Lady Une Drive

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“Thank you kindly,” Rick replied as he headed to his caravan first, to grab a change of clothes to bring to the bathroom. Once there, he locked the door, undressed, and began to take a shower.

As he washed up, his mind wandered. After that eruption, what would happen to his way of life? He’s a very ordinary hunter by trade. He hadn’t even checked on the markets yet to see if his usual buyers were alright. The ranger made a mental note to check on that as soon as he can.

Once finished, he slipped into a clean set of clothes and dumped his old stuff into the washer. Once that was set, he stepped out into the kitchen.

“Would you like breakfast?” Crane asked as he entered.

“Yes please,” Rick replied. After a pause, he asked “Is it morning already?” He had been out of commission from that healing session a lot longer than he thought.

As Rick reentered the kitchen Crane already had made a few eggs {scrambled} some bacon {chopped up and mixed in with the scarambled eggs!! {Delish!}} And what looked {and smelled} like fresh juices of some form, grap, cranberry and possibly orange or lemon, one of the two. Crane herself couldnt stand orange juice.

"I thought to myself the same question" Crane replied thoughtfully tossing burnt up remains to the nearby Wen that scarfed down trhe burnt food with gusto spitting out beautiful marbles that floated in the air a centimeter or so until she made stands or pillows out of thin air for the beautiful gems to sit on.

"I mean sure, the sky was dark and choked with ash, but... Was it night time ? Was I away the entire night ?" She sat down at table, habit alone she said to the left of the head of the table, across from Rick "You zonked out before I left. I dont think you moved at all. its strange, I woke up in my own bed...."

There came a chirping noice next to her as the Wen scarfed down some more unwanted junk. "The last thing I remember was riding the Wen to the volcano edge.... Everything after that is a rush...."

“That is… eclectic,” Rick said as he sat down at the table, This really is going to put a damper on my way of life… “What can be done, though? Has Wing City made a call for action or anything?”

He tasted the concoction. “Very good!” he mentioned before he could swallow a mouthful. He put a hand over his mouth to avoid the spittle, but it was indeed quite good. “I’d have added in some seasonings, but it’s still good straight.”

Ambulatory inside the house the Wen had the stooped posture of a gorilla but one made of silver powder painted ferroplasm and glass. It didn't have a head so much as it had a large glass bowl between two shoulder blades that were more likely bent doors than head guards. Other doors were wrapped around its legs and back in far more distant resemblance than the ones astride is shoulder though a handle or two could still be seen. Inside the glass bowl that the curved cage of transformed ferroplasm the rear panel protected were running bits of an engine somehow still active though the orientation of the v8 engine didn't make a whole lot of sense at present. The serpentine belt was more labyrinthine as much as the motes feigning rubber curved in and out of the engine. The squeaking in its "voice" likely made at such a belt though Crane likely the only one the array of car noises made any sense to.

It knuckled over to Rick the glassed-in headmotor passed items to consume vanishing through glass like it were a mere bubble with momentary rainbow-swirls of rippling polarization changes. The gems got spat through the back glass along the Wen's the sides. A good deal of tubing and compression vessels were underneath it. Therein discarded ephemeral energies are sorted and compressed into coherent structures. The Wen only required material nothing needed of impure energies contained within most things. Therein lie the random if stable natures of its beautiful 'exhaust'.

The language among the chirping noises was far more erudite than it sounded attached to a goddess as it was. Though the Wen hadn't a strong 'personality' as yet its 'voice' now more resembles a Jinhai's candor. Though its disjointed assessment is somehow squeezed through the sensibilities and intonation of a car console, ((All time zone changes uniform to metaphysical flow-rate of Genesis. Query inadequately contextualized. Locale set to Myrkul Local Time. Cannot express memories existing inside negative intervals. I like carburetors.))

"Alright," Rick couldn't comprehend how the Wen possibly worked; it seemed far more advanced than the runebound caravan he uses for transport of himself and goods. "Since it's calmed down somewhat, I think I should get back to hunting." Rick did have a bounty to complete, and he had cooked his first bounty to give himself enough energy to heal Crane.

