Welcome to Gaia! ::

It was cold outside the Pantheon. If things had been normal there might have been snow on the ground. The world, however was still without sky. Cosine walked away from the safe house, along the well trod path to the town. The last time she had been through there had been nothing but ruin. Now she could see hope, life. People were there, working on the old houses, talking and laughing. She smiled and pulled the wool coat tighter around her.
“I am looking for a building that will be suitable for a school.” She said to Phirren, her chosen companion for this task. “It should be close to the town so that all might be able to attend and the other gods can find it easily.”
The small blue Nyanko nodded and dodged around the people as they passed through the centre of town. Many of the buildings were broken beyond repair or taken by groups who had moved to the area in order to be close to the Pantheon.

“There.” Phirren pointed a paw to a large looking building nestled in the corner of the old town square. “That looks as though it might be a suitable venue.”
Cosine’s eyes followed the paw; she gave a gentle nod and started to lead the way across the square with the empty fountain to the building.

It was a fairly modern building and so seemed to be more structurally sound than some of the others around it. The unusual pair climbed the concrete steps and peered through the gaping hole that had once been a door. It smelled damp inside, no doubt caused by absence of the sun. Cosine reached into her bag and produced a torch, the batteries were on the way out but hopefully it would do its job. She shook it and pressed the black button. Light flickered and shone in a small shaft that showed rubble and grime covering the floor.

“It seems like a large enough space.” She said softly sweeping the torch across the open plan area. There were signs that people had once been there. Ash from a fire, bones from animals, blankets. She swept the beam over one of the walls. There were posters, worn and decayed, children’s scrawl. Maybe it had once been a village hall. She thought to herself.

Phirren did not seem to need the torch, he walked further than her into the building, towards a raised platform, once a stage? And nodded, turning back to the goddess.
“I think it would be suitable for your venture. Though it needs a lot of work.” He walked back to her side. “There are some stairs, over there, I do not think they are safe enough to take weight but they probably lead to another room. That would give you two classrooms.”

Cosine nodded and moved her torch to the rotting stairs. Now she just needed to find people who could help her transform it, make it what it had been.
“Two rooms, that would be wonderful.” Two classes would be able to be held at the same time. Once more she swept her torch over the dank interior, her mind making note of measurements and dimensions, volume, area. It would take a while to complete; it would be something to keep her occupied, something worthwhile to invest her energies into.
“I will have words with Jessica, she might be able to help us with lighting and heat even. Her husband might be able to help with the building.” There were others she could ask also. Isra’s people, Lisana, some of her mortals might be able to help.

She stepped out of the building and switched the torch off.
“I will contact them tomorrow, tonight I need to make some plans. You can help me if you like?”
Phirren nodded and followed after her.
“It would be my pleasure. “ He smiled warmly and started to lead the way back to the pantheon. It would give him something to focus on too, until they could make it to the World Tree.

The abandoned community centre was a hive of activity makeshift lamps had been set up for the workers and there was an overall buzz of productivity. People seemed happy to be useful, doing something that would benefit their community of misfit refugees. Whilst men from Isra's tribe helped hammer and fix, the women kept everyone fed and wove hangings for the walls. In the absence of paint coloured plaster had been made up using whatever natural dye they could find. All around people laughed and talked, there had even been random outbursts of song to help the workers along.

No one really needed much motivation to work, they had all been cooped up inside the Pantheon for far too long. Even the habitually lazy were glad of some way to spend their time.

In the basement Cosine held one of the homemade lamps carefully in place, her eyes fixed on a pair of overaled legs that were sticking out from under an intriguing contraption. It was a patchwork of metals that they had been able to salvage from the decayed ruin of the town.
"Nearly there." Jessica's voice drifted out from the generator. There was a clunk and she pushed herself free. The young woman was covered from head to toe in dirt, her brown hair now grey with dust.
"Right, let's see if she works."

Cosine smiled and placed the lamp in the middle of the floor. She was rather excited. They had spent days hunting through ruins trying to find bits and pieces to fix the electrical generator. Now the moment had arrived to see if their hunt had been fruitful. She stepped back from the machine as Jess did something similar, putting her body away from it as she stretched out her hand towards the switch. They both held their breath and waited as the switch was flipped. There was a rumble, a splutter and a low whir. Cosine watched as Jess reached out and gave it a smack with her wrench. Another splutter and the whirring became louder, healthier even.

Above them the bare lightbulb flickered, the light that emitted was dull, but still it was light. Jessica grinned and Cosine smiled back happily. That was one obsitcal overcome.
"Hopefully I'll be able to tweak it, up the voltage at some point." She reached for a rag and wiped her dirty hands. "I was thinking of venturing back to the old house, seeing if the ship is still intact. We might be able to get some more advanced tech from it."

