3.12 A Blessing From Above

Josh couldn't take his eyes off Tika as she walked away with her Honey Buns, hips swinging like a plump pendulum, so round and perfect, such a soft landing for her chocolate brown curls to bounce on. She was even more beautiful than the Unicorn, even though she didn't have the blonde cascading hair that he was taught to admire. Now, he was relieved there had been no Soloha delivered today, this Divine Intervention was a sign his hunch was right, even though he was breaking all thought laws. The truth was, he was enjoying these rebellious thoughts. Malodon had never perfected the brown hair gene, here it was in all it's glory, ready made... Beaconing his undiscovered talents.

         Thoughts raced wild as she moved from aribu to aribu with her basket of Honey Buns. How could he keep her? He would need to hide her somehow… He scanned the tent city, it would be impossible to hide her here... He couldn't let her go back to Hellias... Could he smuggle her into the Underworld somehow?

         The notion of kidnapping Tika began to grow roots as he searched for a realistic way to pull it off. He could picture success already, this Lunie Invasion had to be a hidden blessing, an opportunity, was it a test?

         It could be a surprise, he could keep her hidden and pretend he had designed a new line from scratch... In the New Empire, Chocolate Brown could be the new Blonde, the timing couldn't be coincidental, it had to be a blessing from Medel.

         "Hey Josh, got any Soloha?" His fans hadn't entirely forgotten about the libations, in spite of all the distractions.

         "I’m all out… I don't know what's going on…" He replied, disconnected from the gig in so many ways already. He craned his neck toward the courtyard entrance, as if still hoping for Nolan to make his way here, when SPLAT! Without warning, a large black crow swooped down from above and shat all over his head.

         "WAA-HAAA-HAAA" Witnesses exploded into laughter as the blessing nailed him like a bullseye. For a moment, Josh stood in shock, dripping in white slime.

         "WAA-HAAA-HAAA!"

         Filled with rage, humiliated and embarrassed by the disaster that had befallen him, Josh fled the courtyard in a teary panic.

         "IT'S GOOD LUCK!" they taunted as he ran away, blinded, stumbling, eyes stinging from the acid, praying to Medel that Tika hadn't seen, relieved that it hadn't happened only five minutes earlier!

         As Josh ran towards the courtyard entrance he passed Nolan, Torus and the goddesses, as they spotted him running their way, covered in white slime, it was hard not to laugh.

         "Hey Josh, what happened?"

         Nolan's voice was like a gunshot, as if the gods were mocking him now Josh began to panic inside. Ashamed to be seen in such an unfortunate way, he ignored Nolan and rushed right by. Hands over his eyes, he hurried up Main St towards the only place he could think to go; Dion's Salon.

         "Oh dear…" Mel watched him go. "He could use the salon and for the first time ever, it's probably closed."

         "Come, let's go" Torus reminded the friends of their duties. As the friends made their way through the gates, they began to grasp the attraction. The beat was strong and captive, it was hard not to walk in time with it. The noise wasn't so bad, in fact the word 'noise' was perhaps inappropriate. Delicious aromas were wafting from the barbecues, tempting their stomachs. The exotic scents and stunning hair colors, the beautiful clothes and delicious smelling foods from Lemuria creamed together created an atmosphere that was hard to dislike.

         "Can I offer you a goblet of our finest Moonwine?" A striking young vintner stopped by, offering an ornate flask of wine, and a tray of exotic looking crystal goblets. Torus turned away.

         "Sure" Nolan needed a drink, the old Panther tales of the Lemurian Moonwine were legendary, this was a rare chance to learn if they were true. The vintner poured him some wine and handed him the goblet. All eyes were upon him as he dared to take a sip. He was obviously pleased, albeit hesitant to show it. "Mmm... It's pretty good…"

         "No thank you" Mel refused, taking her cue from Torus. She looked away, out into the Grand Courtyard, wondering how many of the aribu were breaking the laws when to her horror she spotted Eden on the dance floor. "Oh. My. God. LOOK!"

         All eyes followed her finger as she pointed to the dancing couple.

         "Oh… My… God…"

         Eden was impossible to miss, her ebony tresses spinning around with the wild platinum mane of her Lemurian partner was a sight to behold in itself. They were caught speechless, all four of them dumbfounded by the scene. It looked very much like Eden was the one being handled on the dance floor.

         "She's going WAY too far!" Dena diagnosed.

         "That, my friends, is called Serpent Sorcery" Torus advised.

         "What are we going to do?" Nolan was inexperienced with the Lemurians, he wasn't very educated in the history of the gods, he had never believed in the sorcery taught in Panther School but he could see for himself, even Eden was powerless to it. Suddenly he felt at a loss for ideas, handicapped by what he didn't know of the mysterious death god from across the pond.

         "We make a list, remember?" Torus replied.

         Mel knew little about the god of Death, but she knew much more about Eden.

         "Maybe she's so good she's fooling us too." She couldn't believe Eden would falter at a time like this. "I'm sure she's having to play a cunning game to get that one up to the Villa. Remember, Eden earned her reputation. She’s probably keeping him in play until the right moment arrives. You’ll see."

         Nolan couldn't take his eyes off the dancing couple. Aroused by their intimacy, mystified by the power Neter seemed to have over Eden together with the feelings the music gave him inside was a powerful cocktail. Who were these people? What other secrets was Vikkar keeping?