't really my area of expertise if you know what I mean. This place does look a lot like one of them sci-fi anime at least so that's pretty cool. A lot more green than I was expecting which is nice as well. Doesn't really make it feel all that confining too so I can appreciate that."

Maki Harukawa - Library party

Maki scoffed at Zima's comment about a 'good scrap'. Seems like the latter was one of those freaks who actually enjoyed violence. For someone like the former assassin, who was forced into a life of murder, this was utterly impossible to understand. She gave a small glare toward the ursus. "Well, good for you, but some of us like having times for ourselves. So don't go causing trouble because you're bored."

Tenko gave great attention to Fiore's explanation, and she even actually managed to understand the gist of it. The trouble began when Fiore gave some examples of legendary people. While the martial artist didn't have much to say about Musashi, her Buddhist upbringing greatly contributed to her having a fairly bad opinion about the other mention. "Nobunaga? You're telling me that tyrant was a great man? This got to be a joke, right? That scum who burned down women and children because people wouldn't bow down to him got to eternally live on as a legend?" Yeah, turns out she had more issues with the dead shogun than her usual misandry.

Thankfully, she was soon distracted by the Servant pact ritual. She watched in awe as Fiore made her speech and (more than likely) officially became Nero's master. She almost literally had a star-filled gaze◊ by the end of it. "That was awesome! It's my first time seeing a real magic ritual first hand!"

Elesis watched in silence as people made their calls and went off to explore or sleep or do whatever. It took her significantly longer to finish hers, due to a temporary dilemma concerning who should call. On one hand, a message to her younger brother was long overdue; but on the other, contacting her crew was slightly more urgent.

In the end, she went for the latter.

It took her a while to get both the explanation and her instructions delivered, but fortunately she was able to relay everything without a hitch. With that finally out of the way, she felt like a huge weight had been taken off her shoulders. It was finally time to relax a little. As for her younger brother... he'd have to wait a bit longer, unfortunately.

In any case, with plenty of free time in her hands, and not much to do with it, the redhead opted for the simple yet always effective answer of heading to the bar for a drink. Maybe after that she'd go explore a little. Maybe.

"Oh hey, glad I wasn't the only one who had this idea," the girl exclaimed upon spotting more of her comrades already sitting at the bar. "Guess I'm gonna tag along with you guys for a while."

"You feel the increased weight of my form on thy mana reserves, no doubt." Arturia started to tone down the evil fire levels once she realized that it wasn't prudent to try and be stealthy while emitting a pillar of dark flame. "This form is my true nature, the "real legend" of Arthur, King of the Britons. It holds far more raw power than my Sainted form...something I will need to keep at my side, in case I have to turn away this prospective suitor."

She settled by a small cluster of potted plants, still not faring well with actually being hidden. This was exacerbated by having 2-3 people following her, but she didn't have the heart to turn them away.

"Regardless if she is dead in my timeline and I am dead in his, Mordred's Britain is my Britain. Would I let my country fall into the hands of a wastrel, or some common cur? I shall ensure that my God-given throne does not decay in my absence."

She stared harder at the focus of all of this, 21, with a increasingly critical eye. "Hmm...she does not seem like much. A frail-looking thing, that one."

"It's the fantastic 3rd year of acatl...or 2015!" She held her hands up to emphasize this, and considering the size of those hands she must've felt like there was a lotta emphasis needed. "In the heart of America, we're just starting to climb out of an economic recession, the election's in a year, the world's...kind of at peace but not really, and the fast food industry that I work in is booming. It all feels pretty mundane to me, so I'm not sure what to point out. And everything that isn't mundane in the world has been dead for a long time. I think."

Susan heaved a sigh. "At least, if there's any other gods or wizards or whatever out there, I haven't found any. I've spent a little bit of my money trying to find 'em, but...no luck so far. I think Amaterasu here's from the peak of her pantheon...and you're not exactly unfashionable yourself, so I'm guessing you're from closer to my end of things."

Of course, Carlos' insistence in trying to poke the Tira was gonna cause problems if left unchecked. Susan was probably gonna try and reign him in a little bit, explain that some people are just better left ignored for their own good. It was gonna have to wait until she wasn't looking, or was an idiot again.

"I'd just like to mention: considering she's still yet to actually kill one of us, I'm not sure her threats mean much."

