Stellar Salon and Spa (Sinistrina; Dante; Rebecca)

As Dante listened to both liches unfolding their stories, his expression became more and more thoughtful, and if Rebecca or Sinistrina glanced at the barber's mirror he was sitting in front of, they could've caught the thick layer of proverbial slime coming off of the avatar of Time, his eyes for a short moment flickering, revealing two dark gray abysses hidden behind them. But this moment passed, and Hisakawa returned to his usual self.

"Your bronze tan and sunny disposition gave you away, spider giiirrrl," he said. "A wise man once said: 'Life is an infinity of entangled roads, and you must find your own to find happiness. If you're walking the wrong road, make a turn, change or die. And persist walking the right road until the very end.' It seems that you two have already found yours."

The robot's hands turned into scissors, and he began cutting Dante's hair.

"But here's a thing about your relationship with your dolls, Sinistrina: where I'm from, some people have slaves. They can become very close to them, they would enjoy their company, and the slaves, in turn, show complete devotion to their masters, but you can't call that a 'friendship'. There's no equality between them. No respect. No trust. Both sides are aware that the masters have complete control over the lives of their possessions. They can... dispose of them on a whim. Just like that!" He raised his arm and snapped his fingers, the gesture that sent cut hair from the blanket he was wrapped in all over the place. "Your dolls are in the same situation as them. I suggest you free them from your control, if you can, open the gates for true friendship, or you'll be walking your miserable road alone."

"I'm... giving a performance at the Dark Matter lounge today. I invite you both. And the drinks are on me, if you still enjoy this kind of thing. Maybe I'll tell you about how some people turned others into liches, if I'll be sober enough."

Sickbay (Rolph, Glitch; Minerva; Shireen; Gabriel, Anna)

Rolph turned around, giving Gabriel a slightly nervous look. The events that he and his companion had gone through before arriving at this ship were still clearly affecting him.

"Oh, hello there," he said as he noticed the newly arrived Human woman, and quickly skittered over to her and Glitch. "Shireen, was it? I'm Rolph, and we're all uh, relatively healthy at the moment."

He glanced back at the other people in the sickbay. "We're just about to get some food actually. I'd recommend the pie place myself. Lovely maggots."

While Rolph began to make his way out into the rest of the ship, Glitch hovered over to the group of people it hadn't encountered before. Unusual individuals, according to it's scans; A Human with pieces of black bone growing from his body, - perhaps the result of some kind of genetic engineering or mutation? - a frail looking cyborg girl, and a fully synthetic but oddly organic-looking entity.

"I am Glitch," the drone introduced itself.

edited 18th Aug '17 10:53:37 AM by Corvidae

(Spa- Rebecca, Sinistrina, Dante)

“Wasn’t anything supernatural, far as I know. Then again, I’d say magic itself is as natural as the winds and the waves.” Rebecca glanced over at Sinistrina. “Greywater fever’s been around a long time.” The lich paused for a second. “Sinistrina, why do you seem to prefer spiders over other creatures for your zombies? Certainly, something larger like wolves or bears would seem to be more useful.”

She sat up as Danta invited them to his performance. “I would be happy to, Dante. May I ask what it you do for your performances?”

[Dark Matter Lounge]

"Hm..." Kiryu rubbed his chin. "Funny, I don't remember anything about standing on signposts from when I was learning. But I guess every 'samurai' is a little different," he chuckled.

He took a sip of his drink. "Must be nice to live for so long," he said. "Gives you plenty of time to get shit done, learn new shit, watch the world change around you... Still, though, must suck if you know a lot of people with shorter lifespans." He paused, then looked over at her with a smirk. "Though, I suppose you could just go back to jigoku and see the bad ones forever. The real one, I mean, not the one with the snow monkeys." He took another sip. "Then again, nothing better than some nice hot springs to take your mind off things..."

[Comet Cafe]

Sakura scratched her head. "Cheesecake factory?" she said. "Why would you need a whole factory just for cake? Or, why would you make cake in a factory? I mean, there are certainly enough potential ovens, but surely that's too hot? Not to mention all that smoke..." She tried to wrap her head around a factory just for cakes, and realized she was reliving Space Tempura all over again.

She shook her head vigorously, dispelling the thoughts, and lightened up with another bite of delicious cheesecake. "For now?" she said. "Maybe I could teach you a little bit about cooking, some time? I don't know anything fancy either, but when we have all the ingredients, I've been known to make some pretty good teriyaki mackerel!" she said, though her enthusiasm waned slightly as she continued. "It's been a while since we've had everything we'd need, though, so I might be a bit rusty..."

Deck 2 ~ Sickbay (Minerva; Shireen; Anna, Gabriel; {Tigris}; Glitch, Rolph)

Minerva gently poked Gabriel on the nose. "Nope," she stated, "You don't seem like a villain. You've had a troubled past, and you've made mistakes. Made bad choices. So do a lot of other people. So have..." she said, trailing off. The machine girl drifted into a pause, staring off into space for a moment before continuing, "so have I..."

After zoning out again, the gynoid shook her head before continuing on with her point, "I've dealt with some highly detestable and horrific people over the years, and you don't seem like any of them, so don't beat yourself up over it, okay?"

The gynoid then turned slightly to talk directly to Anna, "You haven't upset me; that innocent curiosity of yours reminds me so much of both a friend of mine, and myself when I was, uh, younger. There have been many times when we made some rather awkward moments for my creator, especially when we gave her cause for a loss for words." At the girl's continued mentioning of her rather (by her personal standards) unorthodox upbringing and care, Minerva adopted a grim frown, "I'm seriously going to—" she began. She stopped herself when she recalled that the duo's situation of '404 Universe Not Found'. "Nevermind," she said instead, not wanting to cause any further unnecessary distress for the pair.

She then turned to face the new arrivals. "Minerva," she said, raising her hand, before introducing the others in a similar fashion with an accompanying indicative hand gesture.

