63. Endless Illness

        Nolan wasn't the only one feeling overwhelmed by fallout from the Culloom Disaster. Bell noticed his silhouette, hiding in the recesses of the Gourmet Chamber as he too, stole away for a stiff drink. 

        Taking a seat on the opposing side of the booth, Nolan barely acknowledged his arrival. "Busy yet?"

         Nolan snorted, unamused by his sarcastic greeting.
         Bell could see how stressed Nolan was, the challenges of his position were showing, perhaps he wasn't god-material he was made out to be. He leaned forward, lowering his tone. "I have to warn you, there's a lot more shit still to come in from Gorias and it's going to get a hell of a lot worse out there. I've had to put my entire division on the job, all my subs, they're barely able to keep up, some of them are already beginning to malfunction from the endless illness."

         "Endless illness is right! It's fucking brutal" Nolan unleashed.
         "Dude, for real. Maggots are already out of control, some of the soldiers malfunctioned so badly I had to send them to the Moha Lab themselves. It stinks out there."

         "In more ways than one!"

         The pair sat in silence over their beverages, struggling to accept the enormity of the situation at hand. This was worse than any nightmare situation at Military camp, it made feeding the dogons seem completely tame.

         "Ha-haaa!" Bell suddenly laughed out loud. "Remember when Dell told us we'd be laughing about feeding the dogons some day?"

         Without warning, a violent shudder shook the tunnels of the Underworld, Bell and Nolan grabbed onto the booth for support. Pots and pans clattered and rattled from the kitchens of the Gourmet Chamber with a deafening din. Glass shattered. Tables groaned, metal on metal pierced the roar, rolling throughout the Underworld. Almost immediately, they concluded the same thing.

         "AQUILLA!"

         The thundering roar rocked the whole city, it was yet another terror attack. Word on the street was that Aquilla had found out about the Coming War and was mad as hell.

         The tremor was felt in Dion's Salon too. Mel paused her work and grabbed on to the chair as the bottles and chandeliers swung, bottles tinkling throughout the establishment.
         "Aquilla!" She gasped, heart pounding as the rumbles and rattles ran their course. As usual, however, the salon was relatively sheltered, bottles tinkled and chandeliers swung but everything was still intact. As the tremors eased off, she took a deep breath, and returned her attention to Zara's hair. 

         "Don't you worry, Sugar Cheeks" she assured. "Atalon is going to annihilate Aquilla soon enough! You'll see, we'll never have to worry about him again! Have you seen the war bunkers yet?"
         Zara didn't even hear her ramble. "That was Aquilla?" No wonder Atalon was declaring war! "Are we under attack already?"

         "No" Mel assured, "he’s just letting us know he’s mad, his bark is much worse than his bite, he's just threatening, he knows Atalon is more powerful than he is."
         Zara considered the dangerous threats with growing concern as Mel applied the dye to her hair, section by section. Mel would know what was going on in Atlan, she had inside connections if anyone did. She tried not to worry about Aquilla and focused on relaxing in the chair as Mel worked her magic. Eventually Mel put down her tools and wrapped her hair in a towel. 

         "The dye will take fifteen minutes to set" she smiled, handing her a Tabloid to read. "Can I get you another MoonWine while you wait?"

         Another MoonWine? Already a little tipsy, Zara pondered the indulgence, the contrast to her usual lifestyle. Why not? She had to wait fifteen minutes anyway, was she not still smarting from the harsh reality that had shattered her fantasies only hours before? "Yes please."
        

         Mel returned with another glass of wine, then disappeared through the beaded curtains. Zara read the tabloid news as she sipped her MoonWine. Moments later the bell chimed and laughter filled the reception. She recognized the laughter…

         Seconds later, Mel reappeared through the beaded curtain with her next customer. Zara gasped out loud, then covered her mouth as she realized what she had done but it was too late. Hedena caught it all and their eyes met with devastating scrutiny.

         Without thinking, Zara quickly looked away, embarrassed to be caught gasping at the great goddess with her hand over her mouth like that. But then, with sickening reflex, she realized how bad she looked for looking away! She didn't even say hello? Panicking inside, she didn't know what to do, she didn't even salute...

         She tried to shrug it off and glanced down at the Tabloid in her hand but couldn't read a word. Would Hedena even remember her? Now she felt terrible, awkward, unable to turn around again to say hello. The more she thought about it the more uneasy she grew about her own presence in the salon. She didn’t deserve to be here. Even if Hedena did remember her, surely she didn't like her anymore. Not only had she completely messed up her wardrobe, she had completely messed up her incredible university program, she had cost them so much wasted time and effort. And after all that, she had only produced one example? No wonder they only gave her ten tiny gold beads!