3.22 Salt In The Wound

Bell wiggled the handle of the Moha Lab door as if wiggling it would unlock it.

         "Damn him!" He cussed out loud, eager to express his anger for Adon’s tardiness to the crew. The soldiers hung loose in silence, all of them sore from their exclusion from the party, all of them sensing imminent fallout from it. None of them liked Bell when he was stressed, he couldn't hide it.

         Bell paced, feeling the pain of rejection harder than any of them, it didn't help having them all hanging around, trying not to look at him, their silence was irritating him more than the noise, he knew they knew he was stressed. Nor did it help to have Adon return from the Club with a bouncy spring in his step, it was all he could do to remain calm.

         "Oh dear, I hope you haven't been waiting for long." He unlocked the door and held it open. "I had an important meeting."

         The admission only confirmed Bell's suspicions; there was an Undercover Operation going on and Adon was in on it. He wanted to confront him, but now wasn't the time. He didn't know who to trust anymore.

         Bella and Bria watched the next band moving their instruments onto the stage from the bleachers with widening eyes and hanging jaws.

         "Oh. My. God!" Bria gushed, feeling lush without warning. But one of the musicians was familiar. "Isn’t that the god of Death?"

         "Uh-huh... I think so" Bella concurred, stunned by the genetic makeup of the entire band. "Wow... Look at all that hair... Imagine if that showed up at the salon!"

         "Oh my god, we’d need to get bigger sinks!"

         Captivated by the unfolding presentation, the goddesses stared in wonder and delight, in spite of their fears, amazed by the handsome and well endowed music gods that had taken over the royal stage.

         "Are they really from Hellias?" Bria began to question what she knew, unable to believe it was entirely true now. It didn't make any sense. They were all much too handsome to live on a Barren Wasteland, they looked like strong warriors and classy dancers, not Lunatics or Savages!

         "They don't look like they come from Hellias" Bella agreed, something didn't make sense with what they were told. "They obviously take good care of themselves, and someone they know makes all those beautiful clothes and jewelry… Imagine if we could buy those things here?"

         "Wow…" Bria agreed, trying to imagine. "Maybe we will be able to in the New Empire. Maybe that's what this presentation is about!"

         Cheers erupted as one of the musicians plucked a chord.

         The explosion of applause before the music had even begun was like salt in the wound. Eden bit her lip, fighting back tears as she rode up Main St with the goddesses in their Golden Litters. This was turning into both the best and worst day of her life! Getting into trouble like this couldn't have happened at a worse time or in worse company. What would Neter think of her now? It was too embarrassing to think about, her mind was fraught with regret. Why hadn't she brought him up to the Villa sooner?

         "What's your problem?" Medena snapped, noticing her long face. "Are you malfunctioning young lady?"

         Eden stiffened. "Oh, no" she assured, feigning a smile as best she could. "I’m just feeling a little sick."

         "Well, that serves you right for drinking their poison!" Hedena hissed. "I can smell it on your breath! You smell like a Serpent!"

         The litter stopped half way up Main St, right outside the Skin Club.

         "Don't expect any Holiday Pay from us you filthy slut. Get to work!" Medena slapped her behind as she stepped out of the litter, almost causing her to trip.

         "Stay there until after sunset!" Hedena chimed. "SLUT!"

         "We need to talk to Atalon!" Medena was livid, she let it all hang out as the litter continued up the hill. "This has absolutely gone TOO FAR!" She threw her hands into the air. "Atalon is an IDIOT! He has NO IDEA how much damage those Lunies are doing to our aribu! Did you see how BADLY she was malfunctioning?"

         "She's a FILTHY SLUT!" Hedena reiterated.

         "Those Lemurians are nothing but a bunch of TERRORISTS" Medena wasn't done. "I want Halios to take those SICK SAVAGES and LOCK THEM UP!"