"Anna and Gabriel had a rather... eventful time before arriving here, and Anna required medical attention at the time, so Tigris and I brought them up here, where we were able to get some help from the kindly lady over there," she said indicating Cecilia as she finished recapping recent events for Shireen. "We're not in any danger, so you don't have to worry," she said with a smile.

Chalking Rolph's rather oddball mentioning of maggots to xeno-cuisine, Minerva instead directed her attention to the flying mechanical box that had apparently scanned her. She crossed her arms before giving it a halfhearted pout. Her pout softened as she found herself smiling at the drone; "Hi there!" she said.

I'm going to include Tigris as part of the group for now, just as a temporarily silent tag-a-log until BrainSewage gets over their writer's block.

Deck 9 ~ Dark Matter Lounge (Mari; Kiryu)

Mari gave a slow, somber nod in agreement towards what Kiryu had said, "You can say that again; I've managed to pick up a few things over the years; and, I've 'ad my share o'loss over the years. But, ya just gotta make the most o'the time ya got with the people around ya." She took a sip from her cup before continuing, "'sides, it's not like bein' dead 'as been a 'andicap for some; one o'me team is a ghost, if you'd believe that."

She then turned her head to glance over at the pool deck, "This place might not 'ave an actual 'ot spring, but I read they've got 'ot tubs 'ere. Those sound pretty agreeable right about now, wonder if they serve drinks to ya while ya soak?"

Deck 10 ~ Comet Cafe (Loki; Sakura)

Loki stared at the other girl with a slack-jawed look of disbelief. "You— you've never heard of The Cheesecake Factory?! What planet are you from?" she exclaimed. She sighed and shook her head, "You don't know what you've been missing, kid; I'll have to correct that someday."

Returning to making her cheesecake rapidly disappear, the goddess paused for a moment at Sakura's offer of teaching her how to cook. "Hmm, that doesn't sound too bad. I've had teriyaki chicken before, but never mackerel, that'll be interesting to try," she said, before extending a hand to the other girl, "I accept your offer; you've got yourself a student now!"

Club Pluto

Rebecca and Sinistrina left, not without saying goodbye. Ryya, saddened at them leaving but understanding, bowed to them as a farewell salute.

After that, she listened to Conrad's explanation. "Hmm, some kind of... artificial animal?" She pondered in response. "Never heard of that before, or a mutant, though"

The creature, for now looked like it wouldn't move for now. Though Kittan seemed still wary of it, demonstrating with an admittedly impressing fire display. Ryya let out a small "Oooh", but Kittan's attitude still got on her nerves. "Bah, the Great Dragon was wasy more showy, and much more humble." She thought to herself.

Kokoro, meanwhile, proposed telling the 'crew' about the situation of the place. "Uhh, you mean, whoever is in charge, right?" Sometimes Ryya lost track of whatever the others were saying.

She considered Kokoro's proposition. They could get the people in charge, but... A part of Ryya, although still creeped out by the sight of this place, was still curious. Curious about what this place was, and why it was filled with corpses. She wanted to know more. And perhaps they could find something that could help.

"I don't see why not. But maybe we could explore a little?" Ryya suggested. "Perhaps there is something that could be useful to know."

Useful to know... Recalling Rebecca's conversation, an idea crept up in Ryya's mind. Definitely crazy, but it could be worth the try.

"I could... I could try and talk to them." Ryya suggested timidly. "I mean, if these people's spirit is still around here, I could try and communicate with them." She rubbed the back of her head embarrassed, and clutched her staff. "I'm not a mystic, and honestly it would be the first time I did this, but I feel it may work." Or maybe not, but at least she wouldn't lose anything trying.

Sickbay (Gabriel and Anna; (Tigris); Rolph and Glitch; Minerva; Shireen)

Shireen unwittingly sprang back as Gabe started his rant, which gave her a bit too much information than she was asking. She gazed into him, seeing more than meets a mere mortal's eye.

"Oh."

Mmm... we are so vindictive, aren't we, Gabriel, came the question.

Well, he should be, if half of the things he's talking about is true.

He's underwent quite the trauma, definitely. I can see his hands itching to vent his frustration not just verbally. Keep your distance, Shireen. Handle with care. He is in Trond's domain right now, came the thought.

Yes, my lady.

Then, the others spoke up, and they were a bit more informative and way less emotional than the man covered with black bone matter.

"Pleased to meet you, Minerva. Glad everyone's alright."

Shireen then gave unspoken credit to gynoid's sarcasm, if it indeed was present, when she mentioned the "kindly" middle-aged lady lying on the bed next to them. Scanning Cecilia was like staring into abyss, the feeling which was becoming rather familiar on this ship.

That's two damaged souls too many for today.

"Pleased to meet you, too, Rolph. I've met Glitch at the Arboretum, and he told me many interesting things about you and the adventures you've shared," she said, rather shamelessly eyeing the Mroothan. "Though it seems that this adventure had an averse effect on him."

She gave a nod of greeting to Tigris.

"Shall we go to the Square Root, then? Larvae are indeed very nutritious, but I dislike their texture. I find horseflesh way more pleasant protein-rich food in that regard. I'm all for a serving of a nice horse-meat pie. And to change the environment to a more cozy one."

As long as we don't meet that Lucina woman.

edited 20th Aug '17 11:48:06 AM by Millership

Stellar Spa (Rebecca, Sinistrina, Dante)

Greywater fever? Sinistrina pondered over Rebecca's answer; for a moment, she was reminded of the river encircling the Deathly Glade, which in fact had grey, tainted waters. But those did not cause a fever; instead they caused chills. Deathly chills. But what Rebecca said next really grabbed her attention. "Indeed, I do believe that life itself is a form of magic," she agreed as she glanced in the mirror. As she did, she saw that Dante's eyes had turned completely gray for a brief moment, and not only that, she caught another glimpse of that strange dark presence she saw in him.

It must have altered his sight somehow, as Sinistrina could not remember a time when she had a tan nor a sunny disposition. Unless he was talking about her remark on how much happier her life would have been had she not used her magic. Is that his power then? To see the future? Perhaps, but apparently he was less clear on seeing the past, given his remark on slavery. And yet still, that remark brought up something within her, something of a distant pain that yet was very close. For a moment she felt as if she was back in the Deathly Glade, shrouded by its misery-inducing mists.

