Dewi's Story

"No, that is not enough, mortal!" roared the mighty dragon Dewi as he swung a fearsome claw at a cart full of cows, scattering the beasts and causing a frightened chorus of "moo"s. "Thou attempted to pillage my home, and expect four cows to be equal compensation for thine trickery?!" The god roared with fury and smoke billowed through his nostrils as his anger grew. Rarely was he this angry, but the mortal had made an attempt at the Dragon God's quarry after all he did to protect the countryside and towns of Wales. "Thine attempt hast angered me, and thine pitiful compensation furthers thine peril. Return what thou hast stolen from me!!" he roared at the terrified human. Quickly, the pale creature withdrew a diamond the size of his head from a sack at his back, not willing to try his luck any further. "Good. Thou shalt bring more food and then return to thine home." He snorted out smoke at the human, forcing the mortal to stumble backwards from the gale. He bowed solemly and sprinted out of the mountainside cave.

Finally, peace and quiet. The dragon carefully retrieved the gemstone from the cave floor and weighed it in his claws for a moment. The cows were cowering in the corner, silent and shaking. "I shalt return for thou..." promised the dragon as he retreated back into the recesses of the cave. He was a mighty beast, fiery red and massive, the size of two normal houses or an exceedingly large pub. Spiraling horns twisted out from the back of his head and the end of his sizeable snout, and he had plenty of gleaming teeth at his service. His claws were four fingered with a thumb and sharp talons at the end of each phalange, but his rear claws had no thumb. Smoke drifted idly from his nostrils now that his mood had lightened, and his muscular tail swished back and forth as he traversed the twisting maze of his home. Though he was much more magnificent than them, he did appreciate the humans. They were pitiful, so he swore to protect them for he was impressed with their cunning and creativity. They were unlike any other creature in Wales, and that was to be admired. They idolized Dewi, and he defended them in return for their praise. He sighed with pleasure and shifted his massive folded wings a bit.

Soon, he was in his treasure chamber. A single ray of dying sunlight reflected down into the chamber, causing the piles of hoarded treasure to glisten and glimmer. His heart pounded at the sight of the beauty of it all. Glittery projections were cast on the walls from the ammassed gold, jewels, and gems piled against the walls and in hillocks in the center of the cavernous space. He returned the diamond to it's special place upon a pedestal under the ray of sun, and instantly the room was filled with pink light. He sighed in awe and satisfaction. This was his favorite room, by far, but now he had to return to his dinner.

An hour later, the dragon was fed and content, cow bones littered the floor and the human had been dispatched back to his family. The moon shone into the mouth of the cave serenely, and the intense blue eyes of the dragon glistened in the light. Dewi decided that the night was too beautiful to shun right off. He shoved himself to his feet and climbed out onto the precipice, bathing in the moon's rays. He relished the moment, and spread his mighty wings to either side. "Tonight, mistress moon, we shalt see who is the faster," he challenged, and with a mighty pump of his bat-like wings, he shot off of the ledge and into the brisk night air. He beat his wings faster and faster, headed straight up for the white disk in the sky. Every night as beautiful as this constituted a race between celestial body and god of the Earth. He flapped harder, and shot up at a breathtaking speed.

Something off happened then. As the disk greeted him, she became brighter than ever, light flooding over him. Blinding him. His flight faltered, and he lost some altitude in alarm. "What is this trickery!?" he roared. "Cease this at once!" The light ignored his orders and grew brighter until he could no longer see. He bellowed in fury, and fire was cast from his mouth, huge gales of flame flying all about him. He felt no heat, but anything in range would have been toasted to a crisp. Nothing happened. The fire was drowned out in the light, and a moment later he was forced to shut his intense eyes.

Just as soon, it was all over. He opened one eye cautiously, and was surprised to see a blue sky with fluffy clouds drifting lazily across it. A tree stood over him, and he lay on his back... but something felt off. "Tree, why art thou above me?" he asked in confusion, and his heart skipped a beat at the sound of his voice. Gone was the deep, echoing rumble of the dragon... replaced by the tenor of a young human man. His eyes snapped open and he flew to his feet. Just as swiftly, he toppled over. What had happened to his feet?! He held one to his face...

"No..."

