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 Posted: Tue Sep 30, 2008 5:56 pm
It was dark. It was morning but it was dark. This didn't pose too much of a problem for Anubis, but it was still strange. From the information he'd gathered, which wasn't much, there was problem at the nuclear plant. He shivered with anticipation.
We are all Schrodinger's cat.
Last night, he had been visited by a most wonderful woman, a beautiful goddess by the name of Lakshmi. Not a death goddess, or he would have met her before, and generally he found them to be rather dreary. But Lakshmi--! She laughed like bells, and liked his tea, and had intellectual conversations about, well, everything. And she was beautiful. All hindu goddesses were, really, at least in his experience. There was something about the subcontinent...
Lakshmi gave him a lotus, an amazing never-wilt flower which, each time he thought he had counted all the petals on it appeared to sprout a new row without getting any bigger. A most peculiar thing. On her orders, he was in Middling, seeking a girl with four arms.
That shouldn't be too hard, should it?
It would have been a positively easy task.
In daylight, that was.
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Posted: Tue Sep 30, 2008 7:22 pm
Padma had slipped out of her house, hoping to avoid some of the madness that she knew would happen once more of the family were to make their way over to their home. She wanted at least a few more minutes of peace, before having her room invaded by younger cousins.
It was darker than she would have thought it should be, especially since not of the homes around her were lit, and she was glad that she had brought a candle out with her. It at least made the darkness feel a little farther away.
Lotus child, someone is coming."
"Who?"
"Someone to explain things to you."
Padma held her candle up higher, trying to see. It didn't make things much easier, but she thought she could see the silhouette of a person heading towards her. "Hello?" she called out.
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Posted: Tue Sep 30, 2008 7:47 pm
Anubis saw a light in the distance, and then made out the shape of the figure holding it. A female child.
The air smelled florally. The goddess's presence was here. That meant the girl was close, as well. Gods could only legally manifest in Seasons and in his apartment. He walked closer, trying to make out any more details about the girl - did she have four arms? Did she look like her deity?
"Are you Padma?" he asked softly, cupping the lotus in the palm of one hand.
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Posted: Tue Sep 30, 2008 8:33 pm
Padma nodded, before remembering that she was still mostly in the darkness. "I am. Can I help you?"
Normally, she would be more cautious about talking to a stranger, but these were strange circumstances, and she had been told that he was coming. Of course, she didn't know who this person was, but she was pretty sure that she would find out. If not, she could always ask.
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Posted: Wed Oct 01, 2008 3:55 pm
Anubis nodded as he moved closer. "As a matter of fact," he said, "You can." He held out the lotus. "This was given to me by a very pretty and smart woman," the jackal god explained.
"She says it's for you."
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Posted: Thu Oct 02, 2008 6:54 pm
"Thank you." Padma took the offered lotus and just stared at it for a moment. She had a feeling that there was something strange about the flower, but it wasn't really that surprising; there were strange things happening all over the place lately. She was relatively sure that the lady from her dream had sent it, although she didn't exactly know why. "So, what happens now? What does it mean?"
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Posted: Thu Oct 02, 2008 7:46 pm
Even in the dim light, Anubis could pick out the girl's similarity to the goddess she represented. "You've been selected to play a game," he said. "A goddess named Lakshmi chose you as her prophet."
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Posted: Sat Oct 04, 2008 5:48 pm
"A game?" Padma questioned. "I've been chosen by a goddess to play a game?" Even as she said it, it sounded strange, and there had to be something else going on. She just couldn't imagine her goddess choosing someone just to play a simple game. "It's not just a game though, is it?"
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Posted: Sat Oct 04, 2008 7:03 pm
Anubis sighed. "It's a bit more than that," he said, and crouched so that he was eye to eye with the girl. Her eyes were gold, or was it just the light? Something from her goddess... Gold wasn't a natural color for these people.
"The winner," he began, "Controls the fate of the world."
He motioned grandly towards the dark towers rising over their heads. "Or, at least what's left of it," he added. "I'm sure your goddess, Lakshmi, has a plan."
"She'll talk to you if you listen."
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Posted: Wed Oct 08, 2008 4:37 pm
Padma nodded. She had already met her goddess once, in a dream, although she hadn't recognized her at the time, and now that she was finding all of this out, some of the things she had said made more sense.
"So, the whole world," she mused. It made sense, in an odd sort of way, and she wondered just what her goddesses plan might be, but there would be time to discuss that later. For now, there were still a few questions she wanted to ask the man.
"Are there any rules that I need to know about? Anything I need to avoid?"
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Posted: Thu Oct 09, 2008 7:23 pm
"It's a secret," replied Anubis. "You can't tell anyone about it if they're not in the game. You'll know who other players are - you'll be able to sense it. Your goddess knows the rules. Other than things we've previously agreed on before the Game started, it's a free for all."
He combed his mind, trying to remember what other crucial information he could tell her.
"Oh, right," he added, wincing at the memory of his friend, "Please, whatever you do, avoid Blacksuits."
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Posted: Fri Oct 24, 2008 10:07 pm
"I'll remember that," she responded, making a mental note of all of the information. Most of it made sense, although she wasn't sure exactly what a blacksuit was, but she was sure she would find out soon enough. If nothing else, she could always ask her goddess, she should know those kinds of things right?
She could hear her mother beginning to wake up the rest of her family, and knew that she would have to slip back inside in just a moment, but she still had a couple of questions.
"What happens if I lose? And is there someplace to go if I need more information?"
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Posted: Sat Oct 25, 2008 4:38 am
"If you lose?" asked Anubis, and sighed. "You'll be seeing me again, probably, under less happy circumstances."
He hesitated, waiting for the moment to pass. It was always difficult to talk about death with children. Some handled it better than others. "There's a flower shop in the Greek part of Middling you can go to. It's called Seasons and the owner's name is Persy Floros. She deals in information. If you need anything, go see her."
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Posted: Fri Nov 07, 2008 6:14 pm
"Oh," Padma shrugged. That didn't sound as if it would be a very good thing. "Guess I'll just have to not lose then." She made a mental note of what he told her. "I'll try to remember that. Thank you for the information, and the flower, but I had better get back inside before Maa decides to get mad at me. I'm not really supposed to be out here."
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Posted: Fri Nov 07, 2008 6:51 pm
Anubis nodded and smiled at the girl one last time. Such a breath of fresh air this one was! Gentle and respectful...
"Best run along now," he agreed, waving her back towards what he presumed was her home. "These streets are dark, and there are strange things afoot."
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