Personification Life, the Universe, & Everything [IC]

[Northwest Slobovia]

Giovenith nodded solemnly. "Guys, chill," she told the other guests. "She's right. She was just standing up for Sallow like how I would stand up for Willow... in a weird way." She stepped forward. "Where is he?"

Amanda followed the exchange between Giovenith and her paper copy with her eyes, and her expression gradually set, like hardened concrete. Oh, they're having a divine snit, fighting over people like they were treasured pets. 'Don't you treat my Fifi that way!' Typically bitchy goddesses, getting into a slap-fight, and we're just acceptable collateral damage.

But that last line was too much, and she turned to Giovenith with daggers in her eyes. “'Chill', eh? Oh, I see: the gods decided if they were gonna duke it out for the people they liked, and then when they decided that they were just going to make nice, they're going to tell the widdle-bitty mortals it's OK for them to come out of their holes, because they've dealt with it.

“I don't think so. That hasn't worked out so well for us. We can decide what to do about the situation ourselves, thank you very much, Goddess.”

Sandy slumped and started to bring his free hand up to cover his face, before stopping his motion and just shuffling back a half-step to gently place his outstretched hand on Amanda's upper arm. Unable to keep both Amanda, Giovenith, and Ms. Prism in sight at once, he settled for just turning his head a fraction towards his wife. “I think there are... other interpretations of what we're seeing.”

Amanda went on as though she didn't hear him, turning towards Ms. Prism. “If violence is how you stick up for your friends, you deserve to be kept away from civilized people.” Then to Giovenith. “And you should know better than to justify it: there are right ways and wrong ways to stick up for people, and right reasons and wrong reasons to do it.” It was hard to tell if she was angry or just disappointed by the end of her last sentence: her voice had lost some of its edge.

[Giovenith]

The room seemed very still and silent. Giovenith stared at Amanda. So did Ms. Prism, but then, she was always staring — and kept her unreadable smile the whole time. The real of the two, for her part, closed her eyes for a long moment and took a deep breath.

"No. No, it's not like that," she declared simply, opening her eyes again. Her voice and tone were quiet, not strained, but very tired and sad. "It's never been like that, but everyone seems to want to make it that way. For as long as I've lived here, everything I do or say has been forced into this mold of me being what I am." She began to count on her hand. "I can't be nice or help someone without it being seen as some big 'gift.' I can't give my perspective without people thinking I think it's some 'divine truth' we all have to listen to. I can't be mad, sad, a little selfish, or proud without it being 'godly arrogance.' I'm always some god who needs to be pleaded with or kept in line, never just a person who's allowed to not be perfect and do my best with what I've got."

"Gi-" Willow tried, but she just lifted a hand to silence him.

"Well," she said. "You don't have to put up with me. No one else has wanted to for long. They just get whatever it is they needed and go. Even Marcus had better things waiting out there for him than me." She tightened her lips to keep from quivering and blinked her eyes rapidly. "If I'm just an outdated, horrible thing to you all, than... than..." She turned around and blitzed out of the room, past a still calm Ms. Prism.

"Gio!" Willow called, landing and running after her.

Despite their differences in physiques, he wasn't able to catch up to her before she made her way back to the pool room. Like with Dax before, she jumped towards the water, clothes and all, and was swallowed up by the reflection without a splash or ripple.

[The World Capitalist Confederation]

"The United States of America." Dax remarked, his eyes tapping like the march of a factory: why was this so important? As he was told about the 'previous world', his memories began to recall: He lived in the years of..."1956" and "1991", in a place known as Dresden. He was friends with a man named Roman Johannsson, who was a kind yet stiff character, whom Dax lived with for most of his life. They had grown a certain fondness for each other, always conversing. From what he remembered, Roman worked for an organisation known as the Stasi, who he could not recall the function of. In fact, Dax couldn't even remember his own work in the previous world, except for a typewriter and a sheet of paper with nothing but the words: "SOCIALISM IS FREEDOM, CAPITALISM IS DEATH" printed on a sheet of paper.

"Interesting." Dax said, as he finished his long recalling, sipping some wine as he needed to process what he just remembered. He also drank the flower wine, confused at its taste, for it caused a tingling in his lips. Dax then asked:

"Do you know anything of the Stasi? And did anything bad happen during 1991, because I remember shooting myself in the...." Dax probed, trying to remember where he shot himself. "Mouth. In the mouth. Also, what's a Dresden? Sorry to ask, but I've just had a profound experience of my past."

[Monfrox]

Brit had been following as much as possible, but everything had happened so fast as it always does. And despite how she felt, she had always tried to keep a firm hold of her anger. The same could not be said for Amanda it seemed. Way to go, asshole.

“Gio-!”