For a skilled hunter like Rick, however, reclaiming a new beast for the bounty was simple. However, as he loaded the caravan with his cleaned clothes, he imagined that the volcanic eruption would have scared the wildlife around quite a bit. That meant a lot of tracks to deal with. Rick hoped it wouldn't be too big of a deal.

"I'll take you up on that offer if I need it. Thank you for the hospitality!" Rick waved as he fired up the runic "engine" of the caravan. The ordinary-looking caravan drove itself down the drive, making its way back to the outskirts of Wing City.

Morning dawned bright and clear, of course the trilling of the Wen's engine..... if one could call it that, was ever present near to Crane. It was weird, as if the house had grown bigger to accomondate the wen's arrival ? It didnt matter. As Crane woke up she patted around, her hand easily finding the front grille of the beautiful Wen given to her by Mykrul. In a manner of speaking the Wen had saved her life by jumping after her, enveloping her, and somehow, as the Volcanoe was stopped, transporting her and itself somewhere else.

But now they were home.

A gentle patting of her hand upon the grile of the minivan ready to go anywhere, even if she wanted no doubt, to space and beyond, ... could a Wen survive a black hole ? Yeah appasrently it could.... But it didnt really matter as Crane all but fell out of bed and used the wen's cool hood of its engine compartment to stand up right after falling spread eagle on it briefly.

Crane smiled "Not as soft as a sleeping mat, but it is soft, and smooth as silk" She said simply giving a gentle pat and then brushing off some dust from the silvertine hood of the Wen. She saw something akin to a 'feed me' look and smiled, a wave of the hand later and ash, broken cars, and a few random other bits flowed in to a perfect pile for the Wen to chow down while she herself went to the kitchen to make herself some breakfast.

her magic and abilites were stronger, this was going to take a lot of getting used to.

As fuel and materials arrived the Wen parked next to Crane's huge bed split into parts as new fissures appeared in the mutable surfaces of its shiny hood. They bent and shifted as the ambulatory form took shape and glass moved upward to a dome over its runed internals and engine parts. The black motes drained inward toward the joints and the two 'feet' that grip the floor with millions of minute pincers.

As it turned to face the material dragged into the house its entire midsection prised open showing a mechanical interior of silver metal, black motes, and rapidly flickering patterns of runes. Cylinders and mechanical parts seemed more as teeth as two long arms dragged metal inside to be pulverized into shards with each strike. The shards and ash slowly drained somewhere deep in the interior where the thrumm of some huge industrial engine boils with power.

The sounds of thrumming iengines, grinidings and the occasional "spitooie" as Gemstones were formed were heard by Crane in the kitchen of the now massive home. The Wen sure was hungry, luckily Crane had a habit of collecting wrecked cars, scrap metals, and other unwanted trash items to keep it fed. If she had to do so she could even conjure something for the Wen to eat if she had to do so.

She hoped it wouldnt come to that.

Her gaze shifted from her cooking to the urn on the mantle, her mothers ashes were within it. Crane didnt want to bury her mothers ashes, it didnt feel right to her. There wasnt the time or the placeto do so. And now that Crane was immortal she could reconstruct her mothers body to properly bury it.

Her gaze snapped to her bedroom as the sound of a massive cat making a noise like it was about to do one hell of a hairball was heard as the Wen started horking loudly before a sudden HARK!! was heard and a gemstone the size of a baseball was launched. Without thinking Crane reacted, catching it before it could hit the Westerlily vase.

The bright white and purple and pink gem danced with inner fire and life. it also felt.... heavy

She held the gemstone in her hands, looking it over, it was perfect cut for a massive stone, strancgly so yet beautiful. Finalyl the sounds of eating were over and the Wen was looking at her cutely as its silvertine colored hood reformed to undamaged seamless steel and ferroplasm as it looked at her. "you made this ?" It chirped back at her.

Apparently it did

While they were still random agglomerates of indigestible aether that lurked in all things the gems were different now. An engine of industry born of jinhai had been adapted to support the mechanics of it's new form. The gems had often interfaces and complexity. Sometimes they operated of their own accord. Unfortunately the wen had little architectural sense of it's on to inform such a factory so what came out was anyone's guess.

Half revving half a disgusting wet noise the process began again. This time the grill split momentarily to squeeze a patina colored cube into reality. One nearly there size of Crane's own head. Patterns on the surface were reminiscent of language but made little sense. The illiterate wen couldn't write in anything so the patterns were loose magical interpretations of a tongue describing concepts. Something moved irregularly beneath those words inside the cube but the opaque surface prevented view.