Before his face was the pink hand of a human. He looked down. Biped, clothing, a red shirt unlike he had ever seen, and blue rough breeches of a design unseen to him before. at the end of his scrawny legs were pink feet with tiny toes, five of them, clawless and too pitiful to belong to Dewi, the Welsh Dragon God. He stood more carefully and roared with fury, attempting to cast fire upon anything near him... It sounded more like a frustrated yell, and nothing but air issued. This only served to increase his anger, and he yelled a declaration to the countryside: "Whosoever hast cast this trickery shalt have hell to pay from Dewi!" His piteous voice echoed down the hill he stood on, and it was then he noticed other humans down at the bottom of the hillock staring at him with confusion. "Thine mortals!" he yelled down at them, anger creasing his human face, "Whom hast cast this?! I demand to know under pain of death!" The crowd only continued nervously on their way. "Mortals!! Answer mpph!"

A scrap of paper hit the feral god in the face, simply adding insult to injury. Upon it were draconic runes and a map instructing him to go to the place specified. "College? What is this vile place?" He roared up at the sky again, only getting more looks from the mortals below him. He huffed in fury, and then caught sight of the village. It was the most beautiful, stunning sight he had ever seen. Every house glistened from the sunlight, huge houses, reaching into his sky. They glittered like his hoarde back at the cave, lavish, luxurious, and bright. All anger forgotten, he checked the map. Sure enough, the "college" was through the treasure village. "Whomsoever thou art, wizard, thou art powerful indeed..."

He trod through the sea of people, only tearing his glittering, greedy eyes away from the gemstone buildings to look at the map or the mortals around him. Whenever he looked at a human, they seemed to panic and run from him. He didn't know why, but continued on. Walking was a challenge, not only did he have half the legs he used to, he no longer had a tail or wings to counterbalance his motion... His wings were gone... He forced his face not to show any sadness or vulnerability and plodded on. Eventually, he came to a corner of a reflective building, and saw what must have been himself. He wore a red doublet fashioned oddly, and the rough blue breeches. He already knew this, what surprised him was his face. He looked so pale and squashed, no snout, replaced with a tiny nose and a mouth set underneath in a scowl. He had hair... that was new. It was red and messy, like most of the humans in Scotland and Ireland. What was most striking was his eyes, though. He had the same eyes, bright, gleaming blue and slitted. He now understood what afrighted the mortals so. He must seem quite the sight to them. He looked about and saw a female with dark things on her face that obscured her eyes. With a swift motion, he reached out and snatched them from her face to place on his own and walked on clumsily.

Minutes later, he arrived at the "college." "Wizard, thou art cruel... what is this vile place?" He trod along the lawn to the final destination on the map, an odd, round building covered in more flat gemstone. He entered the place to see more humans in the round room. Fury bubbled within him once more. "Art thou the wizards responsible for this trickery? I demand my former body to be returned to me!" He roared at the only male in the room, a mortal man with black, midlength hair and a spear of some sort, and was once again dismayed at the sound that issued, puny and weak. He sighed, and fought to keep from lashing out. "I am Dewi, Dragon God of the Welsh Isles and I demand answers to thine divination." He began to stalk closer to the man, and made an attempt to push a strawberry blonde wench out of the way. He placed a finger on her arm and extended it, expecting her to be pushed violently out of the way. Instead, he was thrown off of his path. He stumbled, all fury replaced with confusion as he stared at his 'hand'. He sighed and the rage rose again. "Thou wench shalt stay from my path," he rumbled, continuing his stalk to the male human.

Dewi glared with his intense, slitted serpentine eyes at the wench. What human woman would reject the title "wench", it was only proper. He was Dewi, albeit trapped in the wrong body. He willed the female to fear him with all his might, to understand that she should be afraid. His gaze increased in intensity, and an invisible fog, unable to be seen, but tangible emotionally, rolled off of him, headed straight for her. He saw the edges of it surround the woman, wrap around her body and engulf her in pure fear, three steps down from terror. Enough for her to understand not to cross him again. Once he was satisfied with the assault he had placed to surround her, Dewi turned back to face the male, eyes threatening. "I shalt return to thee," he warned before heeding the scrap of advice that made sense from the woman.

