Ch.7: "Hot Fuzz" / Hesperides

[Legendary Sidekick]

Kell
You swim up and end up in a pool that's purple with amethyst on the inside, but a dull gray brown on the outside. It actually appears as if you are swimming in a relatively small hole in a boulder that must be hundreds of feet in diameter. It is embedded in the ground and in the side of a cliff. Only a portion of the rock is exposed.

Piggie is sitting on top. She is dressed in a red top that exposes her midriff. Her matching skirt is tied at the hip and worn with a gold sash. The sash and skirt are askew at different angles, allowing for essential modesty as well as a means for her tail to flow out above the back of her skirt.

The tail is a big, fluffy fox tail. Piggie's hands and feet seem rather claw-like, enough that she's probably a good climber in this form. With her is Neko the sales-cat. Piggie has just purchased expensive chocolate and faerie walnuts.

She and Neko wave to each other, then Neko climbs down the giant boulder with ease.

Piggie turns to you.

"It is said this rock crashed from the sky. That's where the amethyst is from--from out if this world. And the crash exposed many other pretty gems. They were mined here, until Hera ordered the miners to stop. We can go in the mines if you want. In fact, I brought you belongings just in case.

"Anyway, how was your swim?"

 

[tbgg]

Kell grins. "It was great!" she exclaims enthusiastically. "I think I'm going to love this form, once I get used to the difference in how to swim."

"Why did Hera order the miners to stop? And what would be the point to entering the mines? Are they dangerous?" Kell tilts her head inquisitively at Piggie.


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[Ireth]

Sigrlinn nods, wiping her face. "This tea has the same sort of smell as the soup; I think they're made with the same herbs."

She looks at Daphne and says, "I don't remember any part of my life before I was nineteen, except the one memory that came back just now, and one other. I know my father's name, and someone who must have been a friend, but not my mother's name, or even the village I grew up in. And I didn't remember my own name until recently. Before that, in the north I was called Runa, and in Ogygia I was Leto. They both mean 'secret'."

She stares into her teacup, her hands clenching around it. "Loki took everything from me. He destroyed my village and killed everyone, but he left me alive. He just locked away all my memories instead. I don't know how long it'll take to get them all back, or even if they all will come back." She looks back at Daphne. "I'm sorry you don't remember anything either. It's the worst thing I can think of to do to someone. When someone takes away your memories, they take away who you are."

 

[Legendary Sidekick]

Kell
Piggie replies, "The mines are very pretty. It's safe to enter the tunnels that aren't closed. But Hera ordered people to stop working in the mines. Men were getting killed digging up shiny objects that serve no purpose, and they were paid very little by employers who make a fortune selling these gems.

"Given the way her husband abuses power, I think she wanted to stop an abuse that she was able to stop. When she changed my mother, she told her what Zeus did to her. He tortured her! His own wife!"

Moana is visibly uncomfortable with Piggie's boldness. The fairy (now drying off in her butterfly-winged form) seems to be watching the skies for lightning.

Piggie tells Mo, "If my father was going to strike me down for having an opinion, he would have by now." She asks you, "Is it weird I have more love for my father's wife than for my father?"

 

[Legendary Sidekick]

Sigrlinn
Daphne quacks a few times.

Laverne and Shirley look at each other, then Laverne says, "I think what Daphne's trying to say is, Loki can't stop you from being you."

Daphne holds her wings an inch apart and shrugs.

Shirley says, "Ha! I know that one! She means that's close enough."

Daphne then uses her feet to pick up a piece of chalk. (Her feet are webbed, but she is able to use her long but otherwise-human-like toes as if they are fingers.) She writes on a slate using her foot.


YOU LOST YOUR MEMORIES OF YOUR MOTHER. I NEVER HAD SUCH MEMORIES.
I NEVER HAD ARMS EITHER. BUT THAT NEVER STOPPED ME FROM BEING AN ARCHER.
WE DON'T KNOW WHO ARE MOTHERS ARE. BUT WE CAN STILL FIGURE OUT HOW TO MAKE THEM PROUD.

HUNT WITH ME NOW. YOU WILL HAVE ANOTHER STORY WHEN YOU MEET YOUR MOTHER IN THE NEXT WORLD.


"Aw," says Shirley from inside her teacup. "I was really enjoying my bath."

"I got this," says Laverne. Laverne changes into a hamster-skin outfit with a cursive £ on it. She sprinkles you with fairy dust.

Daphne uses her feet to give you a bow and quiver. Of the arrows in the quiver, one has a white feather. You are also given a backless buckskin dress.

"QVAKT!"

Laverne says, "Don't loose the white arrow until it's time."

"QVAKT-QAK!"

"And wear the quiver in a way that wouldn't obscure wings if you had them."

Daphne heeds her own advice, and somehow manages to buckle a quiver around her waist, just above her tail feathers. She then takes her own bow, heads outside, and leaps over the plateau's edge.