Rebecca's question about re-animating other animals didn't help either; to this, she cast her a bewildered look. "Useful? For what, self-defense?" She cast Dante a faint smile. "I do admit to threatening a drunken mob with a pair of re-animated dogs once, but nowadays I find the shadows I cast to be far more effective." She lifted her hand a bit, where the three spiders she had brought out crawled to the tips of her fingers. "Why spiders, may you ask? I both identify and sympathize with them. As you might be aware, most people fear or despise them, or at least mistake them for insects. Rightfully so, for they are gifted with an art that traps and ends lives. And yet, they can be quite friendly and peaceful, and useful for pest control. All of these that I keep, I either found dead or watched people kill, so I gave them a new existence. I taught them how to spin black threads from the same mists I conjure... though it is a shame that they can only do so with my guidance." At this, though Sinistrina barely noticed, Anima uttered a tiny chirp from the web on her staff and pointed a leg at her.

As she spoke, another robotic attendant came over to work on her nails, though it blushed and apologized several times when it accidentally pulled one out, and when Sinistrina finally suggested to temporarily remove them and polish them up while they were out, the robot's face turned into a blue screen of death and one of the other attendants had to pull it aside to reboot it.

After casting a perplexed look at the two robots, Sinistrina spoke to Dante next, sounding somehow more solemn than usual. "You would not be the first to accuse me of enslaving my undead subjects. Perhaps in a way you are correct - but even with my human zombies, I treat them with as much respect as I can nonetheless, less like slaves and more like the people they were in life. In fact, those failed liches I mentioned were my attempts at preserving their free will." She shook her head very slowly, for her hair was still drying. "Lucina, the queen of Solevaille I mentioned, also had a nasty habit of executing people who threatened the peace of the kingdom in the slightest, by banishing them to an inescapable and unsurvivable realm called the Deathly Glade." Briefly, she glanced over at Rebecca. "I was banished there myself, and you might say it was infested with a plague that was most definitely supernatural." She gazed downward again. "Not even souls escape there; they only wander lost among the mists. Unfortunately, unlike Rebecca, I could not for the death of me figure out how to communicate with the spirits of the dead, so all I could do was keep them company."

Suddenly she was reminded of something Rebecca had mentioned earlier, but she did not feel like bringing it up when Dante was present, not yet anyway. Instead she asked her, "What about you? Where did you go once you were banished yourself?"

edited 23rd Aug '17 1:06:54 AM by ladytanuki

Stellar Salon and Spa (Sinistrina; Dante; Rebecca)

"Oh, I sing," said Dante. "Mostly."

"So that means you can't set them free? That kinda sucks. Well, at least you try to treat them well enough."

[Dark Matter Lounge]

Kiryu froze mid-sip, then put his cup down and started to chuckle. "You hang out with ghosts and samurai, huh? Jeez. Sooner or later, you're gonna run out of things to surprise me with," he said. "Oh, hey, a hot tub and drinks sounds nice. I didn't bring any swimwear, though. Don't generally need it, back home..."

[Comet Cafe]

Sakura gave a slightly embarrassed laugh. Oh, I'M the kid? Sheesh!

Inigo's acceptance of her offer of cooking lessons was also a bit of her surprise, though a pleasant one. "Oh, okay, great!" she said, shaking the girl's hand. "Um, I'm not sure where we'd get the ingredients around here, though, much less a place to actually do any cooking... Plus, we just ate! Or are you still hungry?"

(Spa- Rebecca, Sinistrina, Dante)

“I see. I tend to see my zombies as tools, rather than friends, but I suspect that’s a result of our different techniques. Empathetic against mechanical, and all that. And as for where I went, I lived in the wilds for a few months before stumbling across the coven, and I never left. Not much wandering, I admit.” Rebecca looked at her fellow lich. “The Deathly Glade? Is that where souls go in your world?”

“A concert sounds lovely, Dante.” The undead batted her rotting eyelids at him an in humorous attempt to be alluring. “Make sure you get me seats in the front row!”

edited 26th Aug '17 6:04:38 PM by daird

Deck 9 ~ Dark Matter Lounge (Mari; Kiryu)

Kiryu elicited another shrug from the oni with his comments. "Maybe I will, maybe I won’t. Won’t know til I stop surprisin' ya, I guess," Mari said.

She then gave a dismissive wave at Kiryu's mention of lacking swimwear, "It's a damn 'ot tub, and I'm a traditional girl. Besides, swimwear's for prudes," she said before getting up from the bar, and inviting the samurai to come with her, "Come on, if it really bothers ya, or they have a fit over it, we can go acquisition somethin' from the gift shop. They've got a damn pool deck, t'not sell swim suits would be their loss."

Deck 10 ~ Comet Cafe (Loki; Sakura)

Loki immediately shook her head at Sakura's surprised reaction to her willingness to accept tutelage from the other girl. "No, I wasn't thinking we should work on cooking right now; I was thinking that this could be an activity that we could do later during this cruise," she said in an attempt to clarify her earlier statement.

She then gestured towards Sakura's piece of cheesecake with her fork, "Correction, we're still eating. Unless you're done," she said, taking another bite of her cake. Truth be told, the goddess did have quite the voracious appetite, and was more that capable of eating everything here excluding the table, but that wasn’t the appropriate topic for her to bring up right now.

Instead, she broached a different subject; "So, what should we do next? I picked coming here, so I guess it would be your turn to pick."

Stellar Spa (Rebecca, Sinistrina, Dante)

Rebecca's first comment took Sinistrina back to Club Pluto, where she remembered the conversation the two necromancers had about the mechanism of re-animation. Indeed, "empathetic against mechanical" seemed an apt description. As Sinistrina listened, the robot attendant has finally booted up again and went to fetch something.