Edited by wikkit on Feb 14th 2020 at 4:55:30 AM

Byleth and Kazooie, Hotel Bar

"I suppose I'm in good company then," Byleth nodded to Tiki. "I don't believe I've met most of you yet, actually. I'm Byleth, and this is... I'm not sure where Sothis went, but..."

Sothis suddenly pops up, as if from out of an invisible backpack.

"I'm right here!"

"Oh, right. I'm not entirely sure how she does that sometimes."

Carmilla & Sypha, Inside Hotel

"If you want to spy on them, we could propose a triple date to them," Carmilla stated to the clearly angered Arthuria. "Mordred & 21, Tessa & you, and Sypha & me."

"You are not going to be able to spy on anything by going all Dark Lord," Sypha added before looking at Tessa. "Besides, I think your... err, Master might like a date also."

Edited by GameGuruGG on Feb 15th 2020 at 6:56:37 AM

Hana (Outside Aegis Hotel)

As first Ozma, then Ranma, spoke up and admitted that she was speaking an entirely different language as far as they were concerned, Hana was struck silent, both at the shock of someone being so deprived, and then at internally chastising herself for not seeing the signs earlier. Taking in a deep breath or two, Hana spoke with an apologetic look on her face.

"I didn't mean to put you two on the spot like that, that's my fault. I'll be happy to show you still, but maybe let's get our clothes first. We should be having fun, not treating this like homework." Even as she said that, Hana mentally began thinking of ways she could gradually introduce the pair of them to technology, knowing that she had an uphill battle to fight in that regard.

" Uuuuuuuuuh..." Scott actually looked a little nervous at that question, as he tried to think back. The question was achingly familiar, and made his chest twinge for some strange, unknown reason. He tried to think back to that day, but it was so long ago.

He had, uh, asked her if she wanted to go out with him around the van. Maybe take a look around, get to know each other, right? It was pretty much a date, and he'd been laying his best moves on her. He was pretty sure she'd been smiling and having fun, like she was totally into it. And then he'd leaned in for a kiss and she'd done it too! And it all played out in adorable and cool drawings, at least in his head.

Feeling much more confident now, Scott smiled at Lucina and said, "Yeah, I do. I invited you out on a date around the van. We walked around had talked and had a lot of fun, and then we found somewhere private and were chatting right? And then we kissed. You were pretty good."

Lucina - Penthouse

Lucina had to fight the urge to cover her face with her hand. Part of her almost believed Scott was deliberately aggravating her, or trying to make her doubt her own memory, but she couldn't detect any deception in his expression. Was this really the world he remembered?

"My recollection has... one crucial difference." Lucina said after a moment, once she had finished processing the rose-tinted fantasy that Scott relayed, her voice deliberately even and calm. It was increasingly clear that subtlety was not going to avail her here - it was time to come straight to the point.

"I did not believe we were on a date. We had just met, and as far as I was concerned, you were simply a new comrade who wanted company.

"When you tried to kiss me, I was... shocked. Confused. I didn't understand what was going on. I almost pulled a dagger on you." She added, trying to jog his memory. "What I thought was just a stroll with a new friend turned into something more intimate that I was comfortable with. More than I am still comfortable with."

She stopped and turned towards Scott, her expression almost strained beneath her blush, searching for comprehension in the young man's expression. "I need to know if you understand where you went wrong, and why I felt the way I did."

Edited by LittleMako on Feb 16th 2020 at 2:12:10 AM

Judging by the way that, as she spoke, Scott's face began to fade towards confusion, and then uncertainty, and finally something pained and even scared, it would quickly become apparent to Lucina that been genuine in his response. And that what she was saying was something he had never imagined he would hear.

Something seemed to be going on in his head as he stared back at the the blue-haired woman, his face flickering between those emotions as his eyes lost focus. "I don't... I don't remember. I... did I? That's like... that's not good. That's bad." The Canadian's grey face went pale as his eyes widened. "But if I say sorry and really mean it, we'll be friends still right?! You want to be my friend, right? Do you?... I really am sorry..."

And as Scott fixed Lucina with a wide-eyed and desperate stare, she would easily notice an odd glow starting to appear around his head; Growing brighter by the second as the man's breathing grew more rapid.

Umu, I Am Thou Wait, Wrong Franchise, Fiore Group

Nero chuckled softly. "You're far too kind to me, my Green Amazon." She smiled at Tenko and briefly turned her with a token of her appreciation; one more hand was claimed by the sweet caress of the emperor's august lips. Turning back to Fiore and humming in amusement as the Magus made her resolve known, Caster awaited the binding, and then reached out with her own right hand to meet Fiore's as the spell began its work.