She went to follow but stopped to let Willow through first. In her dash, she only just realized she went past Amanda, and turned back to her. Her face screwed up with a nasty glare as she marched right up to her. She poined her entire hand out of instinct at her and opened her mouth. The only sound she made though, was her inhaling air to get ready to let out a blue streak.

But it never came. Brit stood there with an open mouth making no sound. Soon enough, her teeth clenched and her hand went down. She sighed heavily as her anger was quickly reeled back in and her expression relaxed. Getting mad was not going to solve anything right now and she knew it. She turned away and walked back out of the dining room quickly, allowing herself one loud “Fuck!” in exasperation as she went after the two.

Mon very loudly cleared her throat and stood up.

“Well, I suppose that can be the end of the dinner. Anyone who wants to stay and help with the dishes is more than welcome to.” She announced as she kneed Lidev to get to clearing the table.

[Northwest Slobovia]

Sandy watched Giovenith's and Willow's departing backs, too slow in deciding whether to chase them to make his late start practical. He let out a tired sigh after Brit... didn't unload on Amanda. That wouldn't have gone well.

He ended up just turning to shake his head at his wife, before righting his chair and collapsing into it.

Mon very loudly cleared her throat and stood up.“Well, I suppose that can be the end of the dinner. Anyone who wants to stay and help with the dishes is more than welcome to.” She announced as she kneed Lidev to get to clearing the table.

"There's a lot of food to pack up and make into leftovers." His voice was weary, and getting everything into containers for storage suddenly seemed like a lot of work. "Give people... a minute or two decide what they want to do." He reached over the the table to rock Ms. Prism's scissors free, and put them beside his plate. He turned to check that the silent paper person hadn't moved -- no -- and then turned back to Mon. "If it's up to me, I'd rather finish what I have before starting to clean. And maybe the mood will improve."

He forced a smile, turned a palm up, and threw what little concentration he had into his magic. Cascades of miniature fireworks shot up a few feet from his hand before blossoming into plate-sized bursts: red, blue, gold, and green, in many different styles. His smile became natural; the larger display seemed to be working. Maybe he'd gotten it right.


Giovenith's abrupt departure left Amanda speechless and utterly confused. What had gotten into her? One minute, she was in command; the next, a hurt child running for her room.

She braced herself for a round with an angry Brit, but ended up just staring at her as she stalked off. She picked up her own chair, but as she got it upright, it seemed like all the strength went out of her legs, and she ended up supporting herself using the chair back. It took her several seconds of awkward standing before she managed to swing herself into the seat. She sat there, hands resting in her lap, trying to figure out what to do, when her hands started the slightest shaking.

[Holy Lykos]

Sterling frowned, sitting aside and letting them talk. The conversation though, turned rather sour quickly. And before he could speak, Giovenith ran off. But he still looked up at Amanda and offered his piece.

"Giovenith is right, she doesn't treat friends like playthings. She's a lot more like the Princesses than what I've heard of most conventional human deities. While they may have great power, they keep their interactions with the public as lowkey as possible, and try to make it clear when they're acting in 'official roles' and as a person. At least that's how I've always read it. I've heard plenty of stories of Celestia code-switching from maternal to stern ruler in the middle of hearing about crises.

"Giovenith's always acted a friend. Just because she's divine, doesn't mean she's any less, or more, a person. I know most human gods are rather distant and imperious, but I'm surprised you don't know that Gio's different after the time spent with her. I've never seen her lord over anyone, the opposite in fact."

Sterling would stay, knowing he was no match for the speed of the other two. Plus, he'd rather help clean up and try to address this immediate jump to lambasting divinity on Amanda's part. "Gio's still pretty young for a god, too. Not a kid, but in that 'finding yourself' sort of area. You must have struck a nerve."


Sigtrygg, personally, was more concerned by the lambasting of Violence as a valid means of defending one's self and allies. Was it not a good, honorable way to solve problems? Difference of times they were from, he supposed.

[Giovenith]

"Gio! Giovenith!" Willow splashed at the surface of the pool water with his hooves, flying this way and that over it in a futile attempt to see if he could somehow open the portal that Giovenith had jumped through.

He knew it was hopeless, but what else could he do? Where had she gone, would she come back? She could be literally anywhere, so he had to do something, or she could get hurt! Willow sighed as he landed back on the floor next to the pool and began to pace in thought.

"Alright, alright, what can we do?" he mumbled frantically, half to himself, half to the newly arrived Brit. "There's got to be a back door or someone else with access, or something..." He wasn't currently concerned with confronting Amanda or anyone else, just getting his roommate back.

Ms. Prism appeared at the edge of the door soundlessly. Willow spotted her, tensed up, but relaxed a little when seconds went by without her attacking. A light bulb pinged over his head.

"Mime-Gio!" he said, trotting over to her. "Or, whatever your name is, I'm sorry... you have all her memories and knowledge. Is there any way for us to get to her?" He wasn't in the mood for blaming her either despite the circumstances.

