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RP #1
over 1k

Solo #2
754

Shyamaath leaned back against the window frame, balancing carefully on the ledge. She'd propped both of her cloven hooves up against the opposite side of the frame, and relied mostly on one hand grasping the outer edge of the sill for assurance against falling. Her left hand she held cradled close, keeping safe and dear the gem that rested in her palm. It was a small cluster of crystals, remarkably close in color to her own lavender skin. It didn't look like anything special or even the least bit valuable, just a clump of colored quartz.

But it was so much more than that. It was all that remained of her mistress, collected and condensed and given into her safekeeping. She'd had possession of it for the better part of a year now, and to what end? She'd found no one to give it to, no one suited or strong enough to bear the goddess within. She'd placed it in the hands of perhaps a dozen mortals she thought could be the one, but for all her expectations, they weren't.

The aoide had even offered herself - how many times had she held her this way? - but she didn't have what Justice required...whatever that was. She wasn't entirely sure. How was she supposed to know? What was she to resort to, passing the crystal from mortal to mortal in some blind hope that chance would be enough?

It was completely foolish. But wasn't sitting and waiting just as absurd? Shyamaath sighed, glancing down at the gardens below. Perhaps someone would pass by, and all of a sudden, she'd just know. Hah! She'd been spending too much time with Love. Slowly but surely - admittedly, maybe not as slowly as she'd liked to have thought - his influence had bled in and colored everything. It was a little unsettling, but also fitting, that he could be so contagious.

There was one potential problem with that, a question that weighed unanswered at the back of her mind: how far would she go, to see her mistress brought back to life? If she did find 'the one,' what would she do if they didn't want to be fodder for some dead deity's rebirth? Could she force them, if she had to, and justify it as being for the greater good? One little life, just one...

Maybe once, but not now.

Three days later, Shyamaath sat perched in the same window, cradling not her goddess' gem, but one of the flooxes that drifted back and forth between Rio and has daughter. It was starry little La, who slept peacefully in her lap. This quiet, reserved floox was her favorite, and seemed to return the affection...although she suspected she was only the second-favorite, as all of the little troupe was most loyal to Adrienne. Shy had to admit, she missed Love's little girl. She was every bit as skilled at winning people over as her godly parent, and did it almost unconsciously.

The aoide resettled herself, careful not to disturb Vulpecula in the process, to better watch the gardens below. After some time, she was lulled to sleep by the peaceful view and the soft breathing of the fluffy creature in her lap. As she dozed away, she began to list a little to the side, and after several blissful minutes, the realization that she was about to fall startled her awake, she jerked back, narrowly avoiding an unpleasant tumble. Her floox friend, disturbed, hopped down and scuttled off in search of a more reliable pillow.

Stupid...

Shaking her horned head, Shyamaath checked to make sure no one had seen that. Fortunately, none of her roommates were about, and there was no one outside...no, wait there was a woman walking through the gardens, though she wasn't looking up. Thank goodness! Assured that no one would ever know what had almost happened, the demoness started to slide back inside, but a second glance at the woman below made her pause. She'd seen many people of many races - katta, liontaur, night elf, and more - but this person drew her eye for reasons other than an exotic appearance. It was her clothing that made Shy look again and notice. She was blindfolded, and carrying a sword.

The imagery, intentional or not, was impossible to miss. All she was missing was a set of scales. Shyamaath rushed to her room and then returned, clutching Justice's crystal tight in her fist.

Could it really be that simple?

RP #3
over 1k

Solo #4
501

Alice's hope that Shyamaath would stop fussing after her once she'd decided to accept the gem was, unfortunately, not immediately realized. The aoide had insisted on following her to her - their? - rooms, and begun spouting offers of help with this or that, suggestions of how she might shape her new space. Finally, the guard had lost her patience and all but chased her out, and was left at last with time to think. To stare at the gem she held in her hand and realize, fully, that she was going to do this, and if she was going to do it, she might as well get it over with. She had a certain amount of doubt, certainly, about whether or not it was what she wanted to do, but she knew that it was the right thing to do. Given what Harmodius had told her, it seemed (almost) inexcusably selfish to deny the goddess; she would call to no one else until Alice was dead, and who knew when that would be? If it were tomorrow, then she might as well have done it, hadn't she? And if it were a hundred years...there could be such a difference made in that time, or even in five years. Certainly a goddess would be able to do far more good than she in any amount of time, that much she was sure of.