"That would be wonderful." Cosine said, helping her pack away her tools and extinguishing the lamp now that they had power. "I wonder, if any computer parts might have survived. They would be extrememly useful, if you could make them work. Radios too, there might be others out there with the same ideas."

Jessica seemed to ponder this for a moment as she closed her took kit up.
"They might work, though the parts are pretty delicate. I might be able to make something simple." She shrugged and picked the kit up so they could get out of the stuffy basement. "Radio should be easy enough too. Especially a basic one."

She started up the steps and Cosine followed, the lights seemed to be working in the main hall, which was most important. They passed under makeshift scaffolding and over to the stage which was looking much more secure. In the middle of the hall Phirren was overseeing operations, glancing from plans to construction and giving orders. Cosine smiled a little and reached for a jug of tea. It was good to see everyone so purposeful.
"Here, thank you." She said, handing the mortal woman a cup of tea.
Jessica took it greatfully and gulped it down.
"You're welcome, Grace is really excited about this place. She's anxious to start school. Her dad and I have been trying to teach her bits and pieces but there's not always the time with all the odd jobs people need doing.

Cosine nodded in agreement.
"I am anxious too, it will be good to make a difference, bring some good out of this desperate situation." She breathed through her nose and then sneezed promptly as she inhaled dust from the wood work. "I just hope our work won't be in vain. I am not sure the worlds are completely out of danger yet. The Grigori are still at large."

"Can't hide forever." Jessica replied, placing the tin cup back on the pale, sanded wood of the stage. "When things knock you down you just have to keep getting up. You stay down then they've won. People are united now, they're hopeful and they believe. Look at everyone here, from different worlds, races, different languages but they're all rallying together. I know that won't be enough when the battle comes but surely it counts for something."

Cosine smiled at Jessica's hopefulness and nodded.
"I sincerely hope so." She looked out of one of the empty spaces that would become a window. The children were outside playing around. They had seen far more than any child should have too witness in their short lives. They were growing as weary as the adults of all the death and suffering.

Making the scroll would take more effort than thinking it up. She was not sure if she had ever made anything. Ankou was the hands on one. Making charms and items of bone. Still, how hard could it really be to put a scroll together? It was just a hanging of material with a design on the front.
There were a couple of things she had not taken into account. One of them was that materials were had to come by. There were some traders visiting the areas around the Pantheon but many goods were essentials. Necessities for daily life. She would have to salvage items from around the apartment. There were plenty of things they did not particularly need, and certainly did not need in order to exist.
In the bedroom she looked the bed over thoughtfully. There was plenty of material there, pillow cases were a nice size and they did not need four of them. Ankou didn’t even sleep. She pulled one off the clean, neatly stacked pillows off the bed and shook the case off. It was made of rather nice, soft cotton and was a nice size.
Tossing that over her arm she continued her hunt, in the kitchen drawers she found a table cloth that she was sure they didn’t need. Didn’t they just mean more cleaning? It was a pale blue colour which she decided was rather nice. Miraculously there were scissors in one of the kitchen drawers and she managed to find a needle and some thread in the living room. The aoide made clothes and mended things.
Once she had gathered all of her ‘ingredients’ she went to her office and sat on the floor. The small room was neat and looked out onto the balcony. A couple of ever present crows sat perched on the stone balustrade, preening each other and occasionally glancing her way. She was sure they would be greatly amused by what she was about to attempt.
Cosine knelt on the wooden floor, sitting back on her heels and spread the pillowcase out carefully. It did cross her mind that this might not be an entirely appropriate gift for Harmodius. It was nothing grand or expensive. Though, he was creation and this was creative, crafted with thought. It would be a piece with personality.
Carefully she cut the two lines out. The asian symbol that represented the numeral ‘two’. The balance and the whole, Harmony and peace were all represented by it, no matter what the culture. She placed the two lines horizontal and parallel to each other. Then came the hard bit.
With intense concentration she licked the end of the thread and tried to get it through the eye of the needle. Missing once, then twice. She took a deep breath and tried again, this time it went through. She smiled, feeling rather accomplished. Which even she had to admit was a tad pathetic.

Still she began, slowly sewing the two strips of fabric to the pillow case. A couple of times she pricked her fingers and although it did not hurt much it was frustrating. This for most would be a mundane task It took an hour or so to complete, making sure everything was neat and smooth, a worthy gift for Creation.

Once she had sewn the parts together she slipped a wooden pole through the top and admired her work. It was no masterpiece but it was what it symbolised that was important. 2.