The Grand Courtyard was swaying like a
field of grass in the wind as the Crystallites lulled the aribu with their
melodic melodies from Mu. Waves of new feelings warmed the hearts as the
sparkling children twirled their rainbow ribbons in time to the magical sounds.
Even the hardest hearts were charmed, one by one they whistled and cheered,
forgetting their fears and prejudices, warming to the lambasted tribes. Torus
and Nolan were captive to the Crystallite show, but the goddesses not so much.
"Come"
Mel stood up, offering Dena her hand. "Let's go to the washroom."
Willingly,
Dena followed her down the steps. The goddesses made their way around the tents
to the washroom area only to discover the lineup was heavy, the smell barely
tolerable.
"Oh,
no" Dena sighed, turning up her nose. "It's a huge lineup."
Mel
agreed, the courtyard washrooms were definitely out of the question.
"Let's
just go to the Salon, it's not far!"
Nolan was pondering this new reality objectively as he studied the pregnant goddesses on stage. They were awesome, so awesome he was wondering how he could possibly bring them to Ebar. There was something magical about the sounds they made, it was like a hypnotic drug, together with the visuals he was feeling over-stimulated, in a good way, he couldn't get enough of them in fact, they were arousing something inside of him that he had absolutely no control over, whatsoever…
"I
gotta go" he stood up, leaving Torus alone now. "Tell Mel I'll be
back in half an hour."
As the goddesses made their way up Main St, they spotted a familiar face walking down the street towards them.
"Oh
look, here comes Josh!"
"Hey
there ladies!" Josh greeted them with a smile, handsome in a crisp new
shirt, aromatic and freshly groomed, his unfortunate mishap erased from his
life as if it had never happened. "How's the Farewell Celebration going?
Are you heading back to work?"
"Dion
gave us the afternoon off" Mel replied. "We're just going to use the
washroom."
"Lineup."
Dena explained.
"Of
course!" Josh understood.
"We'll
be back down soon." Mel assured.
"Okay!"
Josh replied, relieved they weren't asking for Soloha. "I'll see you later
then!" He turned to hurry on down the street.
"Oh,
wait… Hey Josh!"
Josh
paused...
"Do
you have any Soloha?"
He
could feel his pores drench the clean shirt, the last customers he wanted to turn down were the Vine Goddesses,
Atalon's bride no less.
"I'm
so sorry" he replied, clutching
his heart with sincerity. "I'm, like, all out. Deliveries never arrived
today for some reason." He gestured towards the courtyard and shrugged
"You're
like, all out?" Mel echoed,
frustrated.
"You
can perhaps find some at the Skin Club" he offered.
"The
Skin Club?"
Suddenly
Josh wish he hadn't said anything. Dread set in as quickly as he had said too
much, he knew Nolan would hear about this. Would the Goddesses go expose his
gig to unwitting patrons of the Skin Club now?
Then
he realized... Word was already out...
That was what Dion was referring
to... This was the so-called
gossip at the Skin Club! He didn't want to encourage it at all, the last thing
he needed was an angry Vine Goddess venting about his failing enterprise in the
Skin Club too!
Nolan
spotted the interaction up the street as he emerged from the courtyard, he knew
exactly what Josh would be looking for... Avoiding him altogether was the best
solution. Without another thought, he changed his course and followed the trail
that led around the back of the celebration grounds to an old and mostly unused
pathway that followed the city wall, an alternative route to the upper slopes
of town than Main St.
"Thank
you!" The crowds roared with whistles and cheers as the Crystallites ended their set. "We bless
you all and wish you the very best for the New Empire!"
Eden
wiped away a tear, suddenly remembering her assignment, the magical feelings
had distracted her in dangerous ways... Conscious now of the visual spectacle Neter
had made of her, conscious now of her fingers intertwined with his, this
irresistible desire had made her lose consciousness. She wanted to pull her
hand away, she knew it looked bad… But Neter’s touch was so intense it was as
if there was a magnetic pull drawing them together…
As
if hearing her thoughts, he wove his fingers deeper and squeezed her hand
gently, fanning the flames of desire.
"Thank
you for the dance..." He raised her hand to his lips and gave her a gentle
kiss.
"Eden,
my darling!"
As
if rudely woken from a dream, dread doused the flames of desire, Medena was the
last voice Eden wanted to hear. She could feel her face heating up, her pores
breaking out as she was reminded of the assignment.
"Medena,
Your Honor! I was just about to bring
Neter up to the Villa for a glass of Orange Bubbly!"
Neter
greeted the sisters with a smile. "What a wonderful pleasure it is to be here. Thank you so very much for
granting us this opportunity to enjoy your fabulous celebration!" He
glanced at Eden, admiring her once again. "Your hospitality is truly amazing."
"Makes
you wish you had never left?" Medena noticed the fish had bitten the bait,
Eden was apparently still on task, perhaps she just needed a little help.
"I
wouldn't take it that far" he replied.
"Atalon
has asked you to come and say hello" she reminded. "Why don't you
thank him yourself? He's the one who has been hosting you, it's a bit rude of
you to ignore him like this, don't you think?"
The
tone of her voice was rattling ancient skeletons of anxiety that were still
stowed away in his mental closet. Neter dreaded even the idea of such an
excursion, he could only imagine the trap Atalon would lay for him.
"I
think all my friends would like to say hello to Atalon. Why doesn't he
come down here? Tell him to bring the rest of the family, we'll have a toast of
Moonwine, a toast for Love and Peace."
"Why
don't you come up to the Villa and invite him yourself" she countered.
"Okay"
Neter agreed, craning his neck to look at the stage. "You know... I
believe my band's up next, so it will have to wait until after the show."
Eden
gasped. "You're a music god?"
Hedena
wanted to slap her so bad.
"Mighty Medel!" Medena scoffed.
"Your music better be a whole lot
godlier than that demonic GARBAGE
we've been tortured with today!" She wagged her finger in his face.
"You don't want to irritate Atalon any more than you have done already! TRUST ME!"
Eden
could feel Hedena's laser beams burning her hand, still tightly intertwined
with Neter's fingers. She tugged her hand free and looked down again as the
emotional rollercoaster threw her around, conscious now that she had been
malfunctioning. Badly. Medena snatched her guilty hand just as quickly as she
yanked it free.
"There's
no need for YOU to stay down here any longer!"
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