Ch.5 "Lost Souls" / Kell and Sigrlinn

[Legendary Sidekick]

The fairy asks the Iron Maiden, "What's going on? Is it working? Is something wrong?"

The Iron Maiden exclaims, "Phoebe?" with an odd tone of humanity coming from those metal lips. She then confirms that something may indeed be wrong as she goes on to say, "I think something weird just happened to me. This is Kell."

 

[Ireth]

Sigrlinn stares at the iron maiden, her hands creeping up to her mouth seemingly of their own accord. "And this is Sigrlinn. I don't know how we switched bodies either. But, uh... you're okay, right?"

 

[tbgg]

Kell replies, "Sigrlinn? Really? When I was in the darkness, I was having trouble remembering stuff. Like I had the sense that there was someone I might be able to communicate with from where I was, but I couldn't remember who that was. And my soul left my body for a little while. I floated up above it and standing near me I saw Heph and Aphrodite and...and Helix! That's who I couldn't remember! Then I went into this light and I saw Niobe, who had wings. And get this - she was in Valhalla with a lot of valkyries, though she said that Brynhild was absent."

"What about you? Are you okay?" Uggh, my voice sounds so strange!

 

[Ireth]

Sigrlinn smiles. "I prayed to Brynhild to look out for you. Maybe that had something to do with it." Circumstances aside, she can't even be jealous of Kell for getting to see Valhalla and the valkyries before her. Not now that she knows who was looking after her in Barbieria.

"Other than being tiny, I'm fine. Much better now that you're back, wrong body or not. I was so scared for you!" She goes and hugs whatever part of Kell-Pi's body she can reach. "Helix at least let me know that you weren't dead all along. And I finally got the chance to talk with Artemis. She was really nice. And I found out... lots of important things." She pauses, still a little overwhelmed by everything that's gone on in just the past few hours.

 

[tbgg]

Returning the fairy's hug as gently as she can, Kell says, "Well, I asked Niobe what Valhalla's interest was in a conflict between the Olympians that Brynhild and her valkyries would give aid to the combatants and Niobe said we were in the right place at the right time doing the right thing. I honestly thought you were some really important Barbierian like a princess or something but didn't know it, and I was just being helped as a courtesy to you." She gives a wry chuckle.

"Oh?" At Sigrlinn's mention of learning 'important things', Kell leans forward. She recalls a number of times in the recent past where she wanted to sit and talk to Sigrlinn about something but there was something else that needed her attention instead. Not this time, Kell tells herself firmly. This time I am going to sit and listen to her. "What have you learned?"

 

[Ireth]

Sigrlinn nods slowly as Kell speaks. "You already know a fair bit of it, actually. I found out what the lost message in my head is. Brynhild wanted Artemis to know that she and her valkyries would help us against Zeus and those allied with him. She needs someone to travel north and convince Odin to join our side, too. I was hoping we could travel there with the van Donks. In this body I'll be less noticeable to Loki or anyone else on his side. Oh, and my friend Brynhild -- the one who helped me after Loki took my memories -- she's not just named after the goddess, she IS the goddess. Maybe we'll find her again, too."

 

[tbgg]

Kell exclaims "Wow, you were aided by a goddess!" then adds more thoughtfully, "Niobe said that Brynhild sought her out in the Underworld and told her what I was involved in. She also offered Niobe an opportunity to aid me, though I don't know if my little visit to Valhalla was it or not - I'd like to think that what happened to us happened unexpectedly. But maybe the reason Brynhild was absent from Valhalla is indeed because she roams about as a mortal."

"I'd love to travel with the van Donks again. Sonja had some other things related to being a nymph that she wanted to talk to me about, and we never did get to have that conversation - just the part about nymph reproduction. I also want to hear more about what they learned about their mother from Aphrodite."

"I wonder if it's more important that we visit Hera or Odin next? And we really need to talk to someone about when it might be possible to get our true forms back. I agree that having different forms may provide a level of protection to us, but we both need to know how much our true form's abilities we retain and how much of our new form's abilities we can make use of. Have you tried using any of your Huntress skills and abilities as a fairy?"