         "Ha-HAAA!" Hedena cackled. "You want Halios to lock up Lemuria's FINEST in your PRIVATE DNA BANK! Ha-HAAA!" She shrieked. "I see right through you, sister. Don't be mistaking ME for an idiot!"

         For the musicians from Lemuria, carrying instruments onto the royal stage was an unbelievable feeling, only in their wildest dreams would they ever have a chance to do such a thing. For Neter the moment was bittersweet, he had to battle traumatizing memories of the past. He had to remind himself they were here to make things right, to sow the seeds of Love, to use the energy of the great Solarian King's Eternal Flame to ignite their Phoenix Flames through their music, through their vibrations of sound that once came from his heart.

         The applause died down and the courtyard stood captive as the band settled on stage. Bria and Bella moved into the outer fringes of the dance floor, when a small voice drew their attention away from the scene.

         "Would you like a Honeycomb?"

         The goddesses peered down to behold two little Lemurian Products, holding out a basket of gooey looking golden hexagon things wrapped in bright red leaves. They exchanged leery shrugs, neither of them had any idea what it was.

         "What is it?" Bella asked, daring to pick up a sticky sample, examining the golden color in the sun. Aside from the stickiness, it was quite beautiful.

         "It's really yummy" the girls chimed.

         Bella touched the sticky treat and pulled her finger away, she didn't like it. "What is it?"
         "It’s honey" one replied. "The bees made it" the other informed.

         "The BEES made it? UGH!" Horrified, Bella dropped the honeycomb back into the basket, flapping her sticky hands, panicking.

         "Ewwww! That's SO GROSS!" Bria agreed wholeheartedly.

         "Now my hand is all horrible!" Bria whimpered, panicking.

         Bella stared in horror as the girls ran off giggling with their basket, only to target some poor merchant. It was a nasty prank!

         "These Savages are sick!"

         Painful as it was, Bella was gaining an understanding about her divided society. Products grew up on islands for a reason. THIS was why! They were gross! Evil! They knew not right from wrong!
         "Come" she turned and headed towards the washrooms. "I need to wash my hands!"

         Torus, now alone on the bleachers, studied the new band on stage with growing frustration. It bothered him to see the aribu flocking to the Lunies like that, ogling them like complete idiots. The god of Death was getting much too much attention, he was obviously the ring leader of the band. What was he up to now? First he destroyed Eden's reputation and now he was adding insult to injury by taunting Atalon on the royal stage? He had balls, to say the least. He didn't know the unpopular god well but the king hated him for a reason, he knew enough to know Neter was bad news... He was up to something nasty, there was no question about that. He scanned the courtyard some more, searching, these Lunies had absolutely succeeded in captivating the hearts and minds of the entire crowd…How did they do it? With the sound? It wasn’t plausible! Only royalty deserved such Honors! This was legendary Serpent Sorcery taking place, right in front of their eyes, that's what this was!

         A fresh round of applause drew his attention back to the stage. It was Mina, taking her place once again in the king’s place. Who did she think she was? Now he knew why Atalon called her a Witch.

         "Greetings" she began amidst the welcome whistles and cheers. "My friends!" She noticed the temperature had risen, the crowds, now somewhat tipsy were getting high on the chemistry of music and wine, they were pressing to get closer to the stage. "Are we having fun yet?"

         Cheers, whistled and fists erupted from the dance floor, everyone was ready for more.

         "My friends from Lemuria want to thank you all for accepting our musical gifts with such love!" Her words only fanned the flames of desire for more, whistles swept the courtyard like a flock of birds in applause.

         "We hope you are all enjoying the Lemurian Moonwine?" Again the crowd exploded. The band strummed a chord, then another. Whoops and hollers erupted amidst the cheers, the crowds were losing control. Mina glanced at Neter, feelings were unanimous, the magic was working, the flames were lit, it was time to lay the next log.

         "It is with greatest pleasure that I may introduce you to our next band from Mu.... let me welcome, Starlight!"