What did she have to be selfish about, anyway? She had no family, no future, no plans, not even a way to go home - if she had a home to go back to at all. Even then, what use was the Castle in the scheme of things? That tiny, ridiculous little pocket dimension, the purpose and intent of which had always been a mystery. It was, all in all, a rather pointless existence; what was the point of a new life only to be pulled back into an old one? If there was a god of anything like that - Death, perhaps? - she was going to have some questions for him if she ever met them.

Enough. Enough thinking about it, about reasons why or why not to; she knew well enough that, no matter how much second-guessing she would inevitably do, that her decision was to accept this deity. To really be, even in some small way, Justice, more truly than she had ever been.

Which left one small thing: where was she going to put it? Somewhere prominent, where everyone could see it? No, that didn't seem right...she didn't like the idea of something so precious being so exposed. But it was also sort lumpy and jagged, and she wasn't sure what that would feel like. It took her quite awhile to decide, but eventually, she pressed it gently into the flesh just above her right hip. It sank in readily, and she had just enough time to appreciate that it didn't hurt before she lost consciousness and fell to the floor.

RP #5
over 1k

Solo #6
516

This was...different. One day, Alice had been skulking around the Pantheon, brooding about her chosen fate, and the next, it was practically impossible to skulk, and pretty hard to brood, too. The sudden celebration took her by surprise, jarring her out of her loop of melancholy thoughts. There were people, happy people everywhere, revelling in their continued existence, celebrating Harmodius. It was very colorful, to say the least, and the slightest bit disconcerting.

Not that she was being grumpy, she just...hadn't had a reason to be happy herself in quite a long time, and she didn't exactly have friends or anything to join in with. It was rather like being at a party where you didn't know anyone. Awkward. Nevertheless, she ventured out with her four-legged friend in tow. It took all of a few minutes, however, for the dog to disappear.

"Hector?" Alice jogged in the direction he'd run off to, calling. "Hector, where did you...Hector!"

Oh, she'd found him alright, but he'd found something too, trotting up to her with his 'prize': something small, fluffy, and adorable. "Oh my god, what are you doing with that?! Give that here!"

She pried open his jaws to extricate the poor creature, hoping it was still alive and not too hurt. For a fleeting moment, she thought she might be too late, but once it was safely in her arms, the floox opened up its eyes and squeaked, burrowing closer. Saved~! It had only been playing dead, and was very grateful to have been rescued. Clearly it didn't know the dog was hers, which was just as well. It wouldn't have been nearly as happy to see her if it knew, she suspected. She had seen such creatures before, as Shyamaath knew several who occasionally tagged along with her, but her interactions with and knowledge of them were limited. Small animals in general she had very little experience, as they were simply not her thing. She was a dog person, and dogs liked to eat small, cuddly critters.

While she stared down at the mussed, soggy floox, Hector barked at her - a very clear 'Hey, give that back!' - and she scolded him. "Absolutely not. Flooxes aren't toys, we've been through this before."

He'd tried to get at one once when Shyamaath had brought it with her on a visit, much to Alice's chagrin. Sighing, she scritched at the terrified critter that had burrowed itself into the relative safety of the crook of her arm, making soothing noises at it. "You're fine, you're fine. Hush. No one's going to eat you."

Not right this moment, anyway. Hopefully not in the future, either, but they were going to have to work on that. "Come on, then, let's get you out of here and clean you up, hmm?"

"You too, Hector! You're going back inside and staying there." This was far from the other floox scampering about the grounds, and Alice didn't want him chewing on any more of the things. It would certainly dampen the mood if her dog killed any of the adorable little ageless.

RP #8
unfinished

RP #9
over 1k