Ch.2: "Trouble in Paradise" / Volcanic Paradise Island Arcadia

[Legendary Sidekick]

Alexa replies, "Those men were really creepy. They didn't say what my blood would be used for, so I just guessed they were going to drink it. They went on about their god wanting a virgin. It doesn't make sense. I don't think the volcano god cares about that stuff. He married Aphrodite. Why would he want me?"

 

[Ireth]

Leto

Leto blinks and frowns, calling on her limited knowledge of this country's gods. "You mean Heph... Hephaestus?" She shakes her head. "I don't think they were going to sacrifice you to him. But there's a lava demon living in the volcano; it must be what the men were talking about. Whether they know what it is or they think it's Hephaestus too, I'm not sure. Regardless, Kell and I are here to kill the demon, so we're not going to let anyone else die needlessly."

 

[Legendary Sidekick]

Alexa looks the group over. "You're demon killers? But you look so nice… well, except for her."

She points out Bridgette, who is too far away to be heard clearly. She's keeping her voice low, apparently, since our heroines can't hear her at all. Whatever she's saying, the man with the broken limbs is responding to it. He is nodding with a wide-eyed stare, and speaking in a low voice.

Daryl returns and tells his daughter, "You're in the company of a nymph with a magic unicorn, and this lass is wearing the hide of a strange beast." He says to Leto, "My late wife and I used to hunt together, though… I don't know what you skinned, and maybe I don't wanna know. If you say you're capable of killing a lava demon, I'm inclined to take your word."

 

[tbgg]

Kelleia

Kell says humbly, "We've never tackled anything like that before, and we're going to need some intelligence about it that we can use, and probably some help from the gods, too."

Then she asks, "Would you mind if I checked on my unicorn right quick?"

 

[Legendary Sidekick]

Daryl doesn't think he'll be much help with the gods, but he and Alexa are both happy to take out heroines to Helix. He is cut up from crashing through a window. It's nothing that supplies from the healing kit can't fix. ((Just 1 use will do.))

Our heroines are offered fresh vegetables, milk and cheese. As food is brought out, Daryl says, "Y'all saved my daughter from gods-knows-what. Inns ain't cheap, so if you need a place to stay, we'll make room. Or, if there's a person or place you're looking for here in Arcadia, I might be able to help."

((@tbgg, since Kell knows Desma's address, she could get directions here, and we could move on to Desma's.))

 

[tbgg]

Kelleia

Kell takes out another bandage from the healing kit and begins tending to Helix's cuts and scrapes. If Helix is conscious, she softly tells him, "Great work, you."

As they eat, she tells Daryl, "I'm looking for a young woman named Desma who loves to bake, but may or may not be working as a baker, and last I heard, she was staying with her aunt and uncle. Here's their address." And she takes out the last.letter she received from Desma and shows Daryl the return address. "If you can point us in that direction, we'd be grateful. If Desma or her aunt and uncle don't have space for us, would we be imposing too much if we returned? I greatly appreciate your kind offer, but don't want to abuse it. Could I send an animal to you with a message and let you know either way, once we know?"

((LS: can Kell charm an animal to do that even?))


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[Ireth]

Leto

Leto gratefully accepts food from the family, and listens as Kell speaks of Desma. At the mention of sending an animal as courier, she speaks up. "I could help with that if you want."

 

[Legendary Sidekick]

Daryl and Alexa are happy to have Kell, Leto and Hess over again if there's a need. It's possible that this invitation extends to Bridgette as well, but not her prisoner. Once directions are given, Bridgette says she will catch up after turning in the masked man to local authorities. She also says if there's a price on the man's head, the bounty should go to Leto and Kell since it was their power over animals that won the day.

Our heroines find the home of Desma's aunt and uncle. Nobody is home, but a neighbor (who approaches partly because she is curious about Helix, partly because she's home alone with nothing better to do) says that Desma found a job at Tiki Mix, a chain bakery with several places in the village and along the Sunset Strip. The woman gives directions, and Hess asks her to tell Bridgette when she catches up. Based on the description Hess gives, the woman is confident she won't mistake another person for Bridgette.