From the air, she flies up—tucks and rolls in midair—and in that acrobatic move, she somehow takes an arrow from her quiver and shoots. Her arrow hits the target's center!

 

[Ireth]

Sigrlinn smiles as she reads Daphne's words. "I hope I can make all of them proud... the whole village."

At Daphne's instructions, she can't help but ask, "Why not? Is the white arrow special?"

She doesn't change into the dress right away, but watches, wide-eyed and impressed, as Daphne uses a bow and arrow with her feet. She cheers as the arrow hits the bulls-eye, then ducks back inside to get ready for the hunt. The backless buckskin dress isn't a perfect fit, but it's comfortable. She buckles the quiver around her waist similarly to Daphne.

Finally she looks at the fairies. "I guess now I should just find a happy thought and jump, right? And the fairy dust will hold me up until I gain wings?"

 

[Legendary Sidekick]

Sigrlinn
Daphne nods and quacks when asked if the arrow is special. She bows when you cheer for her. As for the fairy dust question, Laverne says, "I guess so. I mean, I know how fairy dust works. It's the wings part I'm not sure about. It's Piggie's magic, not Daphne's. But then, they're best friends. Daphne was the maid of honor at Piggie's wedding."

"QVAKT!"

Daphne pulls a stick that's attached to a rope and pulley system. Gears turn, and a target pops out from the cliffside. TONG! There's a sound to the left. Tong! And another further to the left. Tong…

Dapnhe twirls in a counter clockwise motion. "QVAKA-QVAKT!"

Laverne says, "Fly down from the plateau in a counterclockwise motion. Hit as many targets as you can. Like this!"

Laverne flies and shoot fairy dust from her tiny bow…

Laverne:3X3 → 1( (5, 1, 2→ 1 success against 3) )#SHOOT
She hits the outer ring on the first target…

Laverne:3X3 → 4( (3, 6x2, 3→ 4 successes against 3) )#SHOOT 2nd
The second is hit on the innermost ring. But the fairy manages to get two more shots off as she flies full speed toward the third target.
Laverne:1X3 → 2( (6x2→ 2 successes against 3) )#combo 2nd
The second shot is about as accurate as the first—
Laverne:1X3 → 0( (2→ 0 successes against 3) )#3-hit combo 2nd
—but the third misses completely.

Laverne:3X3 → 1( (2, 2, 3→ 1 success against 3) )#SHOOT 3rd
She hits the third target, though again, on the outermost ring.

There are more targets, but the fairy flies up to you instead of shooting every target.

"Three out of three," says Laverne. "That ain't bad… though I guess it's four out of five since I fired a few shots at my second target. The trick is to fly as fast as you can and spiral around the mountain counterclockwise. See how many targets you can hit!"

"QVAKT!"

Laverne nods to Daphne, then tells you, "Stand at the edge of the cliff and I'll give you a push."

((You can rearrange the dice now, if you want a better shoot roll. Currently, you roll 3F/3S/2M.))

 

[tbgg]

Kell wants to tell Piggie what she knows about Zeus being indefinitely stuck in the Underworld, but she remembers her promise to Demeter and decides that with none of the major Immortals around, she'd better hold her tongue. Even if Piggie is a demigoddess, Kell's not sure where Piggie would stand in the conflict between the Immortals, and Kell doesn't want to risk word of Zeus' location spreading to his allies and Ares or Heracles coming down to the Underworld to break Zeus out.

So she replies, "I don't think it's odd at all, considering the kind of person your father is. I myself feel a bit of a pull toward Hera that I can't really explain, considering that I disagree fairly strongly with how she handles the women your father seduces. I can understand Hera wanting to do something to stop that, and I get that she's not strong enough on her own to stand up to Zeus, but I think she's choosing the wrong thing to do. To me, what she does simply revictimizes those who have already been wounded by your father. She seems to be punishing them for something they could not have known in the moment unless their loved ones are never amorous, and even of those, I am guessing a number of those couldn't have stopped him. I would imagine the majority of your father's seductees had no interest in being seduced by him. Most of them probably figured out after the fact at some point that the person who showed up looking like their loved one wasn't really them, so not only do they have to deal with feeling stupid and ashamed for not recognizing that their loved one wasn't their loved one, then they have to deal with Hera working her magic on them. It doesn't seem fair to me. That's actually something we want to talk to Hera about, although it's more of a side issue to our primary business with her."

 

[Ireth]

((I'll stick with 3 shoot dice for now. ^^))

Sigrlinn smiles and focuses on her happiest thoughts, readying her bow as Laverne pushes her from the edge of the plateau. As Daphne instructed, she flies counter-clockwise, and looses an arrow at the first target.

She can tell she's off to a good start, with one arrow striking the middle of the first target, and a second hitting the outermost...