"In the wilds?" Sinistrina responded to Rebecca's remark on where she had been banished. "Then I suppose those bears and wolves must have been quite useful to you, then. It must have been lonely out there.. but alas, now it is in the past, and for four years now you had a group of true friends. You must have learned quite a bit about the workings of magic from them too, I imagine. Speaking of which, I suppose you do have a point about our methods, but there is nothing stopping me from exerting full control over my zombies if I wanted... and likewise, it is not so impossible for you to treat yours like.. living dolls of a sort.

"The Deathly Glade... no, souls normally move onto the afterlife once they leave their vessels. But if someone dies in there, their soul cannot escape - it is a prison of sorts, both for the body and the soul." She pondered for a moment. "But for some reason, dolls can escape. I do not know why." Looking back at Rebecca, she went on, "Perhaps you have seen such a doll. About knee high, pink and green dress, wears a bonnet... I saw her in the lobby, but she didn't seem to want anything to do with me."

Though that bit may have troubled her, she perked up a little when the robot attendant camer over, haven given up on attempting a proper manicure on a corpse and brought her a set of artificial nails instead. Normally Sinistrina would have objected, but these were black with a faint grey spiderweb pattern on them. "Our supervisor thought they would match your outfit," it explained. "Allow me to..."

"I shall attach them myself," Sinistrina interrupted, snatching up the new nails and covering up her hands with a cloud of black mist so that nobody had to watch. As she did this, she had to smirk at the way Rebecca playfully pleaded for front-row seats. Trying to channel her inner child, I see. To both her and Dante she said, "In all honesty, I believe the best way to be able to sit where we want is to arrive before anybody else. Dante, will you be heading over to the lounge immediately after we're done? If so, perhaps we could follow you there."

She was hoping that they would leave soon, for there was more she wanted to discuss with Rebecca without Dante poking his sleazy nose into the matter, and their seats while the singer was preparing seemed like the perfect opportunity. She was just about done at the spa herself, as the attendant had just taken her hair out of the curlers was was smoothing it out a bit.

edited 28th Aug '17 1:14:04 AM by ladytanuki

Stellar Salon and Spa (Sinistrina; Dante; Rebecca)

"Yeah, I'm afraid the entrance is free and the seats are first come first sit," said Dante, as the barber robot was finishing his work and began styling Hisakawa's hair. "Lasses as livewire as you should have no trouble getting the front seats."

"Here you go, sir," said the robot, removing the blanket off Dante.

"Thanks."

Hisakawa's new hairdo with short combed back hair somehow made him look even more sleazy than he already was. He gave his reflection a satisfied grin.

"How do I pay you?"

"Put your keycard here, sir." The robot pointed at the slit in the middle of its chest.

"So Freudian," said Dante, making the payment. He addressed Sinistrina: "Well, I'm off. Need to prepare myself before the performance. It should start in half an hour or so."

Nodding, he left the salon with a curt "Ladies."

[Dark Matter Lounge] >>> [Pool Deck]

Kiryu chuckled and stood up, fastening his sword to his belt. "Fine, fine, you've convinced me," he said. "Let's go see if these hot tubs are anything like the springs back home."

He took a few steps towards her, then stopped, and hurried over to the robotic bartender. "Hey, uh, by the way, if Sakura comes back here - y'know, the girl who was with me way earlier? - you'll tell her we went to the pool, yeah?" The bartender beeped enigmatically, and Kiryu stared at it for a moment, frowning. "Fuckin' robots..." he grumbled. "Well, whatever, we'll find each other."

Returning to Mari, he grinned. "I suppose we ought to check the rules first, before we go streaking through the place. Though, if you'd prefer to strip first and ask questions later, I suppose that's your business."

[Comet Cafe]

"Oh, right, right, of course," said Sakura, grateful that she didn't have to rush through the remainder of her cheesecake. She broke off another piece of her chocolate bar to eat with another forkful of cake as she pondered Inigo's suggestion. "Last time I tried to get anywhere in this ship, I got totally lost..." she said, unhappily recalling the circumstances that had, oddly enough, led her to encounter her diminutive new friend in the first place. "I could go for pretty much anywhere, really, This whole place is incredible." Just then, an idea came to her. "Oh, although, I think I saw something about an 'arcade' on one of the lower decks. It seemed like it might be fun to visit!"

[Club Neptune (Carlotta, Reshk, Phagora)]

Reshk made a gurgling sound that the translator didn't bother to put into any kind of recognizable analogue. What is it with these two?

"...right," he said after a moment, not sure whether he was directing it to one or both of the others. Carlotta was remarkably casual about telling everyone that her position was useless, and he didn't know what to make of Phagora saying she was a half-demon. "So what's the other half?"

He turned to the doll. "Hey, and, uh, Carlotta? Do they have... science fiction on your planet?"

There was a distinct staccato buzzing in his head, sure sign that the zaran back on the ship was calling his comm implant, but he ignored it for the moment.

[Comet Cafe (Loki, Sakura, unknown)]

Between the entrance to the Comet Cafe and the table where the samurai and the Norse deity were eating cake, there was suddenly a burst of bright blue light and a loud popping of displaced air. Then the effect faded and a qrtxian was standing, a little unsteadily, where it had been. The alien greatly resembled one of The Greys of classical UFO mythology, with hairless grey skin, an oversized head, and disproportionately large eyes. However, up close the skin was actually apparent as fine grey scales, and its eyes were red and reptilian rather than the mythological black. The coloring continued to the qrtxian's clothes, which were loose robes with long, flowing sleeves, all a dull grey except for one or two spiraling red sigils. A long white scar of dead scales ran down from the left eye to shortly above the mouth, but the qrtxian otherwise had no obvious distinguishing features apart from being tall for its species. ('It' was also a 'she', but that wouldn't be obvious to most humans that had never seen one before, though the scale patterning around the eyes was subtly different from a male qrtxian's).

Quickly shaking off the wooziness of the teleport, the qrtxian walked towards the table, stopped, looked down, and blinked a pair of semi-translucent membranes. "Oh. Hello," she said. The voice sounded faintly musical, though there was a faint electronic effect characteristic of an antiquated translator at work.