"By the way, which of Heph's maiden's forms am I in?"

((It's been mentioned in the description of actions that this is Kell-Pi's body, but no one has told Kell that yet. When I first read the LS' initial description about 'the Iron Maiden', I thought Kell was in Patty Melt's body! Kell-Pi is the silver maiden; Patty Melt is the iron one.))

 

[Ireth]

Sigrlinn smiles. "I'm glad you got to see your friend again. As for us... I'm not sure where we should go. Hera seems like she'd be closer, if we're worried about time. I haven't tried doing anything Huntress-ish in this body, but apparently I can do Hearthvision spells. That's how I saw Brynhild's message. Oh, and you're inside Kell-Pi. How appropriate."

 

[Legendary Sidekick]

When Kell looks at her own body, she can see that she is sleeping. The movement of her chest indicates normal breathing. There are tubes attached to human-Kell's left wrist and Kell-Pi-Kell's right wrist. But the two women are plugged into the machine, not each other.

 

[tbgg]

Kell sighs. "This is going to complicate our plans to try to help Hera, for sure. Not to mention the fact that Heph and Aphrodite may be less than thrilled about losing their marriage counselor. On the other hand, maybe Heph has some ideas about how to change Kell-Pi and me back."

She tells Sigrlinn, "Just before I woke up, I heard Kell-Pi speaking to me. I don't know if that was telepathic or spoken. I'm going to try killing two birds with one stone and see if I can speak telepathically to either Kell-Pi or Helix."

So she attempts to contact both of them using the telepathy she's always shared with Helix. Helix, Kell-Pi, can either of you hear me?

 

[Legendary Sidekick]

Kell-Pi does not respond. Nor does Helix.

But then, it may be a limitation of this body. Silver-Kell wouldn't be able to cast any kind of spell. But then, her current body is quite powerful, and she doesn't need to worry about breathing.

Soon Heph enters the room and unplugs Silver-Kell's wrist from the machine.

"Kell-Pi wanted to do this for you," he says. "She'll keep your body alive for now. Should anything go wrong, you have her body. You and Vincent would still... uhhhhh... maybe this is a conversation to have with my wife. If I'm not in the room. But let's be optimistic! By the time Vin gets back, you'll be in your own body.

"For now, Patti, Honni, Condi and Minti are preparing for their mission... and they need two handmaidens, if you're willing. I could have Penni, the new girl, take your place. But her body isn't made for battle. Yours is."

There's a coppertone hummingbird on Heph's shoulder. It hums inquisitively at its apparent master.

Heph simply says, "It's up to you, Kell."

 

[tbgg]

Kell replies, a little bluntly, "While I don't want to make light of Kell-Pi's generosity, I don't understand why I need this body. I know what MY body is capable of, and I know how to fight in it. No matter how battle-ready you may think this body is, the fact is, I *DON'T* know how to fight in it."

She finds her tone rising. "This is just like what Aphrodite always does to me - controlling me by making decisions that affect ME the most without bothering to ask how I feel about them or whether I even want the flipping changes. When are you people going to learn that it's MY life?!? I had the chance to stay in Valhalla when I was in my body. If I'd known you people were going to have this waiting for me, I'd have stayed there!"

Doing her best to speak in a cold steely tone - which isn't as easy as it sounds in an unfamiliar body - she says, "My trust has been violated and I'm not sure right now that I'll ever forgive whoever was responsible for that. As long as you believe I am your damn puppet to be jerked around as you see fit whenever the hades you feel like it, you will NEVER have a relationship with me. You Olympians have gotten too big for your britches, and I for one am fed up with it. I'm done here, and I'll only come back to this place to be transferred back into my own body. MY body."

And she walks as calmly as she can out of the room, then out of the mansion. She vaguely recalls that Fairy Springs and Palm Springs were north of Plambot Mansion and she begins walking that way.

How could they? How in the name of everything thing good and decent could they?