But things get trickier as she goes on. Her next arrow hits the middle ring of the second target...

...and the next hits the outermost ring of the third.

((Not sure how many targets there are, so I dunno how long I should keep going...))

 

[Legendary Sidekick]

Kell
"Oh…" says Piggie. "I suppose I never thought of it that way. I mean, maybe making my mom a pig is kinda weird, but being half-animal made my mother undesirable to Zeus. She said it was Hera's way of protecting her.

"Hera once told me about Danae. That's the hero Perseus' mother. Hera never changed her—I don't know if Danae refused, or if Hera didn't think of it at the time or what. But Zeus wouldn't leave her alone, and her own husband the king tossed her into the sea. Perseus was born from his mother's corpse.

"So Hera's been rather protective, but I think you're right that the women don't have a choice. I've talked to some, and some think Hera's idea of protection is rather extreme. My mom embraced the change, and me? I always looked this way. I guess it's why I wanted to learn so many spells that let me mix my form with other animals."

 

[Legendary Sidekick]

Sigrlinn
"QVAKT!"

Laverne says, "Three more targets ahead! Careful with these. If you hit the outermost ring, they shoot back!"


((If you hit a target with exactly 1 point, you need to roll SHOOT DEFENSE.

Nothing happens if you roll a zero, and rolling a 1 in a combo doesn't trigger anything. It's the total roll for one specific target that triggers retaliation.))

 

[Ireth]

Sigrlinn nods, taking careful aim at the next target she reaches...

And the next...

And the next!

Whatever the targets are armed with, Sigrlinn considers herself lucky that she doesn't need to find out the hard way!

 

[Legendary Sidekick]

As Sigrlinn flies around the plateau, she sees Kell, Piggie and Moana far below. Piggie is now clothed and has a fox-tail and Kell is halfway in the water. She's in the form of a mermaid!

"QVAKT!" says Daphne.

"Stay on target," says Laverne.

There is a trench in the wall of the plateau. The fairy steers you so you'll fly into the trench. She warns you, "There are water cannons in there. Don't get totally soaked. Fairy dust washes off, y'know!

((Sigrlinn
If you fly in, roll SHOOT DEFENSE!))

 

[Ireth]

Sigrlinn grins at the sight of Kell, Moana and Piggie down below, and waves to them in case they happen to look up. Then she braces herself as she enters the trench.

 

[Legendary Sidekick]

Sigrlinn
Daphne points out the next target. "QVAA-VAA-VAA-VAA-VAA!"

It's behind a waterfall.

Laverne says, "If you have a spell you can use on your arrow, maybe you can hit that."

((You get 3 rounds, a.k.a. 3 rolls…

1 round to charge Lv.2 air magic on an arrow.
1 round to shoot he arrow.
And you have an extra round in case the spell fails.))

 

[Ireth]

Sigrlinn tilts her head at the sight of the waterfall, but readies an arrow nonetheless. She holds still as she casts...

...as she casts...

...and shoots!

 

[Legendary Sidekick]

Sigrlinn

Lightning dances wildly around your arrow! The projectile penetrates the waterfall and zaps the target.

—and the target zaps you back!

There is a flash, and—no pain at all—just a blinding flash, a deafening thunder, and you feel yourself being thrown from the trench. You're tumbling… and falling!

"Fight it!" says the fairy.

"QVAAAAAKT!" says the Duck Huntress.

"Pull up!" Piggie shouts.


((FIGHT defense!))

 

[Ireth]

Sigrlinn yelps in alarm as she tumbles through the air, trying to obey Laverne and resist the target's effects!

 

[Legendary Sidekick]

Sigrlinn
((FLAWLESS VICTORY!!))

You didn't miss a target. You didn't get squirt by a single water cannon. And when you were overcome by the magic from the target, you were able to fight the fall…

…and you did that by spreading your wings!

Daphne cheers as she soars alongside you. "QVAKAKAKT!"

Laverne says, "The white arrow had Piggie's magic in it. But you had to earn the form. The first six targets removed the barriers blocking the last target. Then your lightning arrow made the last target zap your feather with air magic. Good thing you didn't loose that arrow, or the lightning might've zapped you and you'd've fallen to your death!"

Daphne says, "QVAKT!"

"I know," says Laverne. "But it doesn't sound as cool if I tell her you would've swooped and caught her."

 

[Ireth]

Sigrlinn gasps as feathery white wings burst from her shoulderblades, keeping her steady in the air. She cheers along with Daphne, and grins at Laverne's explanation of the magic. "Good to know I wouldn't have actually died!" This makes her wonder whether she'll become a real valkyrie if and when she does die (hopefully not soon!). There's the Huntress thing to consider, and probably the means of her death too.

Still, that's a question for another time. She admires her wings for a few moments, then looks back at Daphne. "Does this mean we're ready to go hunting now?"