Dewi turned his gaze to the walls. None of the writing made any sense but one line scripted in Draconic runes. His pupils narrowed with suspicion as he approached, not daring to touch it yet. He didn't trust anything yet, nor was he likely to any time soon. As he approached, he tripped on his own feet and crashed violently to the ground, unsure as to how to catch himself. He splayed on the floor, too dazed for any other emotion. His head had hit pretty hard, and he lay slightly twisted, breathing shallow and rapid. Pain? He had never experienced physical pain before, nor had he ever had this light feeling in his head that made everything spin. He was unaware that he was whimpering pitifully, unsure as to what was happening or what he should do.

Aphrodite held back as another being entered the arena. The man addressed Elysia, and the goddess of love watched with amusement as the two seemed to head off. Whoever the woman had been as a man, she must have been a rather ferocious one. She was unmovable and that hammer… Well, it was interesting indeed.

But then the new man walked away, headed- presumably- toward his own little message in the wall. Aphrodite watched as he walked awkwardly, and suddenly he had tripped and fallen flat on his face. Had he said he'd been a dragon? No wonder the poor creature was floundering on two feet. The little brunette made her way over to the newcomer and squatted down next to him. She ran a hand over his head and cooed, turning on all the charms she had as the goddess of love. "Oh, poor love," she said, clicking her tongue as he whimpered. "Do let me help you. I am Aphrodite, Goddess of Love of Mount Olympus."

Aphrodite took his arm and helped him up. And Zeus almighty, he was tall up close. She tilted her head back, gazing up at him with her big amber eyes, the gold bracelets she wore around her wrist jingling as she moved. "One foot in front of the other. You'll get the hang of it," she promised, offering him a dazzling smile.

"Mount Olympus? Thine mountain hast no meaning to me, where--" He cut off as the room spun again as if he were diving in an aerobatic display. His human knees buckled and he fell again, front foo-- er, hand clutched to his forehead. He was startled again at the sensation of hair and lack of horns or scales, but he realized he must look the weak fool right now, being helped by a wench... But she was a nice wench nonetheless... "I shalt accept thine aide, mistress," he affirmed softly as he tried standing again. Her voice was soothing, and helped him to regain his strength and dignity. Dust from the floor stuck to his pale face and odd clothing. He scowled and tried to brush it off with his hand unheld by the mortal. He missed most of the time, but gained little thrills of pleasure when he managed to hit a smear of dirt on his plain red doublet and face. At least he wasn't completely useless.

"Mistress, thou shalt aide me to mine name," he ordered softly, still grateful for her succour yet displeased about being treated like a hatchling. Nothing was going right, and he was the weakest one in the room, it seemed. The only dragon was weaker than mortal humans. He hid the stabbing pain and vulnerability behind electric-blue slitted eyes and slowly moved "one foot in front of the other" as she had instructed.

Aphrodite stumbled a bit as well when the man fell once more. She frowned. What horrible immortal would do something like turning a fearsome dragon into a human? She herself hated being the part of a vulnerable mortal, but at least she still had the same basic appearance. She would have been a thousand times more angry if she were in another form. "Mount Olyumpus," she answered as she helped Dewi up once more, an arm around his waist so that he might lean on her if needed, "Is above us, high up in the sky, above the clouds, so that we may watch the mortals here on earth as they go through their lives. It is most beautiful, with waterfalls and green plants, and lovely fragrant flowers. The sun shines off the dwellings all day long, a beautiful golden color." She described her home longingly, though it did the place no justice. One just had to see it to understand.

Aphrodite looked up when he started brushing himself off, a small grin on her lips. She didn't help to brush him off, though. She knew the pride of a god, and if he was as he said he was, she wasn't about to insult him by licking her finger and wiping at the smudge on his nose, as much as she wanted to. The goddess got a smug look on her face when he ordered her to help him; but she let the insult drop, for she had clearly already made that decision. "And… which is your name, Master Dragon?" she asked, eyeing the wall. It all looked like gibberish to her.