[Monfrox]

"Whoa whoa whoa!" Brit stepped in and quickly put a hand onto Willow's chest as she knelt down to meet his eye level. "Calm down, Willow. Take a breath. Just take a breath for me."

She looked to the mime Gio (God, things that never stopped smiling always gave her the creeps) before looking back to the pegasus.

"Take it easy. We need to think clearly and right now...right now..." She sighed and took a second to internalize everything. It seemed that having that "alone time" wasn't going to happen as fast as she wanted. Well, did it ever? "Right now, you and I...have been through quite a lot in the past few...whatevers...been going at this non-stop practically from one huge misadventure to the next. Before we go looking for a way in there, we need to ask the real questions: Are we prepared for this right now? If not, can we get things together quickly? Where exactly did Gio go? What is the place like where Gio went? Do we need to worry about gearing up beforehand? Unlike the last two times, we have an opportunity here to take stock and think up a gameplan instead of rushing in blindly. We need to buckle down and clear our heads and hearts. Do you know why Gio wold go and do this in the first place?"

[Giovenith]

Willow blinked at Brit a few times, comprehending what she was saying before taking a breath. Ms. Prism tilted her head.

"I don't know too many specifics," he admitted thoughtfully. "It was always put in this vague, spiritual woo-woo way, but basically, when Giovenith goes through a reflection, she's using her mom's... dimensions, I guess? I guess she's like walking in-between space, and with what her mom does, she could be like... literally anywhere!" He made a broad gesture with a nervous expression. "She could be like five galaxies away for all we know! I know she can't come out through anything but the portal she jumped in or a reflection blessed for her use though, so she probably can't pop out anywhere dangerous, at least. Still, I don't know what else can go on in there. I'm not going to sit here and think about myself while she's off doing who-knows-what all alone in the never-ending, icy cold, soul sucking darkness of interdimensional space."

He turned back to Ms. Prism, who was still by the door. He figured she wasn't coming in due to the proximity to water.

"Can't you go in after her?" Willow asked. "Not through the water obviously, but something else?"

The paper mime shook her head.

"Why not?!"

Ms. Prism pointed to the pool and then made a wide, wiggling gesture with her fingers and arm, as if to imitate sparkles flying through the air. She then pointed to herself, made a depraved expression, and a rude gesture involving her index finger and an 'OK' symbol. It took Willow a second, but he understood.

"Because you're not really like Gio, you're Chaos," he said. "You're not allowed in another pantheon's places without permission. Right."

Dammit, what else could they do though? Even if they could somehow get into the reflection, Willow wasn't sure they'd know how to navigate whatever was in there. They could get lost forever for all he knew, and that wouldn't help anyone.

"Isn't there anything we can do, please?" he pleaded with the paper-being. "Come on. I know Sallow's upset, but if he's anything like me, he wouldn't want her lost either, would he?"

At this, Ms. Prism stared at them, before turning on her heel and marching back into the lobby. Willow exchanged a look with Brit before following her. They stopped only a few paces nearby at the phone booth, where she turned to them and held out a hand. Willow tried to take it with his hoof inquisitively, thinking she might lead them somewhere, but she pulled it back and held it out again. Willow, not knowing anything about phone booths, stared back at her blankly.

[Monfrox]

"Willow-!" Brit had tried to protest but...well sometimes she wasn't sure if he was hard-headed or just panicky. Probably the latter.

She followed after him and caught up at the phone booth. His nervousness wasn't getting on her nerves, but rather the...oh to hell with it. She looked down at him and back at the paper mime (which was still thoroughly creeping her out). When Ms. Prism held out her hand, Brit's first instinct didn't kick in as soon as Willow's did, and when he was wrong she looked at the hand again. Then her eyes widened just that bit and it was like watching a puzzle piece fall into place in her brain. A phone booth needed money to work! Duh!

"I know! But..." She knelt down again and looked to Willow, then to the paper mime. "I gotta go get my wallet from my room. Are either of you sure that we won't uh...meet opposition once we get through? Cause I'd rather not go in with nothing but my wits for the third time in a row."

[Giovenith]

"Giovenith doesn't just like me," said Willow. "She says I've got her 'favor' - like an official Seal of Approval from her. If that's true, then whatever is there should just know we're on her side. Assuming we even go through at all." He considered for a moment. "Look, Brit, if you don't want to go, that's fine. I won't be mad or anything. But even if I've been through a lot, I can't just do nothing, I can't stay here and feel sorry for myself while my best friend is hurt somewhere. It's not right, she needs me."

[Monfrox]

"I know, I know...look. I'm not asking you to give up on Gio. I'm asking you to take a moment to yourself before we go to collect your thoughts. There's nothing wrong with going in with a clear head, okay? Now look, I gotta run up to my room real quick. Do whatever you need to do to bring yourself back down and we'll go by the time I get back."