The wen just beeped and bounced on it's shocks bedside the bed. Once the impurities were out it didn't care about them or the floor. It just wanted to drive somewhere now that Crane was awake.

Uh oh... the horking noise again....

What the ??

Reacting fast a stand was created for the first stone to hover upon as she just barely caught the cube and stumbled back. She saw movement and strangely written runes she barely could decern. The thing was heavy. But it was.... oddly stylised and perfectly cubed. She saw the writing again and tried to decern one of the runes..... "er" it read

Ok.... now what ?

Wait... "Wa ?" Crane said aloud.... the six sided cube had letters maybe words ? Wait no, there was one word, Water... ok that explained the ER and the WA without the T until she used her elbow to rub the dirt off the cube to see it correctly.... OK... water... one word.... spout ? No that wasnt right ?

Well

Crane loved a good puzzle. and this was going to be just that. using her magic she created a stone pedestal for it to perch upon. Then decided against that and simply put it on the mantle next to the Westerlilies. the Wen saw who she treated and defended both the urn and the vase of flowers and thanks to Crane being it found somehow they were too important to damage or touch at the time.

It was a puzzle she could figure out over time. In the meantime she went over to the Wen as it beeped, chirped and bounced on its shocks reading to go for a ride because she was awake. "You're ready for a ride today huh ?" What could they do ? Rebuild another part of the city that was damaged ?

The beeps and chirps came faster as the Wen's voice took on some semblance of language to Crane though it was oddly phrased, "Location Slums not found. Location Home not found. Muffins added to inventory. Please use seat belts when moving with the vehicle."

The Wen hadn't any sense of what it made its intellect a wide but shallow pool. It just pulled forward to lean on its tires to see what new thing Crane produced.

The Wen wanted to go someplace, and Crane had yet to shower, so. She set her hands on her hips, liek her grandfather Peter Pan always had for a brief moment before holding up a finger "Alright, we can go to the places destroyed or burnt away from the volcano to regrow what was lost. But first I need a shower. Wait for me here OK sweetie ?" The Wen bounced on its shocks again yay they were gonna go somewhere!

Crane went into the bathroom and the water began running. Thick steam, nice and warm. It felt great.... the Spirit Pearls worked in a manner to make it seem as if Crane were wearing a pretty one piece swimsuit through the steam as her body was siloutted perfectly in the light. She seemed naked bu the steam and her magic kept her clothed, for the most part

"Interesting. Most intriguing...."

The Man closed the book and set it upon the shelf, leaning back into his high-backed seat with a stern, but contented look. The Spirit Pearls were sentient, in a way. They chose Crane, the same way a God chooses a Mortal to be their prophet; an instrument of their will. However the Pearls themselves, when connected to the right place, opened a portal. A portal that would bring those who stepped through it to the Realm of the Gods. To the Citadel. It was in his studies that Spiral had learned that Crane, having been chose by the Pearls, was the Guardian of this gate-way; and thus was in a sort of gray area when it came to the rules binding Gods from interfering in Mortal Affairs.



Before Crane the world shimmered, and from the shimmering emerged Spiral, regal and dignified as ever in his midnight-blue suit with matching tie and white shirt; A four-armed Spiral Galaxy embroidered upon the breast-pocket of his blazer. His blue hair shimmered in the steam of the shower, though his eyes didn't open until he was fully out of the portal and into the shower with the woman, either not noticing or not caring about the lack of clothing she exhibited.

He would be unaffected by anything within the room however, as water merely phased through his body proper, or rolled off his suit as if it were drenched in a water-retardant coating.

"You are an interesting case.... I figure you'd like to know why." he said calmly.

Loud revving issued from the other room as some industrial engine bellowed to life. Wells of power and cylinders of kinetic potential filed as the wen felt something beach Crane's sanctum. The headlights dimmed to a feral red the creature was as much a protector as it was transport. Within it engines of war reconfigured while a splitting frame shot over without even a squeal of the short lived tires. The wen shouldered open the door with a transformed front half minted a pair of miniguns with a constellation of arms and machines in the wide open back seat.