"Dewi, Welsh Dragon God of Lore." He gestured to the four symbols on the wall as if it were obvious, the runes spelled the pronunciation "Deh-wee" in bold font, very unlike the scratched symbols on the walls of his cave. "How art the runes so clear? None's talons art that steady, nor tapered thus..." He looked down at his pale hand with anger, wishing desperately for his talons to return. He missed his size, the warmth that lived inside of him, everything that a dragon is and loved had been taken from him without warning nor care. He swore revenge on whomsoever had done this to him, swift and painful revenge.

A stumble yanked him from his violent thoughts, but he managed to catch himself with the help of the wench next to him. He looked down on her with a stoic expression and carried on. His composure was back, and he would not allow himself to slip and be weak again.

They approached the wall, carefully, with his inhuman eyes locked on his bare mortal feet. He watched as the new pink things moved at his command, shaky and unbalanced. "How canst these beings move about with such ease?" he growled, hurt pride yanking at his heartstrings cruelly. They eventually reached the wall, and he was forced to look up at the engraving. New fury was engendered at his pitiful height and he growled deep in his chest. It came out as more of a "gnurrrrrr" and not anywhere near as deep as a dragon's growl was meant to be. He was in a downwards spiral of fury, each new thing adding to his draconic rage, until he bared his talons and swiped harshly at the wall, expecting it to crumble under his will, but instead being forced to yelp in pain as his human fingers screamed in protest at the forceful impact. The letters glowed nonetheless, and a small box protruded from the wall. He glared at it and roared, more pitiful than anything thus far. He wouldn't touch it, and turned to put his wingless back to face the silver box in the wall.

Loki only listened to the others as he turned to a new noise, he held his staff at the ready, he maybe more of a brains of brawn type of person, but he could fight. He did not care much for this Aphrodite or Thor, though with Thor it was his own reasons, when a new man burst in he only sighed, “…another I assume and again not for Asgard.” He muttered at the stumbling fool as he made his staff disappear, finding him to be no threat. He watched as he was pushed aside by Thor and smirked, “You seek answers to your questions? And what makes you think I have them?” he asked as he rubbed his temple, there are no answers here and I am famished… I have not feasted in centuries.” He explained as he brushed past Thor and the new man as he headed towards the door, “Perhaps if we explore we shall find what we seek.” He then walked out the door heading for the cafeteria.

At the mention of food, Dewi's stomach informed him that it was a good idea. He winced at the rumbling, feeling like the weak mortal he was. He had just eaten seven cows, how was he hungry?! Another pitiful growl issued forth before he looked longingly at the door the black-haired human had gone through. He wanted nothing more than to be back to his previous form. Whoever had done this would pay. Dewi swore it. Ignoring the box from the wall, it's shiny silver calling to him to stroke it, hoard it, hide it, he stumbled towards where the man was headed. "I shalt dine," he said in explanation to the woman beside him.

Thor almost laughed when Dewi had attempted to make himself look intimidating. It was pathetic, trying to strike fear in the strongest of the gods, especially when he stumbled trying to adjust to his new body. Aphrodite showed mercy, however, helping the poor man up once he fell. Twice.

He couldn't help himself when Loki noted his hunger, joining as the latter left to make sure he stayed in sight. "You must be dying of starvation, missing the wonderful nourishment of the snake's venom." His tone changed soon after. "We should not be looking for food, but the cause of this dilemma." Even as humans themselves, Thor didn't believe the humans' food would fill them up well, and returning to his former glory was at the top of his priorities.

"Surely despite your imprisonment your snarky sarcasm hasn't deteriorated. When do you intend to start throwing jokes and insults or witty retorts, or devise a way out of this situation? Or is your mind really so fixated on the prospect of eating?"



"Amor", huh? That was a name he could get behind. Seeing that Dionysus recognized him relieved Eros' heart some. He wasn't going to be alone stuck on Earth, even if the only man who knows him is at minimum partially inebriated 24/7. At least he wasn't slurring as badly as he could be.

"Dio, how are you hungry? I could've sworn you ate a horse a few hours ago." That was literal, by the way.

So... this was a college. Well, if you can't get the hell off the planet, join 'em, right? Maybe he'll find a band to play with.