Brit patted Willow on the back lightly before taking off up the stairs to her room. She returned in a few minutes and walked up to Ms. Prism, smacking her hand like doing a low-five, and leaving two quarters in it.

"Fifty cents work?" She asked.



Mon sighed, looking at Sandy in a rather tense, quizzical expression.

"Well, much as I'd like to, I think the dinner has run it's course on it's own. So last call for food before we start packing it all up to keep it from going bad."

[Giovenith]

Ms. Prism responded by simply taking the money and inserting it. She dialed a number and waited as it rang - typical blank, unblinking staring straight ahead and smiling as she did. There was a click and muffled voice on the other end. Ms. Prism handed it to Willow, who took it carefully, uncertain.

He tried to balance it with his hooves and hold it like he saw Ms. Prism do it. "Hello?" he tried.

"Hello? Who is this?" a woman's voice on the other end asked.

"Oh, I'm really sorry to bother you ma'am," Willow apologized. "But we were given your number by a friend, for something important. Do you know a girl named Giovenith?"

"Oh yeah, yeah, how is she doing? Are you one of the people from that apartment?"

"I am, but she's not doing too well."

"Oh no, what happened?"

Willow paused and considered. "Um, excuse me for asking, but how well do you know her?"

"I'm her sister-in-law."

Giovenith had a sister-in-law? He supposed it wasn't impossible, likely even, but for some reason he never imagined her family functioning in that manner. "So you're in on the whole, family business?"

"The god of creation thing? Yes. What happened to her?"

"She kind of jumped into a reflection after someone yelled at her, and we're really worried but we can't go after her. I don't want to wait for her to come back, it's pretty bad. Is there any way you can help us?"

There was a pause. "Can you go into her room?"

"Yes."

"Wait there by the mirror. I'll get you in just a sec." And then she hung up.

Odd. It all went so, smoothly. No interrogation, cryptic bantering, or denial or anything. Willow wondered if it might have been too easy. He handed the phone back to Ms. Prism, who hung it up.

"That was her family," he told Brit. "They said to go to her room and they'd, pick us up, I guess."

[Monfrox]

Oh dear. Having to call in a in-law meant a few things, and most of the time they weren't good. Brit had heard from the phone receiver most of the conversation because her hearing was more attuned. So much, in fact, that she avoided going to the movie theater just for that reason since it was always so loud. But at least they would be getting outside help, which meant her worry of opposition was for nothing. Better to be prepared, I guess.

"Well, let's go. You can uh...come too, I guess?" She looked at Ms. Prism again, wondering if- "No wait...that's right. Sorry, I'm dumb. Okay, let's go."

She knew the way back and went to stand by the mirror once Willow followed along behind into Gio's room.

[Giovenith]

Willow gently picked up a few scattered stuffed animals from his roommate's floor and set them back on her bed, patting their heads sadly. A few minutes later, the mirrors lining Giovenith's sliding closet doors shined and shifted a bit, grabbing his attention. A woman soon emerged, about he and Brit's age, nothing particularly outlandish about here aside from her entrance. She had auburn hair in a pixie cut, and casual street clothes accented with a few boho-chic accessories. Around her neck was a black and gold key hanging from a delicate chain.

"Hey," she greeted pleasantly, inbetween gum chews. "Sorry it took a while. You," She pointed to Willow with finger guns. "Must be Willow Streaks. And I don't think I've heard of you, but good to see you." She held out a hand to shake for Brit. "My name's Kathandra, you can call me Kathy."

Willow had very briefly heard mention of a 'Kathy,' though Giovenith never spoke of any of her family members that often. "Sorry to bring you all this way, we weren't sure what else to do."

"No, any time, it's fine," the young woman reassured, giving them both a friendly smile. She seemed warm yet neat, like a cool babysitter type. "Her mom and siblings are all kind of busy right now, but I have enough access to everything that I can help you find her. It's a bit spooky in there at first, but it's not dangerous. Just stick close to me." With that, she gently touched them both so that she could pull them into the mirror with her.

They were greeted by the typical unending black void. There were no apparent walls, ceiling, or floor, just empty space. If the thing you saw when you covered your eyes tight could be described as a place, this was it.

"I expected it to be more... cheery?" Willow grimaced. The people of Perlelei always seemed like such a vibrant type, he didn't expect this to be what the halls of their inner sanctum looked like.

"It's how it looks when you're not at anywhere specific yet," Kathy explained, calmly walking forward. Despite the blackness, there was no lighting issue, they could all see one another just fine. "But if you walk with purpose long enough, you can go to and observe just about anything."

"How are we going to find Giovenith in all of this?"

"We just have to want to find her. We've all got equal access to this place, so she can't hide in it forever."

[Monfrox]

"That's okay, I get that a lot." Brit said as Kathy and her shook hands.