She was so used to everyone just being summoned without fanfare by Chaldea's machinery, she almost forgot how amazing it felt to receive a surge of mana directly from the source. Nero's eyes lit up as they became one at a spiritual level. Roma Aeterna. With resplendent grace shall I, Servant Caster, answer thee, child of man." In her left hand appeared the Aestus Estus, materializing in the brilliant crimson mist, which Nero raised and rested on Fiore's shoulder, as if knighting her.

"Fiore Forvedge, our pact has been completed. As I am your Servant, you are my Maestro. May our bond shine brightly." The sword disappearing, Caster took her newfound Master's hands with a smile. "Your wishes are mine to fulfill."

"Well, I kind of miss the homely feel of impending doom as we rode our rickety wagon through the multiverse." The old crone smiled owlishly. "But you will find no complaints from me." Zima seemed like a fighting type. Well, no small wonder considering the axe that she carried, but. "I'll assuage your enthusiasm; it was merely a simulation, if an uncannily real one. Still, earlier before we had fateful encounters with a couple of poachers and great beasts that they hunted."

"As it goes without saying, poachers were less of a threat. Worth just about polishing my soles on their faces." Curious she would say that given her lack of one leg and, well, the fact that she was in a wheelchair to begin with. "I am hoping that our adventure can pick up some steam soon enough, pleasant as this place might be.

"Well, Tiki's not wrong." He couldn't really speak for himself - he'd have to spent quite some time with these drinks to start feeling wobbly - but Tetra was a small thing. "If you end up sloshed in the corner, you can't really do much else." Taking a moment to sip from his own glass, he mulled over his next words. They never came, since they got new people to focus on.

"By all means. You're new here, you probably have a few questions on your mind." He greeted Byleth as he shuffled a little awkwardly on his definitely-a-little-too-small stool to make space for her. "It's Max. Sorry I haven't introduced myself yet." He nodded at Tetra with an apologetic smile. Now Elesis joined in to even out the ratio of surly-to-happy drunks. "...I hope she's not planning to drink." He muttered when Sothis popped out of nowhere. "Nice to meet you two either way."

Tessa - Stakeout

"Oh- oh of course, b-because the two of us definitely look like we're together and do... stuff... together, so o-of course we'd want to do a t-triple date," Tessa stammered out. She picked up her spare Toblerone and started working on the wrapper with trembling hands.

"Hey wait... but... so you want her to have a kid so it can inherit your kingdom? But she pretty clearly isn't interested in a guy right now, so what, are you going to try to sabotage them? Homophobia is not cool, Santa. It's 2005, you should learn to be more tolerant of other people."

Tiki - Aegis Hotel Bar

"Well then, pleased to meet you and your... daughter?" Tiki quirked an eyebrow at Sothis.

She gave a pleasant nod at Elesis as she came in and spoke.

"Well there's certainly plenty of room at our table, at the very least."

Byleth/Sothis, Hotel Bar

"Daughter?" Sothis sounded somewhat annoyed at Tiki's mistake. "Don't be fooled by that body of hers! I'll have you know I'm much older than Byleth."

Byleth gave Sothis a weird look for that first comment.

"That is true," Byleth said. "If anything, she'd be my grandmother."

And technically she... sort of was? But she'd rather not get into that right now.

"Sothis is a goddess who has been bonded to me since my birth," Byleth explained. "It's unusual, but I've gotten used to it by now."

"Nice to meetcha Max!" Sothis greeted the cyborg. "Can't say I've seen a lot of guys like you before."

She was either saying that because he was one of the very few men in a sea of women... or she was more likely referring to that cyborg body of his.

Tetra (Aegis Hotel Bar)

Once Max agreed with Tiki that just getting sloshed wouldn't do her any good in enjoying what else this place had to offer, Tetra had no choice but to concede the point, and gave Max a nod; her attention then turned to the multiple newcomers all coming in for a drink, and she snorted.

"Any more of us show up, we oughta just buy the place out for a party."

Despite the crack, Tetra clearly didn't sound opposed to the idea, and she took on an easy, if slightly drunken, grin as she observed the newcomers. Seeing that most people were focused on the two-for-one, she took a glance at Elesis, and whistled at her. "Come on over here, take a seat. We got a chaperone right here and everything." At this she directed a smirk at Tiki.