Log:This Is The Age Of Man
From C2Wiki
| This Is The Age Of Man | |
|---|---|
| Emitter | Deirdre |
| Players | Eden, King Minos |
| NPCs | Mami Wata, old people |
| Place | The Dreamer |
| Time (IC) | July 8th, 2012 |
| Time (OOC) | July 9th, 2007 |
It's another beautiful day onboard The Dreamer. A bunch of fiftysomething ladies are chatting in the pool about their husbands' stock portfolios. This is not really the ship of empowered women. It is not exactly the ship of fools either, however, and the conversation is rather quick and intelligent. It is mid-day, and most people are sunning themselves or playing little games.
It's on the deck, sunning himself, that Maximillian is laying; sprawled on one of the lounge chairs, wearing nothing but a pair of swim trunks, a glass of champagne in hand as he enjoys his illicitly-gained access to the ship's facilities. Ah, it's good to be a hero some days.
Demeter, while still close to Max, is in the pool, red hair piled up atop her head, her arms folding over the ledge as she watches the other passengers while chatting with Maximillian. It is as her gaze sweeps back to Minos, that she flashes a wry smile, water sluicing off her trim form as she pushes out of the pool and pads over to perch alongside his hip. "I'm starting to think that we picked the wrong vessel," she notes as she stretches out at his side. "Which isn't a horrible thing, since it's a lovely cruise, but still..."
"It could be," Maximillian admits, head canting a bit to look to her as she perches beside him, reaching out to loosely curl an arm about her waist, "The Reverie might have been the target this time... damn. I wish Astra'd responded to my message, or we knew a teleporter, or something... we need more allies, love."
For a while, everything is serene and calm. But no, Max and Demeter did not pick the wrong vessel.
It begins with a waterspout right next to the ship. There is a low murmur, as people fear it may be something dangerous, but then... no. A dolphin comes to the surface, chattering playfully. Sitting atop it is a woman with dark, smooth skin and gorgeous ebony hair, clothed only in the barest of filmy fabrics. Her eyes are the color of the sea. "I have come for your riches. Please do not be alarmed, for none of you shall be harmed."
"I'm working on it," Demeter sighs. "It's harder then it sounds, Max. Particularly when everyone is afraid of the government coming to whisk them off to experiment on." Settling more comfortably at his side, she stretches out long legs and is just about to cross her ankles when the waterspout erupts next to the ship. It is as the dolphin-mounted woman appears, however, that she rolls up to sitting and slants a glance at Maximillian. "I'm betting losing thier riches will alarm /every/ single person aboard the ship."
"They seem to be rather easily alarmed," Maximillian notes with a sigh; pushing himself up to his feet, reluctantly setting his glass aside as the panic begins. He laces his fingers together, cracking his knuckles, murmuring under his breath, "Great Bull of Knossos, grant me your strength..."
His brow erupts, massive horns forcing themselves out, head thrown back as he grows; muscles bulging and strengthening beneath the skin, dark fur spilling over his legs, feet darkening and hardening to hooves, until in the tattered remnants of his trunks King Minos steps along over towards the edge of the ship. "Mami Wata," he rumbles out, gesturing with one hand, "You go to far with this hostile possession of the seas."
"The sea is mine to possess, child of the earth. It is my birthright." Mami Wata has a strong accent that marks her as a native of one of these islands. Perhaps Haiti. "I have been chosen as Mami Wata. I am the spirit of the waves. The riches of those who trespass in my domain are forefeit. Who are you, who challenges me?"
Of course, Maximillian's transformation is impressive, how can horns and cloven hooves -not- be impressive? Mind you, it doesn't hurt that, by the time he addresses Mami Wata, there is a green-skinned dryad standing beside him. "You show very little awareness of what might alarm your target audience," Eden notes in husky tones. "You would be better served reevaluating the path you have chosen."
"I am King Minos," the minotaur-esque figure rumbles out deep in his throat, muscular arms folding across his broad chest, eyes narrowed as he gazes down at the dolphin-riding woman, "Scion of Asterius. The blood of the Cretan Bull runs in my veins, and through him, Poseidon. This is the age of Man, Chosen of Mami Wata, and the gods no longer hold hostile domain over this Earth. This world is theirs, now."
"Poseidon. Ha." Mami Wata clucks her tongue derisively. "Sing to me of Tethys, boy. Of Amphitrite. Of the goddesses your Greeks marginalized to serve their patriarchy." She leans forward on her dolphin mount. "I will cow to no man, be he bull-horned or no. What purpose do you serve in violating my waters?"
Narrowing her eyes as she listens to the woman, Demeter steps up closer to Minos' side, one hand bracing upon a vine adorned hip as she raises the other and summons towering vines of seaweed to fill the waters around where the dolphin rests. "Then," she calls. "Perhaps you will bow before the might of Mother Nature. Preying upon mankind will not be tolerated, whether or not you like that fact."
"To tell you that they are not," Minos declares firmly, gazing down to her as the dryad draws a sargasso forth from the waters, "Your waters. This is the age of Man, and whether you are truly the spirit you claim or are some pretender touched by the Ring of Destiny, you may not claim them with any right."
"These boats were easy prey." Mami Wata throws her head back, proudly. "You may defame my rights and my power all you like, man-child of the bull, but I will simply find greater treasure elsewhere." With that she... kicks off the dolphin, who looks rather vexed, and leaps high into the air, away from the seaweed, before diving into the waves and vanishing from sight.
"My word," says an old woman on the boat. "Is this part of the dinner show?"
"Fuck," Minos grumbles under his breath as she leaps away from the dolphin's back, tensing as if to leap in... but, chances are, she can swim faster than he. A hand rubs to the nape of his neck, and he murmurs, "I can see she's going to be a difficult little water spirit..."
Sighing, Demeter wrinkles her nose, green eyes narrowing tightly. "Next time, I'll just net her and be done with it." It is as she brushes a strand of crimson hair away from her face, that she glances back at the old woman. "It was all part of the dinner show, Ma'am. We hope you enjoy your cruise."
"Well, we can't just hop from cruise ship to cruise ship scaring the cowardly bitch off," Minos rumbles, turning to look back to the old woman before gazing out towards the rippling waters that the woman is hiding under somewhere, "That's just not going to work out..."
Chatter and activity on the boat return to normal. People like to pretend that everything is normal, even when a woman astride a dolphin has just threatened them and a minotaur and a dryad have bailed them out.
"Well," Eden exhales. "I don't know what to say, Max." Pressing her lips, she rolls her shoulders in a fluid shrug, her hands bracing firmly on her hips. "I had no way of knowing she would simply take off like that." Wrinkling her nose, she notes blandly. "Next time, I'll just net her."
"Ah well," Minos turns, stepping away, "Let's go find that plant and hop back to our boat... time to go home and try to figure something else out."
"Why wait?" Slipping an arm through his own, Eden draws him with her, the pair teleporting out through the summoned seaweed only to reappear back aboard thier summoned vessel. It is as they reappear upon the deck of the chartered vessel, that Eden sighs quietly. "I am sorry, Minos, I should have realized she would do that."
"It's hardly your fault, love," the Scion of Asterius agrees with a shake of his head, "We'll figure something out... I'm not so sure she's even who she claims to be."
"It is most unagreeable," Eden notes curtly. "That she chose to behave in so unprofessional a fashion." Wrinkling her nose, she huffs softly before stepping back in and leaning against Max's side. "Should we have the captain head home?"
"Home it is," Minos rumbles, loosely curling an arm about Eden and sweeping his gaze out over the surface of the seas. She gets away this time. For now.