She had never met any of Gio's family. Blood-related or not, it was really weird. She wasn't anything like Brit had thought she'd be, but that just goes to show the old saying is true: You can pick your friends and you can pick your nose, but you...no wait it was you can pick your friends but you can't pick your family. Right. She looked down at Kathy's hand before she was yanked into the mirror and came out into a black void of...nothing. She listened to Kathy talk about what the place was, even if it didn't really make much sense.

"So we seek her out...but will we find her if she doesn't want to be found. I mean...she kinda went to this place to get away from everyone. I don't know about you two, but when I want to be alone, the last thing I want people doing is barging into my room."

[Giovenith]

"She might try to outrun us," Kathy admitted. "But she can't for long, the void will always bring us back to her."

"Giovenith?" Willow called carefully into the darkness, doubting he would be heard but thinking it couldn't hurt. "Gio, it's me, Willow! Can you-"

A burst of dark purple light erupted as a hole opened in the 'ground' ahead of the group and formed into dark stair shapes leading downwards.

"Was that her?" he asked.

"Dunno," Kathy shrugged. "Maybe this place just responds really well to you." She lead the way downstairs.

Down below, they came into another unending room, but this time the distance was littered with lights of various shapes and colors. It looked at though they were standing in outer space, surrounded by the twinkling of distant galaxies and stars. There was a very soft, electronic, somewhat musical humming all around them, just slightly out of easy hearing. It put Willow at awe, and yet unease. There was a great churning lying at the heart of this place, not malevolent, but powerful and alien. It was like a much more extreme version of being a young child caught in some sterile adult space — you didn't know what it was for or what went on here, only that it was very important and you couldn't be expected to understand.

"Gio?" Willow called again.

"We're very far out," Kathy said, taking a few steps around to observe the celestial bodies. "Way outside the Milky Way. She probably wanted some quiet."

Not quite comfortable with the way he felt solid ground he couldn't see, Willow decided to fly along, looking around at the odd corners and crevices the lights created like streetlights bent by a rainy day. He stopped when he thought he caught something. "Gio?"

She jerked, startled, before peering out from behind a distant curtain of wavering light. She moved as if to bolt.

"Giovenith, no!" He flew closer. "Please don't. You know we're not mad at you."

The godling decided not to run but stayed where she was, eyeing her friends warily from behind the light curtain. "I don't want to go back there."

"You don't have to, we just want to talk."

"I'm sick of them."

"Of who? The Belas?"

"No." She pulled herself back behind the curtain, pulling her knees close to her in a stubborn and protective position. "Of everyone!"

Willow landed next to her, tilting his head inquisitively to observe her. "Even me?" he asked. Not hurt or offended, just careful.

"No," she said again, more gently. "I don't know, just... I've just been thinking a lot about everything that's happened there. All I've done is help people, and they, they just turn on me! And you know what? I didn't even like it! I did it because it was right but they act like I'm the bad one!"

Kathy appeared on the opposite side of Giovenith. "Who did, hun?"

Giovenith looked around, as if debating whether or not she was allowed to say these things out loud. She decided she didn't care anymore. "The Nikanors," she counted on her hand. "Yoshi. Torii. Tons of others. People always come crying to me, because I'm nice, like it's my job to make everything better for them, and then they just... fuck off! They turn on me or just straight-up leave! I hate it! I'm tired of being used!"

An unsettling vibration went through the air as she growled the last bit. Willow winced.

[Monfrox]

Brit sighed to herself, knowing she shouldn't be selfish at a time like this, but she was at the end of her rope. Her wit's end, more accurately. And yet, still, she remained steadfast. Being strong for others was a way to be strong for herself too. She walked up to where Willow was and stood next to him.

"Well...Gio...we're not leaving you. And we're not coming crying to you, either. So why don't you go ahead and tell us all just what has happened. Aside from...well...what happened today."

She was banking on the vent tactic, hoping that after being able to talk about it the godling would feel at least a little bit better. A start was a start, and that's usually where Brit started too.

[Giovenith]

"I can't just say what happened, it's how I've been treated for years," Giovenith said, picking at her shoe laces. "I don't even know where Marcus is. I love him, I don't think he would leave me, but it's still not fair. I feel like people think they like me, but deep down, they feel like they can get away with using me, abusing me, neglecting me, or blaming things on me all because of what I am. They think I should just take it because I'm 'powerful' or whatever. And if I don't, then I'm the bad one who must think I'm too good for them. I put up with it for so long because I thought they just needed help, but I'm tired! But none of them cared, they were just selfish.

She turned to Willow. "You remember the first ball of Gliese? Did you know Bran came banging on my door the next day sobbing his face off all because someone magic'd his pants off in the middle of the party? I mean, it's bad and all, but goddammit! I was only sixteen years old! He was married and had a second kid on the way! Why did I have to take care of him over some embarrassment? Why did the other 'teen club' members always have to guilt me for wanting to spend time with my own boyfriend? Why did I have to miss out on so many opportunities just to sit around and make someone else feel better? None of that was my job."