Loki could feel Thors’ glare as if it was palpable object, he clenched his teeth at the remark as he hissed out to him, “I do not miss the venom of the serpent, it seems you provide just as pleasant company Odinson.” He closed his eyes as if trying to get the memory out of his head, though he knew it would be futile. At the mention of trying to find the cause of this…’dilemma’ a smirk lit his pale face. “Oh I am thinking about that…” he thought, though honestly he did not really care. And why should he? He had his power here, he could walk and eat. There was no venom to be dripped on him, why if it wasn’t for the nuisance of these other…people, Thor especially, then he may have been able to have some…fun, well fun for him.

He chuckled a bit at Thors’ last remark. “ Deteriorated? Oh no it has not, I assure you of that, Odinson. As for devising a way out of this situation… why? Why would I? After all I have the pleasure of seeing you in a dress. Though this time it actually fits on you.” He snapped back. “Ah if only Sif was here to see this. By the way how is her hair?” he asked him, “Still gold? She did look much better with her dark as night hair.” He added, he was of course referring to the time he shaved Thors’ lovers head, he was bored then and wanted to play a prank.

Of course he had paid dearly and had to give Odin, Thor, and Sif a gift so he wasn’t choked to death by Thors’ meaty hands… and then he had his mouth sown shut for a few months, which was better than the alternative of having his head lobbed off, and thankfully with him being the trickster god he had managed a way around that.

Dewi glared down at the wench at his side. The only reason he didn't berate her for her insolence was because... well... he needed her. Besides, it had been awhile since he had been offered so beautiful a companion. As they left the room images of the Jewelled City and the silver box sang in his tiny, unhorned head, begging him to hoard them, to take them away to be used only by him. He practically drooled at the thought of having all those shiny objects all to himself, all to him, all Dewi's. The shiny pubs would be a problem to move as a human, but the box would be no problem. It sang in his mind, *begging* him to take it and hide it. He had misjudged the box, how beautiful it was, in his initial fury. It was often this way, but the townspeople would always bring him gifts as recompense.

Of course! He had people right here! He shook his head in a failed attempt to rid himself of thoughts of shinies and glitters to face Loki. "Thou mortal!" he called ahead, "Thou shalt return and fetch yon box of silver for me," he ordered, stopping abruptly to wait for the male to do his bidding.

Aphrodite

Aphrodite glared right back at the man she was aiding. If it was a battle of wills he wanted, two could play that game. The Goddess of Love was as stubborn as anyone, a trait that had driven Zeus in particular mad. At times, she was like an insolent child, and could throw the worst temper tantrums. Most of the gods and goddesses of Mount Olympus had learned long ago to not cross Aphrodite.

The little woman let out another grumble with the man stopped walking and suddenly demanded that Loki go back for his box. She huffed. "He is not a mortal, none of us are. You're not the only god in existence, you know, Master Dragon. And I really do not think he will take kindly to you demanding he go back for your box."
She waved a hand at Loki. "See? He's been acting like Zeus himself the entire time. Thinks he's better than all of us, he does. We'll just have to see about that."

---

Anthony

Andy. Again. Anthony forgot about the pencil in his hand as he curled his fingers into fists, snapping the soft wood. This guy was going to drive him crazy, he was sure of it. And did he- did he just ask where the bar was? Who the hell was this guy? How did he get into this school?

There it was, Andy. AGAIN. "Wait- no," Anthony breathed and he hurried over to the board, shoving the annoying guy out of the way so he could see the room assignments for himself. "God dammit," he muttered. This had to be some horrible joke. He scanned this list for the men's dorms, looking for names that he might recognize. Not a one. There were some pretty weird names on there. Lots of foreigners this year, it looked like. His eyes popped over to the female list. More foreign names. Ah, but there was one he recognized. Felice Rosenthal. He knew that name. He could somewhat picture a face with the name, a fellow student from previous classes. Hm. Well, at least they weren't all strangers.

Anthony took a step back, miserably eyeing the man who was to be his roommate. And those cats. Ugh! He hated cats! They smelled bad. With their cat litter and crap. And they peed everywhere. And they shed. And they climb all over stuff. It was going to be a long school year. He let out a defeated sigh, his shoulders dropping, and walked to the trash can to toss in the pieces of his pencil. Then, he headed for the lunch line. Might as well eat while he was there.