Dunno what these characters have in terms of magical senses, but if they've got something it might be possible that the qrtxian feels slightly 'off' in some indefinable way.

edited 4th Sep '17 1:17:25 AM by nrjxll

Club Neptune (Carlotta, Reshk, Phagora)

At Phagora's remark about the soldiers, Carlotta cocked her head to the side, but she did so a little too far, such that her head detached a slight from where it attached to her torso, briefly revealing a wide black crack in her neck. It was a good thing there was background music in the club, such that the slight crunching noise the movement made was less noticeable. She didn't seem to notice, though, and just moved her head back into place with no problems.

"Stone? I don't think they make toy soldiers out of stone. Sounds like if they did, they'd be ugly and clumsy. In Solevaille we take appearance very seriously, so the wooden ones at least look sort of appealing. They even have giant nutcrackers as generals." Carlotta scratched her head, even though it was empty. "I don't even think stone holds onto ether that well."

What Phagora said about her lineage was even more surprising, though Carlotta's only way of showing it was blinking her eyes and leaning in close. "You're half demon? Well, that explains that dark essence I see in you. I'm technically half uh, zombie myself," and here she looked down a slight, "if you were wondering. I'm told demons can detect unholy things. Is that true?"

At Reshk's question, she groaned in an oddly zombie-like fashion. "Well obviously her other half is human." That was a wild guess; her soul at least looked human, albeit tainted in a way. "And my other half is doll, Ceramic actually. Seems like you don't have much of either where you are from."

Just then, the bartender brought the drinks; Carlotta immediately took a sip of her brandy and smiled. "I like brandy because it's sweet and makes me feel warm," she said with a glance at Reshk, as she just now remembered that dead things are cold. She remembered herself when she first visited Solevaille and a tourist picked her up, where he was shocked at how heavy she was and she was shocked at how warm his hands were. "But yes, Reshk, there is in fact a claimed^note Carlotta, the word you're looking for is "acclaimed", preceded by "an" science fiction author in Solevaille. He likes to write about ridiculously large flying contraptions seemingly made of steaming tea kettles, and surprisingly friendly pirates piloting them. I only took a glance at one of his books though - he goes into far too much detail."

"So what happened to the rest of your ship's crew?" Carlotta asked Reshk. "Or do oquar typically fly in parties of two?" She smiled, proud of herself for getting Reshk's species correct.

edited 6th Sep '17 12:48:54 AM by ladytanuki

(Club Neptune- Phagora, Carlotta, Reshk)

"Steam powered airships?" Phagora was intrigued, and decided to inquire further. "Steam does rise, so if you angled it right, you could probably turn a wheel- but the thing would have to be massive to be practical. So massive, in fact, that you'd have to use magic somewhere in the design, whether to lighten the structure or get the fires burning hotter."

Something struck the half-demon as odd about Carlotta. Then, the little doll claimed that she was part zombie. <That would explain a lot.> As to her question about being able to detect evil, she responded, "Depends on what we're talking about. If it's something to do with sins, and especially the sin we identify with, we can pick it up easily. I could spot a curse to compel overeating from across the room, for instance, but undifferentiated, generic evil is actually harder to find." A thought came to her. "You said you were part zombie, right? Is that why you're so interested in dark magic?"

(Spa- Rebecca, Sinistrina, Dante)

The undead gave Dante a warm smile as he left. "If it's first come, first serve, then we better get going." She looked at the attending robot, who had worked his way down to her ankles. "That will be fine, sir."

Rebecca got up, drawing her cloak around her. "Are you coming, Sinistrina? The performance would be far more enjoyable with you by my side."

Stellar Spa -> Pool Deck (Rebecca, Sinistrina)

Sinistrina was too busy finishing up her nails to watch Dante leave. Just as she was finishing up, admiring the new nails the attendant had given her and stashing the old ones in a pocket (in case she needed them later for whatever reason), she heard Rebecca's remark, and froze... which is very easy to do for a self-animated corpse. Finally she looked over at Rebecca and gave her a smile - and unlike the faint ones she usually gave, this one seemed to actually have some feeling behind it.

"Never in my life or death would I have imagined anyone enjoy my company, knowing what I can do." For possibly the first time since she arrived on the ship, or even long before that, she sounded - and felt - genuinely grateful. "Nonetheless, I would gladly come with you. Shall we?"

With a quick wave goodbye to the spa attendants, the two liches left the place and made their way across the pool deck, glimpsing the Dark Matter Lounge off in the distance. Immediately upon stepping out, though, Sinistrina squinted and looked down, surprised at how bright all the surroundings were - especially considering she had spent the last three years in a perpetually dimly-lit world. Not that she had any reason to look around though. All those people enjoying life in the pool mattered little to one with interests in and powers over death, so her focus was instead on Rebecca.

Now that Dante was not around, she said to her, "You know, it just occurred to me that what I said about the Deathly Glade being inescapable is not entirely true. I am here, after all; something on this ship must have broken its seal. Which means..." and here she flashed a smirk, "...that if we are to further demonstrate and share our necromantic abilities, we may not have to return to Club Pluto and deal with Kittan to do so. You already have experience with surviving a place few if any survive. And especially with you being undead now, surely you can do so again."

"Speaking of, there is a question I have had on my mind ever since we entered that club. If you do not mind me asking... what exactly were you seeking when you decided to brave the Black Pit?"

Daird, you can move the two to the Dark Matter Lounge next post if you like.

Pool Deck (Emille, Lux, Ayako, Ethoya)

While Emille was enjoying the steamy waters and waiting responses, she caught a glimpse of an unusually dark spot amidst the brightness of the deck out of the corner of her human eye. Of course, she just had to look up... and what she saw shocked her so much that she stood bolt upright in the tub, staring wide-eyed at it. A very familiar-looking witch, dressed mostly in black, was walking alongside a not-so-familiar woman in a scarlet cloak. The former was most definitely Sinistrina (though considerably more sickly-looking than she remembered); the latter, upon closer inspection, seemed to be a zombie under her control.