Willow nodded slowly, comprehending. Since he had arrived fairly late in the game, he hadn't been around for as much of the tugging around Giovenith had experienced, but long enough to tell that it had been a thing. "Amanda never did that to you though."

"No, but it's the same attitude," Giovenith scoffed roughly, and made hand talking motions. "'Oh, who cares what Gio feels? She's just some god, she's probably just trying to boss us all around or lecture us. I don't have to stop and think about what she's feeling, I already know, she should just stop what she's doing right now and apologize for daring to do something outside of my expectations! If she doesn't want to be labeled as one of those Bully-Gods like those douchebag Olympians, she needs to do things my way.' I've got the 'power,' therefore it's my 'responsibility' to cater to everyone's demands — even though I'm not powerful and I shouldn't have to. I'm not a fucking parent, I'm not a leader, I'm barely an adult! Everyone thinks that they're 'punching up' when they push me around, but they're not, they're just..." She buried her face.

Willow let there be a moment of silence, and noted how Kathy reached out to rub her little sister-in-law's back. He began to wonder if maybe this was one of the reasons the two of them were such good friends. Even though he knew what Giovenith was, he'd still always been largely unable to see her as anything but another one of the curious monkey-people, and a young one at that. He didn't ask much of her. In fact, he liked doing things for her, as he did with all his friends. From what he'd seen, it was similar with Marcus too, putting her as herself first and not as power idol. Willow could see how losing him would strike a blow on top of everything else.

"You're not better than us," he reassured softly, putting a wing around her. "But you shouldn't be ashamed of what you are either. Nopony should."

"I'm not," she wiped an eye. "At least I don't think. I'm not saying that being a god doesn't effect me, the way I think or act. But that's not all there is to me, not any more than you being a pony, or a guy, or you guys being human, girls, and American and Australian." She directed the last part to Brit and Kathy.

"I get it." And Willow did. He laid a hoof on her back. "Look, I'm going to be real with you: you've had a lot of 'friends' over the years, who were huge douchebags. Maybe they didn't mean it, but they still shouldn't have done what they did. You're not some emotional maid for the Building, and you don't owe anyone special leeway to treat you badly. And from now on, if people try to expect you to be like that, then I'm going to tell them to buzz off. They can get mad and soggy at me, I can take it. People should know better than to lean on a little girl for their problems."

Giovenith wiped her eyes again. "What about Amanda?"

Willow sighed, blowing bangs from his eyes. "I don't really know what her deal was. Honestly, I think she might be taking out some of her own issues with gods in general on you. I've already told you this, but a lot of your peers really, really don't have good records. That doesn't mean she should treat you like that, but in a way, I don't think it was personal."

Giovenith considered this, and found sense in it. She didn't know if she was ready to stop being upset, but it was at least stabilizing to have a possible explanation. "I guess."

"Are you coming back?"

She sighed. "Probably. I was going to stay with my mom for a while, but now I think it might not be such a big deal."

"Not that you can't come back any time," Kathy reminded her gently, brushing Giovenith's white bangs up in order to lightly press their heads together. They both smiled. A long, long time ago, Giovenith had teamed up with Torii to try to go against Kathy. How things changed.

"I'm sorry, guys," she said. "For bringing you all out here. I was trying to support you before all this happened, Willow."

"Well, that's the difference between us, and you and them, isn't it?" he said, taking her hands and winking. "I don't mind being here because I know you'll be there for me when I need it, and I know you wouldn't demand that I be here if I wasn't able to handle it. We think about each other's feelings and needs, and we try to get stronger for each other, not use each other as an excuse to stay weak. And besides," He booped her nose. "If one day you do become some haughty, tyrannical goddess, you know I'll be the first to put you in time out."

Giovenith laughed a bit, and smiled.


When they came back through the bedroom mirror, Ms. Prism and Sallow were waiting. They both stared at the trio, Sallow more naturally. His ears were pinned and his expression confused. Giovenith hugged him.

"I'm sorry," she said, deeply and genuinely. "What I did wasn't right. You're not just a Willow clone, you're your own person and I should have known better than to treat you like that's all you were, especially when you were trying to be there for me all along when others weren't. I hope you can forgive me."

Sallow blinked, before hugging her in return. "Grudges are too heavy for paper to hold."

"Should we go back downstairs?" Willow asked. "Or is it too soon?"

[Monfrox]

"It's too soon. Actually..." Brit sighed and then the last part of the sigh almost turned into a growl. "I think I'll go have a talk with Amanda. Gio, you're a good girl and a great friend and if you ever need anything, I'd drop everything in a heartbeat for you. Same for you Willow. But right now..." She stopped at the doorway. "I gotta do something real quick. You guys should uh...probably stay here."