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[Ireth]

Sigrlinn stares in silence as Kell vents her anger at Heph, then starts running after her friend before realizing she'll never be able to catch up on those tiny legs. She only makes it as far as the end of the bed before stopping and looking up at Heph. She doesn't really have the right to say anything -- this really isn't her argument -- but what is he going to do or say about it?

"

 

[Legendary Sidekick]

((Kell escapes to another thread!))

Heph says to Sigrlinn, "Perhaps I should have given her the news more gently. Oh, but this was Kell-Pi's idea. I let her do this because…"

He clams up for a moment, then says to the wingless fairy, "I'm sorry about your friend. Why don't I leave you two ladies to talk. I'm no good at this sort of thing."

He zips away in his chair…

((…leaving Sigrlinn in another other thread!))

 

[Legendary Sidekick]

Mile-High Five

Spoiler: theme song: High 5

[video=youtube_share;UMW63MOXocY]https://youtu.be/UMW63MOXocY[/video]

Patti Melt is even more melted than before, her legs now fused together like a mermaid's tail.

"I may never be able to turn back," she says, glaring into the golden light of the sun rising from the west. "But the enemy has chosen war. We'll make him regret his choice."

She then rises from Heph's hover-chair, thrusters from her hands keeping her upright on her disfigured feet. She looks at the wingless fairy on her right shoulder, then at the tiny copper maiden on her left. She bellows commands to the other metal maidens:

"SILVER, LEFT ARM: FORM!"

Kell-Pi flies into the air and transforms into a human-sized arm!

"GOLD, RIGHT ARM: FORM!"

Honni flies and transforms!

"COPPER, LEFT LEG: FORM!"

Condi becomes a nine-foot-tall leg!

"PLATINUM, RIGHT LEG: FORM!"

Minti transforms and lands at Condi's side!

"AND I'LL FORM"

She takes off like a rocket!

"THE"

As she transforms, the tiny person and robot get sucked inside her!

"HEAD!"

When the maidens converge, a skirted torso is formed from five kinds of metal, rapidly intertwining! Sigrlinn and Penni find themselves seated side-by-side, "Just like the Sim-You-Later!" Penni notes.

Helios glares down at you, bow in hand, arrow nocked.

"You made your choice, mortals!" says a calm male voice...

...as he looses his flaming arrow.

((Sigrlinn: INSTINCT to react - 4E5))
((Kell: GRACE to wake up - 4X3))

 

[Ireth]

Sigrlinn glares back at Apollo, doing her best not to show how scared she really is. He looses a flaming arrow at her, and her Instinct kicks in...

 

[Legendary Sidekick]

((That was a defense roll. We didn't test this before, but an E5 roll is defense, as if you're rolling a die with two shields on it. You normally only need a 1 to defend.))

Sigrlinn is quick to stomp on the thruster pedal, which ignites a flame under Minti's heel and rocket-propels Mile High Five (a.k.a. "Mi-Hi" or "MH5") into the air.

Honni transmits, "Permission to ready arms."

"This is your captain spea--" Penni covers her mouth. "--I mean, granted."

Kell-Pi forms a silver sword. Honni forms a golden gun.

"Fire at Apollo," Penni says.

"Don't you mean 'fire at will?'" Condo asks.

Penni thinks on it, then says, "Nope. I meant Apollo."


((Roll INSTINCT #4X3 to fire at Helios.))

 

[Ireth]

((Okay, good to know. Edited my last post. ^^))

Sigrlinn grits her teeth as MiHi shoots into the air.

It's just like fighting Puff, she tells herself. Just like fighting Puff. But she knows deep down it's not true. If Apollo hits them, she might have to prepare for a one-way trip to Niflheim. Or, if she's lucky, Valhalla.

When the order is given to fire, she slams her hand on the Shoot button.

 

[Legendary Sidekick]

((I want to try something with combos: reroll every die that comes up as a six ("6x2"). You rolled one, so

combo - #1X3))

 

[Ireth]

Sigrlinn feels confident in her shot, and fires again...

((And again? ))