What?! thought Emille. But how?

After the two were out of sight, she looked squarely at the faint light that was Lux. "W-well then... I stand corrected." After which she sat back down in the warm waters. "I suppose my aunt's death was just a rumor, then. Congratulations, fairy, you have successfully proved your clairvoyance. Forgive me for not seeming flattered." Though she seemed collected enough, there was a sliver of worry at the back of her mind. Were there more zombies than just that one? Was Lucina now in danger? She could only wonder.

For now, Emille looked back between Ayako and Ethoya. "So, you and the doll's names."

edited 9th Sep '17 12:23:05 AM by ladytanuki

Deck 10 ~ Comet Cafe (Loki; Sakura; ???)

Rubbing her chin, Loki gave a thoughtful smile before nodding at Sakura's choice of destination. But, before she had a chance to properly give an answer, she was interrupted by an unexpected arrival of an unusual visitor.

Turning around in her seat, her gaze fell upon a— "Chupathingy?"

To the goddess, the visitor looked vaguely like a chupacabra, something she had dealt with before... by poking it in the face with Laevateinn. It took her a moment to realize that unlike the chupacabra, this was an actual person wearing clothes. And was apparently talking to her.

Suddenly realizing she had been sitting there with her mouth agape, she closed it before responding in a more proper, albeit slightly stunned, manor; "Hi."

Deck 9 ~ Pool Deck (Mari; Kiryu)

Mari raised an eyebrow at Kiryu as she idly waited for the man to get through dealing with the bartender. The robot had been perfectly capable of handing out orders, so she was certain it would be capable of letting Kiryu's daughter know where he went, despite the beeping.

As the pair of them left the lounge, she returned a grin to the samurai, "'Ey, I wasn't plannin' on strippin' in front of everyone, plus we'd be wearin' towels til we got to the water," she said before giving him a cheeky look, "unless you weren't plannin' on usin' one."

Laughing, she gave Kiryu a hearty pat on the back. "Looks like this is where we part ways for now," she said, gesturing her thumb at the sign that said 'Changing Rooms' before making her way inside.

A few minutes later, the oni returned from the changing rooms, washed and clad only in a towel and a cocky grin.

[Observation Deck]

"Why, of course I do." Jin's mouth twitched. "I enlisted for a reason. If fascists want to overrun my island, they'll have to do it over my dead body. We are very fortunate to have leaders who know exactly how to deal with them. Not so fortunate, perhaps, is the fact that they had to learn this firsthand."

They stare at the table for a moment, scratching their chin. "There were... many ugly things about the Renesian Revolution. My parents have told me the stories that are glossed over in the history books. Even some of their own friends, people they thought they could trust—but it was necessary. Sometimes I wonder why we are even ashamed. If children are permitted to know that felons are subject to execution, why not be more open about the execution of fascist traitors in wartime? I suppose there is a certain pain in admitting that we couldn't make our brethren see the light, but how does ignoring it help?"

[Dark Matter Lounge (Hadia)]

Western Amalgamated Chief Operating Officer Hadia al-Filistini was a remarkably beautiful woman, with brown doe eyes and soft features giving her the air of a Disney princess. She looked to be in her mid-twenties, though gene therapy was partially responsible for that. She kept her hair flowing a fair way down her back, straightened, with the bangs falling neatly over her right eye. It was naturally black, but she'd dyed it to a darker, subtly iridescent shade chosen to look natural at a glance while still giving her a certain special air. Peeking out from beneath her bangs were black glasses with sleek square frames, and arms consisting of a black and purple flower with twin wavy vines. She dressed in a black pantsuit, tailor-made in a fashionable neo-art nouveau style which combined modern cuts with subtle vine-like patterns on the jacket and a smooth profile, over a dark violet-red shirt.

She'd heard stories about this sort of place from Alice and Isaac, who offered entirely different theories about what it was. (Isaac's was the more obviously sane one, of course, but that didn't necessarily mean Alice was wrong. Though honestly, Hadia wasn't as interested in those sorts of existential questions as they were, and didn't care beyond the fact that they agreed it was stable.) According to some reading of a device the pair had cobbled together from a stolen magical diadem, an antique 20th-century CRT TV, and a water tank full of jellyfish, she was unlikely to face any lethal risk. "Unlikely", Alice had hastened to repeat, implying "not impossible".

Still, Hadia was feeling pretty good so far. This place was a xenophile's dream, just the people-watching, and apparently there was supposed to be a show soon. The prices for good beer and good food were also relatively cheap, as little as that mattered to someone with Hadia's bank account. So she sat at the bar, with plenty of space on either side of her for someone to join her, as she sipped a particularly hoppy beer and picked lazily at a tray of samosas. More than I expected, she thought to herself. Doubt I could eat all of those things. Well, maybe I could, but that would probably be a bad idea.

Whether or not anyone shows up to join her, I know at least Dante's heading this way. Posts for Enkar and Ethoya to follow tomorrow.

edited 13th Sep '17 4:05:28 PM by KillerClowns

[Club Neptune (Carlotta, Reshk, Phagora)]

Reshk stared at the crack in Carlotta's neck with one eye and made a faint yggh sound. Okay, now that is queasy-making even for me. Though it did make it clear (unfortunately) that the 'doll' didn't seem to feel pain, at least not at all the time.

And seriously, what the bloody 'ell is with these coves' worlds? Gives me the shivers hearing about all this zombies and magic and stone and steam. I'll take goo and voices in the head anytime.

"I'm afraid they all wound up dead," he said in response to Carlotta's question, adopting a grim expression. "They... were all... well, gravied. Stepped out onto a high-G world without supports and... skloooossh." He lifted a skin flap to one of his eyes, as if to brush away fluid like as leaked from some aliens' orbs when they were sad. "Terrible thing. Terrible."

A line of purple glowing text scrolled across his vision - his passenger having apparently lost patience after the last call.