She left the room, quickly but not too quickly. She walked, no, rather, she marched her way down the steps. She'd dealt with shit like this before and she would deal with it again. She just hoped that the others wouldn't follow her, as she didn't like being mean or showing this side of her to her friends, but the dial had been flipped to full "Officer mode" now. She rounded the corner into the lobby before the dining room.

"Amanda - Bela!" She called out, her diaphragm working to carry her sound loudly in a low tone without her having to yell and ruin her voice. She turned into the dining room and pointed the woman out. "You - this way - right now."

[Northwest Slobovia]

"Giovenith's always acted a friend. Just because she's divine, doesn't mean she's any less, or more, a person. I know most human gods are rather distant and imperious,”

Amanda listened quietly to most of Sterling's explanation, but she couldn't pass up one comment. “Ha! Distant and imperious would be a step up!”

"Gio's still pretty young for a god, too. Not a kid, but in that 'finding yourself' sort of area. You must have struck a nerve."

Amanda nodded with a rueful expression on her face. “'Struck a nerve' does seem to cover it.” She got a distant look in her eyes, uncharacteristically taking a moment to decide what to do. She met Sterling's gaze. “I'll have to make that right.”

She picked up her wine glass -- it trembled noticeably as she did -- and took a deep drink, almost half the glass. Glass still in hand, she gestured as she spoke. “It's what they did and how they did it that's the problem. Giovenith and--” She pointed and looked over to where Ms. Prism had been. On seeing that she wasn't there, went wide-eyed and started frantically looking around to see where she was, spilling a little of her wine in the process. Realizing her hand was wet, she set the glass down.

Just as she bent over to look under the table, Sandy let his fireworks fade and reached over to take her hand in his. “She slipped away some time ago. I didn't see her leave, but I realized I wasn't Hearing Naomi's magic. She's not here now.”

Amanda seemed to go limp as she relaxed, almost flopping backwards in her seat as she did so. Naomi's shitty project is way out of hand; she shouldn't be allowed to screw around with the Residents so much. She took a couple of deep breaths, trying to regain the composure to finish answering Sterling. Ok, girl, let's get moving. If Sandy is willing to try to revive this party, the least I can do is hold up my end of a conversation. Three... two... one... go!

Returning to an upright sitting posture, Amanda picked up where she'd left off. “Giovenith and her paper copy were arguing over their friends as though they had authority to speak and act for them. The copy, of course, opened the conversation with at least assault, and maybe attempted murder. Giovenith justified that, and everything else the copy did, with 'she was sticking up for her friend, which is what I'd do, even if she did it in a weird way'. That's the heart of my objection; that she's a godling just makes it worse.” She tried to pick up her glass again, but found that her hands were shaking badly, and instead put her hands in her lap.

Moments after she stopped speaking, a golden trail crept into the edge of her vision, reached the top of its arc, and started down. It burst into a tiny pyrotechnic smilie, golden with a red smile. Sandy's upped his game. The corners of her mouth inched up for a moment.

Amanda remembered that Dax had said something during the confusion, and begged Sterling's pardon for a second.

"Do you know anything of the Stasi? And did anything bad happen during 1991, because I remember shooting myself […] Also, what's a Dresden? Sorry to ask, but I've just had a profound experience of my past."

Amanda turned to Dax, trying to recall his questions. “Uhhh...” Something about... Dresden? Right, we bombed that during World War 2. “Dresden in a city in Germany.

“With everything that just happened, I don't remember all of what you asked, and I'm not in the best of shape for continuing twenty questions. You could try asking Sandy, but I think he's more interested in eating and playing with his fireworks spell.

“So, they--” She gestured at Mon and Lidev, still unsure of their names, “--want to know if they should pack up the holiday feast. Would you like to stay, get some dinner, and keep chatting; or would you like call it a night?”

[The World Capitalist Confederation]

Dax just stared at the situation, most particularly the unicorn just standing there, as he took a drink from his bottle of wine. His mind begin to run like a machine, as his past life was coming more and more into view: Roman Johansson was the one man he could truly remember: a Stasi agent who was remarkably intelligent and rather handsome at that. He lived with him in Dresden for most of his life, during his time writing for...what? What thing? So many questions answered, and yet more to be found. All he could remember was this: Dresden, Roman Johansson and a typewriter.

"Tell me, San-dee..no, Sand-e? San-de?" Dax began, his stutter mostly having faded at this point from both the alcohol and his general state of mind. In fact, his profound state was so strong he basically just ignored the weird unicorn and the yelling nearby. He was still uncertain of this man's name.

