3.3 Bad News

It was too late. By the time the sisters made their way down the street, a small crowd of curious Invites had gathered by the harbor gates. Halios was right, word was spreading fast. Everyone bought the initial rumor, too: this was hired entertainment. No one knew, there was nothing about it on the event schedule, no one had heard a word.

         The sisters disembarked from the litters just a few meters from the gates, terribly irritated that the aribu had beat them to the scene.

         "Mighty Medel!" Medena cussed under her breath as Vikkar's ship docked. "Look who dared show his hideous face! Who's idea was this?"

         Hedena was out of the loop, too, but she could summon a scenario, herself. "Maybe Malodon? He's been playing around with Crystal Communications you know, maybe it was a test?"

         "Malodon?" Medena pondered the surprisingly intelligent suggestion, perhaps the most intelligent idea she had heard from of her sister's mouth. "Hmmmm…." She didn’t like it one bit, it reeked of collusion. Angry now, she scanned the crowd, it was growing, growing out of control.

         "Where's Eden!"

         "I don't see her…" Hedena stated the obvious, craning her neck to see beyond the courtyard wall.

         "Come!" Medena snatched her sister's hand.

        

         The goddesses hurried into the courtyard against the flow of aribu, barely noticed, making a B-line to Eden's tent.

         "EDEN!"

         Medena burst through the doorway, giving her a terrible fright, doubled by the shock of a scolding, Eden almost dropped her pancake breakfast as she snapped in salute.

         "Your Hon…"

         "DID YOU SEE THE SHIP?" Medena grilled. "WHY AREN'T YOU OUT THERE DOING YOUR JOB?"

         "Didn't you hear the noise?" Hedena chimed.

         "No... What ship?" Eden felt the blood drain to her feet, flush her face red, it was going in all the wrong directions. This was real, this was bad news, she had missed something huge.

         "Mighty Medel!" Medena stormed out of the tent.

         Hedena smiled at Eden and pinched her cheek, smoothing over the tension as quickly as it had arisen. "Seems Vikkar brought some of his Serpent friends to visit" she hissed. "Atalon needs you to herd that filthy albino and his stinky white mule up to the Villa!"

         "Yes! Your Honor!" Eden obliged, unsure of who she was referring to.

         "Get dressed!" Hedena snapped before following her sister out of the tent. "And make it SEXY!"

         As soon as the first rumor hit the salon, Dion sent Mel and Dena to go look see what all the fuss was about, it paid to have the latest gossip, clean, direct from the source. They didn't have to walk very far down Main St. to see the rumor was true! They could see the Unicorn's brilliant horn glowing from up the hill!

         "Come!" Dena couldn't believe her eyes, she urged Mel on, eager for a closer look at the brilliant white creature on board. "I so thought Unicorns were just a myth!" she bubbled over, excited, assuming like the rest of the aribu that this was some scheduled attraction. "Do you think it's fake?"

         "How would it be fake?" Mel hissed, she didn't like it al all. "Look Dena, you have to grow up. Unicorns are real, and they are evil. Very evil. You are very, very stupid to fall for that false façade. That's exactly what makes it so evil!!!"

         "How do you know this?" Dena protested. "Last I knew, the textbooks read 'extinct'!" She reminded Mel of the well-known truth. "I think it's a fake!"

         "I don't trust them one bit." Mel agreed on one level.

         "Exactly!" Dena sensed Mel’s genuine concern, it seemed unfounded, perhaps Atalon’s war-time stress was filtering down to her. "Don't worry, it's not like one Unicorn can do any harm here."

        

         Feeling cautious, the goddesses continued down the street, soon they could see that the rest of the rumor was true; there was a boatload of Lunies on board. But as the Unicorn became clearer to see, the horn seemed to fade... Maybe it was fake! Everyone knew the Lunies lived in Hellias, but now the picture was foggy. Dena tried to picture the spotless white beast roaming amongst the blackened and barren countryside of Hellias, with it’s silky long tail dragging through the charred underbrush, rolling around on such a ground like horses do; something didn’t lie right, she was growing more and more convinced it was a fake.

         "It doesn't look like it comes from Hellias!" Suddenly Dena realized that the island in the distance didn't look like a Barren Wasteland, either, it looked green...

         Mel was equally dumbfounded, unable to offer any insight.

         Vikkar tossed the ropes onto the dock, tethered the ship and lowered the ramp for the crew to disembark.

         Suddenly Dena noticed a lack of military presence, was there no one stopping them? Scared now, she glanced at the crowd, still building, gathered around the harbor entrance. A chilling thought struck.

         "Is this an attack? Is this the Coming War starting already?"

         "Oh just relax!" Mel hissed. "You sound ridiculous! Can't you see Vikkar? It's probably his family or something."

         "Family?"

         "Firmary!" Mel corrected. "His Brothers from Kergal!"

         Vikkar had his own Firmary? Mel was revealing some depth to her insider knowledge. Moments like this reminded her that even though she had a fairly senior spot at the salon, 'privy to all the royal gossip', she wasn't really.

         Needing answers, the goddesses dared to come a little closer and stopped on the grassy knoll by the courtyard gates. But now the brilliant horn crowning the Unicorn’s head reminded Dena of some Light Illusion failure from the Sensation Chamber.

         "What's up with the illusory horn?" She asked, daring to chip away at this untapped resource of insider information.

         But Mel was equally mystified, she couldn't take her eyes off the brilliant white horse, tossing it's gorgeous long flaxen mane she was mesmerized by it's beauty. "I... don't know" she murmured honestly.

         "Wow... Mel, look at that platinum blonde hair!"
         Then, like a parting of the sea, as Neter led the Unicorn off the ship, they watched the crowds retreat in fear. All at once, everyone had recognized him!

         "The god of Death!"

         Shock was unanimous. He was real!

         "Oh. My. God!" Dena covered her eyes as she realized not only was that the god of Death, but that she had looked straight at him! "Is that, like, the actual god of Death?"