SHIP NEEDS YOU COME BACK NOW

"Anyway, am I right in figuring that neither of you knows much about mending spaceships?" He looked curiously at Phagora, who seemed to have slightly more technical inclinations than the clueless Carlotta, but he didn't really expect much. "I could be using some help back on the Scout."

edited 10th Sep '17 12:29:07 AM by nrjxll

Pool Deck (Emille, Ayako, Ethoya, 'Lux-chan')

Listening quietly as Ayako spoke to the others, the angel girl seems ashamed and upset by Ayako's declaration to her- Not that she would let her see, instead letting Ayako and Emille believe she is heartwarmed by Ayako's words. For Ethoya, she shot the enigmatic entity a dirty look, yet as if silently begging 'Please don't tell her.'

Still, the fact she cannot read Ethoya's mind continues to disturb her, especially as Emille pulls away the answer she wanted from the doll. Still, as that doll notices her 'aunt', 'Lux' smiles smugly at how wrong it was to doubt her- Not that she let them see her smile, even covering her mouth so Ethoya hopefully couldn't see.

With everyone done speaking for the moment, 'Lux Sniper' smiles warmly at Ayako and speaks with shy cheer. "T-thank you Ayako-chan, it means a lot to me. Sometimes I wish I could of been a person, it must be nice receiving affection like this regularly... P-perhaps there's something we can do for fun? I've never 'hung out' before with someone."

With that said, she then addressed Emille alone, her tone once more neutral. "Fairy? As if... The Fair Folk react poorly to such insults, whereas my Fey relatives are beyond your comprehension. Truly, you are beyond fortunate to be dealing with me instead, blasphemer. Besides, as if I care about your flattery. Though truly, do you really believe all dolls alive? Though I suppose Ayako-chan would be worthy to create Nomi..."

That out of the way, 'Lux Sniper' finally addresses Ethoya whilst letting the others listen in, playing up the nervous embarrassed angle. "I-I would like to know more about your Xayu though. It was not my intention to offend, and I can't help assuming that due to getting no response. If only I had some Nomi with me..."

Outer Space -> Hangar

If anyone looking outside any of the windows had been paying attention to the cosmos and had spectacular eyesight, they might have noticed the silhouette of a black fish. Or a thick plane? Or some sort of alien bird? Well, a ship, one the size of a small commercial jet. Actually, those of you who guessed fish are closest to the truth, for upon closer inspection it resembled a shiny black coelacanth, one with strangely draconic-looking "fins" made of a thin scarlet metal. Two on each side and two on top, with the front one resembling more a tattered sail with a black skull on it; same was also true of the tail which sat right on top of the engine. From the outside, the "fish" seemed to have no eyes and no mouth... only four stubby feet.

Judging by how this ship rocketed towards the much-larger IMS Carpe Noctem while spinning around like a football, it was either showing off a skillful maneuver, or had lost control. Inside the ship's cockpit, hidden behind an unseen long window, the situation was evidently the latter. Five young adults, four men and one woman, had expressions that conveyed either panic, stress, frustration, surprise, or excitement.

The oldest-looking crew member was the frustrated one. A large man - tall, hairy, and stockily-built, but not exactly portly - and at least part Scottish if the kilt he wore was any indication. His entire outfit was red and black like his kilt, matching the ship, save for a little bit of white sock peeking over his boots. After tossing the chocolate-brown braid in his hair back over his shoulder where it belonged and rubbing the sweat off his neatly-trimmed mustache and goatee, he rolled up his sleeves and took a tighter grip on the steering controls. But he seemed to underestimate his strength, as one particularly hard jerk of the controls caused a handle to snap right off.

Not surprisingly, the youngest-looking one, looking no older than a teen, was the one in panic. In stark contrast to the supposed captain, he was lanky, freckled, smooth-faced (except for a bit of stubble on his chin), and wide-eyed (even when not in a panic), and while not too dark, looked to be at least partially of some sort of Hispanic descent. He was the most plainly-dressed of the group, dressed in an oversized olive green T-shirt bearing a logo unidentifiable to most, baggy jeans, and large sneakers. Currently his hands were grabbing both sides of his shabby light blue baseball cap, pulling it over his short brown hair.
"What is THAT thing!?" he exclaimed, pointing at the larger ship. "We're gonna crash into it if we don't do something!" He spoke very quickly, as was the norm with him.

Also wide-eyed was the surprised one, though his eyes were green rather than brown like the rest of the group's. He was the shortest of the bunch and also the most flamboyantly-dressed, instantly recognizable in the purple coat he wore with blue starry-patterned lining and ankle-length tails. To match his eyes, which were decorated with a noticeable bit of green eyeshadow, he wore a light green buttoned-down shirt beneath it. All this might have made him look almost feminine at a distance, and the long black ponytailed hair did not help. His ethnicity tended to be a long guessing game, though he was tan-skinned, just barely darker than the teen. He was currently gazing at the ship ahead with wonder, clueless as to what the others were doing. As he raised a hand to his forehead to shield himself from the light of a nearby star and to push a stray strand of hair out of his face, the two rings on his hand, one with a red stone and one with a green one, both with some sort of rune inscribed on them, became more visible.

Meanwhile, the thinnest and fairest-skinned of the group had taken to the control panel, frantically deciding on buttons to push and screens to swipe to avoid the crash the teen had been worried about. In his obvious stress, his brown eyes hidden behind thinly-framed rectangular glasses darted across the panel, while his thin and wavy blond hair hid his entire face and neck on all sides (except the front of course). His long and nimble fingers really showed their speed on the panel, looking almost detached from the rest of his body given how they were covered in black fingerless gloves. The rest of his outfit was black as well, marked by a coat almost as classy as the short guy's, though buttoned all the way up to his neck. Like the short fellow, he was too occupied with what he was doing to notice anything else, besides the Scottish guy's mention of the steering controls being broken.