"And have you heard of my name before - or have it in any records? I keep dreaming of this nice man named Roman Johansson, yet, I keep getting lost at his name apart from the fact he works at this weird secret police organisation called the Stasi..yes, that's it. Also, he looked ravishing and had a charming voice. I cooperated with him to remove dissidents from the Fatherland. Sorry for the questions, it's just that I've begun to feel something amazing in my heart: as though I just struck a rare gem. You can now ask me questions." He continued, his voice starting to crack at the end, which made him gulp even more wine down, even staring at the flower wine that was put down for him. At this point, the alcohol slowly - and by slowly, I mean very slowly - took over his body, albeit to no concern of his as he had a high tolerance for alcohol.

[Holy Lykos]

"Well, I do understand the worry. It certainly was a way to end this party. I can't speak for Gio, but a twisted version of herself may feel like it's too close to who you are, so maybe she got defensive as if it was herself. I'm unaware if I ever had a copy of myself made, so I'm not quite sure how I'd feel about it myself in her shoes."

Sterling sighed, and his horn lit up, engulfed in a sparkling blue the same as his eyes. The telekinetic magic retrieved his plate, and Sterling resumed eating from where he now sat on the floor. Another oddity for Dax, this unicorn was magic apparently.

"Do make sure to try to talk to her later, smooth things out at the very least should you not be able to fully reconcile.

"We do all live together here after all."

He sighed slowly, magicking his plate across the room towards the kitchen."But yeah, I also think it's about time to head out. This feels an unnatural conclusion to the evening I hoped would have been more relaxing, after the earlier trials, but itll have to do. I need rest, and a book," he mumbled, tidying up the leftovers using magic into garbage cans, save what was still in the serving areas. He'd wait a bit longer, but the tired look on his normally cheery face said plenty.

[Northwest Slobovia]

"Tell me, San-dee..no, Sand-e? San-de?" Dax began[...] "[H]ave you heard of my name before - or have it in any records? I keep dreaming of this nice man named Roman Johansson, yet, I keep getting lost at his name apart from the fact he works at [...] the Stasi..yes, that's it."[...] "You can now ask me questions."

Sandy burst out laughing at the last. “I'd ask you questions with or without your permission. You might not answer them all, but that's fine with me.”

The historian slowed his fireworks display down to just the ocassional tiny skyrocket leaping from the wiggling fingers of his left hand. “Sandy, yes, with a long-e sound.

“I can't say I've heard of 'Liebsturk' before. The 'lieb-' morpheme is Germanic, but 'sturk' isn't. It sounds like corruption of of 'stock' or 'struk', which I... I think are Germanic. It's also not Greek, nor from Amanda's or my families, which means I wouldn't have any personal records of it. Sorry.

“'Johansson' is a fairly common name, and since he was a member of the Stasi, it might be a cover name. You'd need access to German records from the right timestream to have a chance of finding that one.”

Sandy stopped abruptly, appearing to look through Dax. “Speaking of records... excuse me for a second.” He held up a finger, then turned to Sterling. “Sorry to hear that you're leaving, Sterling.

“We should catch up sometime soon. You may recall the books Nick, the Baron, and I rescued from the Mouseion. I've got their summary tags scanned, OCR'd, and translated, along with the volumes of the pinakes we saved.

“About a year ago, we started to discuss how to organize what we found, and I'd like your opinion.” The babelfish would provide “master indexes” for pinakes; Dax and Siggtrygg would also learn that “Mouseion” was the proper name for a huge temple complex dedicated to nine usually-nice goddesses of the arts, including an immense library and a university.

“But I, uh...” His tone became sheepish. “...haven't gotten much further than that. I got involved with a poetry project for Amanda.”

He turned back to Dax. “Now where were...? Yes, right, you'd wanted questions. Might as well start with the big one: do people in your world work magic? You seem unperturbed by Sterling's telekinesis or my pyrotechnics. Where Amanda and I are from, either one would draw a crowd.” With a smile, he held his right hand over his left palm, and made like he was playing an imaginary piano. A flock of bright sparks soared from his left palm, burst a few feet above the space between him and Dax, and rained showers of primary-colored sparkles down to the tabletop.

When suddenly...

"Amanda - Bela!" [Brit] called out, her diaphragm working to carry her sound loudly in a low tone without her having to yell and ruin her voice. She turned into the dining room and pointed the woman out. "You - this way - right now."

Oh, no! Now what?? Amanda thought of a number of choice replies, ranging from the merely rude to the obscene, along with various mockeries of Brit's approach. But a moment's consideration suggested Brit's reasoning, however daft: exit a godling, pursued by a pega-pony and Brit; they found her; and now Brit's gone off half-cocked. Typical for the day.

Amanda took a neutral tone, ignoring Brit's demand: “Did Giovenith send you?”

[Monfrox]

“No.”

The reply was curt and forceful, as Brit stayed in the doorway. If Amanda didn’t follow, that’d be fine. She wasn’t above talking to her in front of everyone but perhaps the woman would appreciate the choice given. Her arms stayed to her side as she waited for the next move.