The Tiki Mix that Desma works at is part of a food court at the Sunset Strip Mall, the first of many tourist traps on the west side of Arcadia. Our heroines find it while they're standing near a clothing shop called Strip Tees. There are bottomless metal mannequins by the window wearing tee shirts that say things like "I Survived the Waterslide of Doom", "My Mom Went to Arcadia and All She Got Me Was This Lousy Tee Shirt" and "If You Can Read This You're Too Damn Close." It seems unlikely that any of the clothing here will be of use to monster hunters or anyone with a sense of humor that doesn't come in a can.

Desma can be seen serving a heavyset man an order of Egg Mix Muffins. She is wearing a brown hat with a logo that resembles a yellow T-shaped torch planted between two golden arches. It's the same hat that all of her coworkers are wearing. An older, pimply-faced man has the only hat with a slightly different logo: his T-shaped torch has a yellow flame sewn into the design. His name tag reads: ASST. MANAGER.

Our heroines need to stand in line to get to Desma, but the line moves very quickly. Desma seems half-awake, half-alive as she starts to speak. "May I help…" But her eyes light up when she sees Kell. "…you?" She asks Asst. Manager if she can go on break. He says after she's finished with her current customer, he'll allow it. Desma hands Kell and Leto four cups of Tai Chi Chai Tea and doesn't charge them.

She leads Kell, Leto and Hess over to a booth and says, "Oh, Kell, you really did make it out here! Who're your friends? Are you on vacation or…?" She looks at Leto's breel hide armor. "…not?"

 

[tbgg]

Kelleia

Kell wraps Desma up in a warm hug and says, "It's good to see you, my friend, and we're here for mostly work, I guess you'd say, though I'm also here to run an errand on behalf of a friend, and we hear that you might be able to help me find the person I'm looking for. My friends are Leto the Huntress, and Helix the unicorn. We have another friend, Bridgette the Barbierien, who should be catching up with us."

To Leto and Helix she says, "Guys, this is my friend Desma, who I used to know back in Nyse."

She asks Desma, "Are you still living with your Aunt and Uncle? And are you doing any baking on your own?"

 

[Ireth]

Leto

Leto smiles at Desma. "Nice to meet you, Desma. Kell has told us nothing but good about you."

 

[Legendary Sidekick]

Desma is pleased to meet everyone, and it's pretty clear that Kell's presence brightened up her day. "I'm just getting back on my feet, I guess. I don't exactly have creative control, but Brian--he's the manager--he lets me handle custom orders."

She takes a sip of her tea. At a nearby table is a small group of friends. They're all talking over each other and apparently enthusiastic about something. They are no younger than Desma, but she doesn't have nearly as much energy. To an extent, this is to her credit. The guys and gals at the next table are kind of obnoxious. But Kell once saw a passion in Desma before Aphrodite crushed it.

"Well, enough about me," Desma says, though she said very little about herself. "Who's this friend you're running an errand for? You were good to me in Nyse, even when no one else was. If I can help you, I will… though it may need to wait until after my shift."

Wild cheers erupt from the next table. Desma rolls her eyes.

 

[tbgg]

Kelleia

Kell notes how little Desma says about herself, but doesn't say anything. Now isn't the time to push for more information, in her estimation. Instead, she replies to Desma's question, "The errand we're doing is for a fairy named Sapphire back in Ogygia. As a favor to Sapphire, we're looking for another fairy named Phoebe, one who has apparently lost her wings. We were told you might know something about Phoebe."


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[Legendary Sidekick]

Desma says, "Oh, you must mean my—"

The Asst. Manager calls out, "Birthday Ritual!"

A few of the servers try not to make eye contact. Desma rises.

Brian says, "You still have six minutes left on you break."

Desma replies, "Let me take this as my half."

Brian apparently is fine with this arrangement. Desma heads into a swinging door marked EMPLOYEES ONLY. She comes out seconds later holding a volcano shaped cake. Other servers are banging drums unenthusiastically and singing off key:

"Happy happy birthday.
What a happy birthday.
Happy happy happy happy
You, you, you."

The same verse is repeated three times, only at the end of the fourth verse the word "you" is sung once, slightly louder. At that moment, a six inch tall woman jumps out of the cake. Everyone at the next table cheers loudly! The birthday girl slaps her boyfriend's arm and says "you dick!" but she laughs as she says it. Customers from other tables cheer, but Hess does not. The wingless fairy's expression is hard to read as her face is covered in bright orange frosting, but despite her ta-da pose, she probably wants to get away from the crowd.