“Thou Mortal…”

Those words and the order that followed made Loki stop in his tracks, it was probably one of the worst things to call Loki, one who was not known for his…fondness of mortals, that and the fact this…thing had ordered him looking down upon him, something he had had more than enough of in Asgard. “I am sorry, but did you really just call me a…mortal?” he all but hissed out, as he slowly looked at him, his eyes full of fire. “I am no ‘mortal’. Nor am I one to be ordered about. I suggest you think next time.” He said in a whisper, though the way that whisper was said…well it was as icy as the winter in Jötunheimr. He looked at the woman, “And you act any better?” he asked her as he reached the cafeteria doors right as a bunch of girls busted through. He was a bit surprised that Thor had nothing to say about his remark, but he didn’t really care too much.

He clucked his tongue as he slipped through the door. “What in the nine realms is going on?” he muttered as he looked at the mess hall, it was a familiar sight in looks, in fact it remind him a bit of where he had his last feast. He looked at the people in the mess hall only a few he found that stuck out, the one with cats in the light purple jacket, the one hiding, and the one who had thrown something away. He shook his head; he only wanted to get something to sate his hunger and then go to the library in hopes of finding some clue.

Aphrodite

Aphrodite eyed the two men, glaring at Loki when he asked if she was acting any better than he. In fact, she believed she had been quite friendly- at least to the others, considering her circumstances. Letting out a huff, she slipped away from the dragon-man. She continued on ahead, noticing some commotion or other going on. Loki was the first to make it into the cafeteria, but Aphrodite paused in the doorway, eyeing the gaggle of girls with distaste. But then, her eyes landed on Dionysus and she gasped, a wide grin spreading her lips.

"Dio!" she called out cheerfully, skipping forward. She was careful of the cats as she jumped at the man, throwing her arms around his neck and planting a kiss right on his mouth. They had been lovers once. But then, it was rare to find a god on Mount Olympus who hadn't been Aphrodite's lover at one time or another. "I am so happy to see a familiar face!"

She glanced back toward the crowd of girls and shot them all a death stare so strong, that even though the brunette was tiny in stature, the girls got the idea and quickly moved away. They hadn't found what they'd been looking for anyway. And that was when Aphrodite noticed the person hiding in the trash can. Her brown eyes widened and she hurried over.

"Ohh in the name of Zeus! What are you doing in there?" Aphrodite reached down to take Eros' hand to help him out. "Who did this to you, my love?!" She brushed him off, making a face as she tossed away a gooey napkin that had been stuck to his shoe. Then, she reached up to put her hands on either side of his face, looking adoringly at her son. "Look at you. Handsome as ever."

---

Anthony

Anthony glanced back toward the newcomers, raising an eyebrow. Another weirdo strolled in, looking like he owned the place. Must be another foreigner. His eyes bobbed toward the short woman, giving her an appreciative once over. She apparently knew Dio and Amor, and from the looks of it, quite well. Anthony let out a sigh. Why did all the cute chicks have to be into the oddballs?

He went through the line and grabbed himself some lunch, then sat down at an empty table with a sigh. His eyes went back to the group at the doorway. Anthony had a feeling that this was going to be one long, long year.

(Sorry for taking so long, all, I had some issues to deal with)

Dewi staggered away as the woman left and had sat sullenly on the floor of the "College" since she had left. The smell of food from inside the room the rest had flocked to sickened him... yet at the same time he was so hungry. How was it possible for a human body to be so hungry? As a dragon that was understandable, he had many livestock delivered to him a day, but how was he supposed to eat a sheep, much less a cow, in this form? Surely it wouldn't fit and he hadn't the maw to eat it. Anger boiled within him once more, mixing with the temper that had roiled about since his unfortunate bout while racing the moon. This was unnacceptable. He needed food, he needed tribute, and he needed his form back. Raising his voice the best he could, (stars, it was so small and... squeaky...) Dewi called through the closed doors, "Thou inhabitants shalt bring me sustenance anon!! I am cross and immensely tired with these games! Anon! Mort--" he clamped his jaw shut, swallowed his pride, and thought of the tall human he had angered earlier. He wasn't afraid of him, not at all, but it was better in this state to keep from angering any others. "Beings," he corrected, "Sustenance and aid!!"