( ᴠɪᴅᴇᴏ ) ɢᴏᴏᴅ ᴛɪᴅɪɴɢs | ( ɴᴘᴄ ᴘᴏsᴛ )

[acatastoria]

[ there is a sudden sparking that emits from your magical watches and a hologram appears, showing a petit woman with dark hair. her eyes seem to hold a certain amount of mischief and light, and when she speaks, you listen. it's something about her; you are captivated by her presence, and you can't help but give her your attention. ]

Hello, hello, hello~! ♥

[ it's a trill of a voice, light and airy. ]

I know you've all just arrived~♥ but I wanted to introduce myself! To those who haven't met me, my name is Astoria! I know many of you are likely unhappy with being found here, and I understand. But the need is urgent, and dire, and I am in desperate need of your help, as is the universe in which we reside. There is much darkness, in this universe . . . plenty of worlds on the brink of collapse, or at the precipice of something great. It is my job -- our job -- to help where needed. Like superheroes, but a little less flashy!

[ she pauses. ]

No offense to the superheroes. -- but anyway! I want to let you know were we're going to go first.

[ she takes in a D E E P breath!! ]

There is a city, by the name of El Minha. It's beautiful, an oasis in the desert. There are many shops and stalls and the entire city is bustling, but El Minha is facing a difficult path. Transitions of power are hard, you know? And they have a new King, who is . . . probably nice, but the people there are suffering. Crime is at an all-time high, and King Kathashun can only do so much . . . if he's doing anything at all.

[ she brushes a loose piece of hair behind her ear, and astoria smiles a little. it is obvious, by now, that she's definitely bubbly and full of spirit, but she is deadly serious about her mission. ]

I truly believe that we have the ability to help those who need it most, and those people are in desperate need. So we're going to go there, explore, and talk to them! And maybe, just maybe, we can affect some good in this world, and change the tide for the better for these poor people.

[ she pauses. ]

So that's where we're going first! But before that, I'm here to greet you, to support you, and welcome you to my beautiful Temple. Please, please, please make yourselves at home! I'll be here if you have any questions. ♥

[ astoria pauses before lifting up a single finger, as if she's forgotten something important. ]

Oh, and please let me know if you find anything interesting or important or otherwise peculiar in the Temple! The Forest of the Fey is a magical place, and I'm keeping a careful eye on all of you explorers to make sure you don't get too lost, but my dear friends within the forest may like playing with you all, so be respectful of the wildlife! It may fight back. ♥

[ is she serious? the world may never know. ]

Comments

[purrtagonist]

[I. . . . . .]

[ASTORIA, PLEASE?? he drops his hand on his watch to obscure the video feed on his end while he ducks his head and suppresses a huffed laugh]

I wouldn't say I didn't put any thought into it.

[red, the blood of angry men--]

It's an eye-catching color.

[acatastoria]

It is! It's very close to pink.

[ (: ]

It's the color of passion, and rage, and feeling, and emotion. Tomatoes and strawberries and roses and love and raspberries.

[ red is a good color. ]

It's a good favorite color to have.

[purrtagonist]

[oooh, she's thoughtful]

Just as good as pink, I'd say. Or blue, or yellow. Actually, I'm pretty partial to yellow, too.

[acatastoria]

Sunlight, daisies, butter, yellow peppers and bananas, banana peppers, parakeets, forest nymphs . . . dandelions and sunflowers, lemons and boxfish . . .

[ she trails off, considering the color. ]

Earth is a vibrant planet, all things considered. I wish I could go -- why are you partial to yellow, as well as red?

[purrtagonist]

-- forest nymphs are yellow?

[and not. green?? has mythology lied to him this whole time? anyway, he got distracted]

Ah, right. My best friend's signature color is yellow.

[ah, an actual answer for that one, as opposed to his draw towards red, which is less. . . logical, and more of a feeling]

Not to change the subject too quickly or anything, but what do you mean "you wish you could go?" Are we not on Earth right now?

[acatastoria]

Forest nymphs are a lot of different colors! Most of the ones here are green to blend in, but I've seen some yellow ones flitting about. [ she pauses ] Your best friend, that makes sense . . . I've never had one of those, so I picked pink just because I enjoy it.

[ the woes of living alone in a pocket universe, she supposes. ]

And no, you aren't. You're within a pocket in time and space, my own little world. Earth is trillions of light-years away -- I think. It might be farther. It's a long way away from here.

[purrtagonist]

[uh]

[huh]

[hm. hm!!]