The engine threw a throaty rumble as a van back half tried to move the arms close enough to the shower. The two miniguns vanished into the depths of the deep industrial space seen under the seat. They appeared again as a dance of metal and ferroplasm exploded the miniguns out lanky arms to replace its hands. An ammo belt clinked out of too-deep inner space each round stamped with a pattern inherited from the overbeing myrkul refined to harm Celestialkind. The wen could not quantify if it would work on the creature it sensed but an engine of war and defense brought it's best to bear.

The wen's throaty displeasure waited for it's mistress to give the word. Though the faint chimes of two arcane miniguns spinning up their barrels is clearly heard in the echoing space.

Of course she had her back to him yet the steam concealed her body enough to not be noticable, She was still getting used to the fact she had become a goddess and could do things on a whim, it got to the point where she had actidentaly busted the vale for the city water just turning on her shower. With the steam fogging things she knew her Wen was within arms reach of her, with her between Spiral and her Wen directly she simply raised a hand and gently with her hands movement without speaking asked him to take a step back so she could step from the shower

She was tempted, very tempted, to turned the thing full blast right at his face, but nope. He spoke that she was an interesting case.... and she wanted to know why ? She motioned to her Wen to calm down, It was alrifght, nothing was wrong. Spiral at the moment, was a friend. However the sounds of the miniguns made her smile faintly, windchimes were beautiful, but could also be deadly.

She turned towards Spiral then once out of the shower the steam faded and some of it swirled around her slender form. When that faded it left her with her typicxal red and black outfit, with the red bodice and black pants with vapor like sleeves on her arms. A hand went to her hair to run a brush though it. "A interesting case you say ? Pray tell dont leave me in suspense or you in the crosshairs"

Spiral paid no heed to the Wen and its protective Actions; he wasn't even fully within this realm, it was of no concern to him. He waited until Crane had made herself what humans would call "decent" before he spoke again, his body finally fully appearing, freshly shined dress-shoes lightly tapping on the tile floor of her bathroom as he nodded with a small hum.

"Yes, interesting. Like I said, you're different." he said, following her as she walked through her home. "More specifically, the Spirit Pearls are different. Tell me, Crane. What do you know of Divine Portals? Gateways? Wormholes? Magic in general? Teleportation?" Once he had his answer from her, he continued, reaching forward towards Crane, his hand stuttering as if passing through a field of television static before he stopped, his hand shining a light through the palm that would likely reveal the outline of at least one of the Spirit Pearls either on or within Crane's body.

"When brought together to a certain place, your Spirit Pearls form a portal to the Citadel of the Gods; the realm where most Deities live and carry out their duties according to their roles. To make a long story short: You are not a Goddess, a Spirit, a Witch, or anything of that sort of nature. You are a Guardian. You are the Guardian of the Spirit Pearls; they chose you to protect them from those who would seek to use them for various nefarious purposes." he explained, stepping in front of her and stopping her movement, raising a hand gently, fingers relaxed but also requesting her to stop with the motion; hand no higher than her chest.

Spiral's vibrant, all-seeing Byzantium eyes blinked slowly before he continued. "It is because you are a Guardian, and not a Deity, that you do not have to follow the same rules that apply to Deities of all shades; myself included." he continued. "As such, I will be looking into your case even more.... vividly than I would normally. I don't expect to be able to come up with a set of rules for you, the Spirit Pearls are as sentient as either of us, or as sentient as your... Wen, I believe it's called. And with their power, they would ignore my rules anyway...." he paused.

"Guidelines or Requests.... that's what we'll call them, I suppose." he stroked his chin, freshly shaven and smooth to the touch; like marble. With that, the air behind him began to ripple, splitting open to reveal a rectangular shape of absolutely nothing. No light; no sound, nothing. Behind Spiral was an empty abyss of Black, if one could call even the absence of the absence of light a thing.

"Do you have any questions before I enter my meditation chamber? Tea, perhaps? I don't do romantic strolls down the street, so if you wish to keep me here, tea would work best." he said, his face remaining deadpan despite the decent joke he just made.

Tento Flare has arrived, coming from Sol Avenue and Lady Une Drive.

Tento Flare has left the area, heading south into Sol Avenue and Lady Une Drive.