Desma wastes no time placing the cake on the table, and carrying her tiny coworker to the washroom.

 

[tbgg]

Kelleia

Kell asks Hess, "Are you OK? You would normally enjoy that kind of thing, I think."


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[Legendary Sidekick]

Hess says, "I know all the people cheering are having fun, but… I think your friend feels sorry for the fairy." She turns to Kell, "That's Sapphie's friend, right? I don't want Sapphie's friend to jump out of cakes if she doesn't enjoy it."

 

[tbgg]

Kelleia

Kell tells Hess, "If the information we've been given is correct, she certainly seems to be Sapphie's friend. We'll have to talk with her to make certain. Maybe we can also talk to her about why she's jumping out of cakes and help her figure out an alternative if she doesn't enjoy it." Kell hopes that maybe Phoebe would consider returning to Ogygia to get back together with Sapphie and at the same time look for a new job, but figures that may be too optimistic a hope at this early stage, and Kell doesn't want to get Hess' hopes up unless such a reconciliation is a realistic possibility, and currently she just doesn't have enough information to say.


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[Legendary Sidekick]

Desma returns to the table with a tiny cup of tea in her hands. The wingless fairy is on her shoulder. She is clean, as is her little tan and brown uniform.

Desma says, "Sorry you had to see that. This is Phœbe, my friend and colleague."

Phœbe says, "Oh, don't be sorry, Desma! Jumping out of the cake is kinda fun."

Hess leans close to the fairy. "Are you sure?"

"Sure I'm sure, kiddo! Didn't you hear the crowd cheer? I made all those people happy. What's not to like?"

Hess shrugs.

Desma introduces our heroines to Phœbe. "Kell and I met in Nyse," she adds. "She's the one I told you about."

"Several times," Phœbe says. She turns to Kell. "I don't even know the names of the other nymphs, and I don't wanna know them. You were the only one good to Desma, and when I hit rock bottom, she picked me up off the street—literally…" The fairy looks at Hess for a moment. "Boring story anyway." She goes on, "Just now as I was washing frosting off of my face, Desma said you ladies need me to run an errand. What sort? If you lost something in a drain pipe, I'll get it—only because you were good to Desma—but I'll need a string. I'm claustrophobic."

"Oh, you silly thing." Desma rubs Phœbe on the back. "Kell isn't going to make you do something humiliating."

 

[tbgg]

Kelleia

Kell grins. "Actually, my friends and I are the ones on the errand, and our errand is to find you, Phoebe, and talk to you. But I'm aware that you're on break from work right now and only have a few minutes, and I think what I need to talk to you about will probably take longer than that. I'm thinking it would be better for us to figure out where we're staying for the night, then meet you after your shift is over to talk."

She tells Desma, "We had a farmer and his daughter offer to put us up in thanks for rescuing his daughter from some real creepy men, but I told him I wanted to talk to you first before I accept his hospitality. Do you have any recommendations about where we could stay, or do you think we should just take the farmer up on his offer? I promised to let him know one way or the other."


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[Legendary Sidekick]

"Find me?" Phœbe clearly has no idea why our heroines are looking for her, but her initial expression of fear turns to one of intrigue. "I'll meet you, but only if Desma comes."

Desma says, "Of course I'll be there—whether I want to or not."

Phœbe says, "If Desma didn't already tell you, we're roommates. She got a place along the strip that's built right into the volcano. There's a club in the underground floor called Hearth-Throb."

"It's noisy," Desma says. "But Phœbe's cake-jumping routine's a hit, whether I want it to be or not."

"If that's what I gotta do so people look at your cakes, it's worth it." Phœbe turns to Kell and Leto and adds, "Plus, they actually tip us at the club."

Desma asks Kell, "Does that sound like a plan? Meet at Hearth-Throb? And we can crash at my place, if you want. I'm sure the farm has more room but we can all throw blankets on the floor." She tells Hess, "You can have the bed."

Hess says, "Oh, but can I be on the floor too?"

 

[tbgg]

Kelleia

Kell asks Desma, "You do the cake-jumping routine at this Hearth-Throb place, too? About what time does it start to quiet down, usually? I'll want to check with my friends once I know what we're likely to be in for."

"So how did you meet Phoebe, how did she come to be your assistant, and how long have you two been working together? And what led you to have her start jumping out of your cakes?


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