[super casually, as though the announcement that he is trillions of light-years away from his planet is no big deal]

I think this is the farthest I've ever been from home.

Dooooo we get air miles for the flight here?

[DRY]

[acatastoria]

[ ...................... ]

What is an air mile?

[ wtf ]

[purrtagonist]

[. . . . . . . . BOY. time for a crash course in modern Earth (???)]

Have you heard of airplanes?

[acatastoria]

I've . . .

[ give her a second!!!! ]

Oh, yes! Obviously, I've seen the Air Plane, elementals live there. Wind ones, mostly. They go through trees and sky and buildings, all -- whooooosh.

[ complete with the waving hand motions. ]

[purrtagonist]

[opens mouth]

[closes it again]

[hm]

Bzzzt. Nope. Wrong. Thaaaat is not the kind of air plane I'm talking about.

[BLUNT AND MEAN]

[but also how does he describe technology to her when her world is clearly so. . . not. technological]

[acatastoria]

[ . . . ]

Your world sounds ridiculously primitive and more than a little silly if you don't use the air plane.

[ it's essential akira don't you enjoy breathing ]

[purrtagonist]

[HE HAS TREES FOR BREATHING!!]

That's extremely possible.

[her definition of primitive is probably super different than his, so he ain't going to argue]

Airplanes are giant metal contraptions that can transport people through the air. It's how people travel across the world in short periods of time.

[. . .]

Short. . . er periods, than if they were just walking, or riding horses, or on a ship.

[acatastoria]

Oh!

[ with a snap of her fingers, and a sudden look of recognition. ]

I have seen this before! A long time ago . . . they still use those?

[ astoria vaguely remembers, a long time ago, in her days of relative freedom, seeing something close to what akira is describing . . . but they seemed less than safe. ]

[purrtagonist]

["they still use those," she says, as though they're outdated]

What else would we use in their place?

[a pause]

Bearing in mind that magic doesn't exist in my world.

[. . . . . publicly, anyway. . . .]

[acatastoria]

Well, teleportation, obviously.

[ duh, akira. . . . nevermind that she uses magic to do it, she's seen advanced civilizations do it without!!! ]

I would be a horrendous witchess-san if I couldn't simply appear where I want to be! . . . well, I can't teleport away from the Temple right now, but I can appear around the Temple! No giant metal bird needed.

[purrtagonist]

[the future has yet to arrive to Tokyo circa 2017!!]

With magic, right?

[acatastoria]

Of course!

Do you want me to show you?

[ (: ]

[purrtagonist]

[with the utmost seriousness]

Absolutely, I do.

( action )

[acatastoria]

[ and, just like that, there is a tap on akira's shoulder, with little other fanfare.

astoria in person is actually rather tiny. she seems short; lithe, but not muscular, and almost as if she could be pushed over with a finger and likely fall down. that being said, there's a certain . . . energy that emerges from her. a commanding presence, and she folds her hands behind her back with a bright smile!

oh, and she isn't wearing any shoes. barefoot for life out here in this temple. ]

Hello, Akira!

[ she pauses before she peers up at him. ]

Did you see it? The teleportation.

[purrtagonist]

[thaaat sure is enough to get Akira to nearly jump out of his shoes. he had expected some kind of warning, first. a puff of smoke? a flash of light? but, nope. one second, he's talking to her through his magical watch. and the other? she's standing behind him, full of cheer and bubbles]

[he pivots around to face her]

Astoria-san-- [what!! what!! THAT HAPPENED SO FAST HOW COULD HE HAVE SEEN IT]

I. . . nope. [he rubs the back of his neck, a bit sheepish] Was I supposed to?

[acatastoria]

Hi!

[ brightly, with a quick wave of her hand. and she sits, crossing one leg over the other . . . which is a relatively normal motion, except astoria seems to be sitting in mid-air. ]

And it's very quick, so it's likely you missed it.

[purrtagonist]

[holy shit]

[sitting in mid-air is new, but Akira is relatively unflappable when he is on his guard. so all he does is blink at her placidly, before continuing]

Quick enough to happen with no fanfare whatsoever. How does it. . . work?

[acatastoria]

I think about where I want to go, envision the energy, and feel it out in the magical currents that keep this place together, and I follow the path.

[ which -- explains nothing, really. it's intuitive! she just does it. ]

It's sort of like walking, it just kind of happens.

[purrtagonist]

[it explains absolutely nothing, and Akira decides trying to understand the technicalities of it is not worth the headache]

If that's "walking," then "riding a bike" must be pretty intense.