And finally, the excited one, and the only woman in the group. Though she was a blonde like the skinny guy, her short, bobbed hair was brighter and more yellowish, and her dark brown eyes were as naturally wide as the teen's. And though she was dressed all in black like the skinny guy, she was not that skinny, especially with all the muscle on her figure. Perhaps "lean" is the better term. Her clothing was also more revealing than his, and also more casual, starting with a tight black halter top short enough to expose a bit of midriff, continuing with black gloves that did have fingers, and ending with black jeans and boots. Actually I lied when I said her outfit was all black; she also had a mid-sleeve denim jacket, though in the heat of the excitement she was just holding it for now, such that the panther tattoo crawling down her upper left arm showed. She was nearly as tall as the Scotsman, possibly some sort of Scandinavian.
"Lighten up, you guys!" she exclaimed in a loud and high-pitched voice, leaning eagerly forward. "You gotta admit, this is one fun ride! I no longer regret not bringing my motorcycle!"

Just after she said that, though, the ship slowed to a stop. Looking around, the group could see a bluish force field of sorts surrounding the ship, and some sort of tractor beam pulling them towards what seemed to be the much larger ship's hangar.

"What is this, Star Wars?" said the Scotsman, who did not sound Scottish at all, but did sound a little on the deep side. "I mean, we are scoundrels on a spaceship, but..."

The skinny guy seemed relieved. "I would at least say it is better than crashing." His voice was quiet and a bit rough, and carried a very slight British accent. "Let us only hope that the people on that ship do not want to take over the galaxy or catch us in the act."

Finally when the little ship landed in the hangar and the crew stepped out, a robot bearing a tablet immediately rolled up to greet them. "Good uh, time, sirs... and ma'am. Welcome to the IMS Carpe Noctem, and I hope you enjoy your stay with us in our leisurely journey across the universe. First things first. Identification, please."

After some quick glances at each other, all five of the crew presented an odd handheld device that bore a touch screen, a button pannel, and what looked like a scanning device. Though the technology was strange, the robot found it rather easy to ID them.

"So we have Bryan Donneley," it indicated the not-quite-Scotsman, "Juan de Luiz," it indicated the teen, "Vincent Estrel," it indicated the short dandy, "Edwin Tasselbury," it indicated the skinny Brit, "and Catalina Mavik," it indicated the biker lady, who had finally put on her jean jacket but left it open. "After you gather your things, please enter through that door and check in at the Nebula Lobby at your leisure. Oh, and also, identification of your ship, please."

"The Sky Pirate," the big guy - Bryan - said to the robot. "I have her registration right here if you need it."

The short guy - Vincent - smiled at the robot. "Why, were it not for your technology, I would have considered your clairvoyance impeccable." He also had an accent, but it was not easy to pin down, seemingly every single European accent blended into one. To the rest of the group he said, "Shall we?"

By the time they had gathered belongings, a robot brought out a luggage cart to store everything on. While everyone else was loading it up, the skinny guy - Edwin - spoke to them. "Now although this seems like a friendly place, we are still to use our code names around all but the officials, are we clear?"

"Certainly, Lupin," Bryan (or not) - replied, having just lifted the heaviest suitcase onto the cart. Wiping a bit of sweat off his brow, he continued, "Well, if the rest of you will go check in, I believe I need a fucking drink. Text me when you find a room, and remember, SMILE." With that he turned around and headed off to the elevators.

"As you wish, Halberd," said the teen with a wide grin on his face, intentionally missing the point. Facing the remaining crew, he said, "Merlin and Panther, come on, let's go."

Nodding, the woman - evidently Panther - shooed the approaching robot assistant away and opted to push the luggage cart herself. "Warren, we'll have you do all the talking once we're there, as usual," she said to the teen. Without another word, the four headed off to the lobby, leaving the Sky Pirate parked for now.

Club Neptune (Halberd, Carlotta, Reshk, Phagora)

The aquatic decor of Club Neptune was a little tacky for Halberd, but for now he preferred it to the currently-noisy Club Mercury across the way, and the weird-sounding Club Bizarre across the other way. Without hesitation, the at-least-part-Scotsman pulled up a stool at the bar and ordered a scotch, taking a large swig of it upon arrival and promptly apologizing.

The robotic bartender blinked. "Many of our patrons take much larger gulps than that."

"Not with scotch," said Halberd. "It is usually sipped, though not as carefully as wine or brandy." Two drinks that a table nearby had just ordered. Halberd just now noticed this table, and found it rather appropriate that some sort of alien fish was sitting at it. As well as a girl who looked too young to drink, and... a talking doll? Must be one of those living dolls from Alpenhaus. What is she doing here though? Did Lucina find her way here too?

Meanwhile, over at that exact table, Carlotta looked worriedly at Phagora, though it didn't show at all in her static clay face. "I wouldn't say I'm that interested in black magic - I just was raised by zombies. My mother/creator, though, is very interested in it - and uses it herself. She's a..." what was the term Rebecca used again? She forgot. "...a necromancer." That term she at least knew. "If you ever see Lucina though, don't tell her. She doesn't know about us." It didn't worry her too much if she did tell, though, now that she knew that Sinistrina was on the ship.

Speaking of necromancy, just then Reshk mentioned his crewmates perishing. "What?" she said to him, trying her best to match his grim tone, though in reality she was more startled. "You mean they turned to goo? That... does not sound like a fun way to die." Must be difficult to re-animate in that state. "I hope their uh... that you will remember them always." She felt like she ought to say something else, but she never got the chance to fully understand the living's customs about death, especially not the oquar's.

To his next question, she said, "Uh, no, I know absolutely nothing about spaceships - they are beyond Solevaille's technology. I am good at carrying heavy things, though, if that'd be helpful."

Just as she said that, a large man in a kilt walked over to them, a nearly-empty glass of scotch in hand. "Did someone mention repairing spaceships?" he asked them. "I happen to be both the captain and the mechanic of a spaceship myself, if you are at all interested." His first question was rhetorical, for he addressed specifically Reshk. "That is, unless you would prefer to stay with these two girls for now."

"I would rather stay myself," said Carlotta, "but can come with you if you feel you need me." She looked over at the half-demon. "What about you, Phagora?"

edited 11th Sep '17 7:39:29 PM by ladytanuki