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Life Ore Death - DC Feruchemy [Young Justice]

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Achieving A Dream ___ Episode 33
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    • Life Ore Death​
    ** Episode 33 ___ Achieving A Dream

    * December 17 [Robin PoV]

    'All right. Stay traught.' I took a deep breath. 'Wally and Artemis know my history, and know not to talk about it. Bruce agreed to let me do this – I cannot believe I even got up the courage to ask him, but I made the case and he accepted it, and yes, yes, thank you! And Jordan is in the know, so I don't have to be too careful keeping the others out of the know, because he'll be backing me up. Asterous. Time to do this.'

    "Thank you for coming everyone," I started, giving a little clap for attention that I'd copied off of Jordan. "So, we've got an unofficial mission that isn't going to be big enough for everyone, but stayed whelmed, because it's going to be a bit of work figuring out our approach."

    "Who here recognizes this?" Jordan asked, pulling up a holographic image of the poster.



    I heard Wally hiss in recognition.

    "It's… a circus I've been to a few times," Artemis said slowly, glancing back and forth between Wally and me. "Haly's was founded in Gotham, and it travels around a lot, but it always takes a visit back to its roots every few years. Da-… I went with my family, once or twice."

    "In recent weeks," I spoke up, filing away the little tidbit that Sportsmaster was apparently a fan, ugh, "there have been thefts of high-tech scientific equipment in the cities where the circus toured, timed to coincide with its stays there. After thefts in both Madrid and Paris, Interpol is suspicious that the circus may be harboring – knowingly or unknowingly – the criminal responsible, and there's talk of shutting it down." I pulled up the next image, one of my other grandfather figure, and felt the slightest emotional tug at having to stay neutral.

    I was totally turbed that Jordan would handle this part of the introductory stuff, because I didn't want to.

    "This man is Jack Haly, the current owner, manager, etcetera, of the circus," our planet's first Green Lantern introduced as I took a step back. "He's been a source of information and a host to some witness protection people in the past, although he doesn't 'officially' know that it's the Justice League he's been helping out, because of plausible deniability reasons. While background checks have Batman pretty certain that he's not involved in this, it's possible that some of his troupe have been co-opted, or that he's being blackmailed or mind-controlled.

    "Here's the mission: you lot are going to pick from among yourselves who is best suited to go undercover at the circus for a few days," Jordan said, "and what cover stories you're going to use while doing so. The goal: find the people responsible for the thefts, find out why they've stolen this almost random collection of equipment, and turn it all in to Interpol, preferably before the circus is shutdown. Robin?"

    "Since Kaldur has some stuff in Atlantis that he's doing over the next few days-," I gave an apologetic nod to him for stealing his thunder, but he was totally whelmed and gave me a little, satisfied smile back. "-I'm going to be in charge of this one. We're hoping to head out around noon tomorrow, and be back by Christmas, so the first order of business is figuring out who can go undercover that long."

    "Dammit," Wally groaned, slumping over. "Sorry, Rob, but I've got finals Monday and Tuesday that I need to be here for." He sent me a look of, 'I know how much this means to you,' and I flashed him a hand sign for 'all good'.

    "Hmm… I finished up my final exams," Artemis said slowly, because Gotham Academy was awesome like that, "so I'm in."

    [My mom would not be comfortable with me disappearing for a week, even if I'm being homeschooled now,] Jericho demurred. [Sorry.]

    [Not a problem, Jericho. I will not be busy in Atlantis the entire time, and it will be an opportunity for us to put you through some more intensive training exercises,] Kaldur informed him. Out loud, he said, "As was mentioned, I have obligations in Atlantis; I cannot participate."

    "Well, I've got nothing, and I've been on a few infiltrations like this before. I'm in," Roy declared.

    "I'm out," Zee apologized, shooting me a careful look. "My school has finals coming up, too, sorry." I smiled back reassuringly.

    'It'd be nice if… did Zee ever decide whether she was going back next semester or not? Bruce mentioned she might transfer to Happy Harbor high school next semester,' I remembered, 'so even if she… No, I'd love to have her along, but it's always got to be her choice.'

    [Conner and I have finished everything. Though…] There was a little shift that I realized was her briefly excluding some people – probably Green Lantern – from the next part of the mental message. [If Artemis and I are away, will someone keep an eye on Karen for me?]

    [Certainly,] Kaldur agreed. [There is also the argument that teaching is an excellent way to learn, so Jericho may assist me.]

    [Thanks,] she sent, and brought everyone back in. [Yeah, Conner and I are in,] she declared, to which Conner nodded, so I guessed they'd had that discussion on an even more private part of the link. [My skills should work well in an infiltration, right?]

    "That'll be perfect," I concluded out loud. "So half of us are in, and half of us are out." 'Well, Ferris is out for an entirely different reason… I hope she's doing okay. Donna said they'd all been fine when she last saw them starting the journey down….' "Next up-,"

    "How are we gonna do this?" Wally finished. "I mean… well… would the circus take a bunch of performers who showed up?"

    "Probably, if we were good enough and we didn't do anything suspicious," I said. "There's a big bunch of sub-culture stuff about not asking unpleasant questions about people's pasts, because a lot of the time they aren't happy. I was planning to just go as performers…?"

    The others started sharing glances with each other as I trailed off. Jordan seemed fine to sit back and watch us hash this out, but I wondered if anyone was having a telepathic talk about this without me.

    I did the little mental trick that should've tapped me into our network if I was shut out, and I didn't hear anything….

    "What types of performers?" Artemis finally asked me. "We've all got skills, but they aren't exactly all the same skills. Red Arrow and I are good with our bow and arrows, and Conner could be a circus strongman act…?"

    "If we go as a group together, we could all be one act with a couple of different skillsets," I explained. "It's pretty rare that a lot of people are good at all the same things-," I suppressed a flinch with long practice at memories of my family's practices together, and how Johnny and I had first shown off for our parents when we were old enough, and how much fun it was and how proud they were… "-and it's pretty common to put a few separate act in one performance unless they're asterously good and famous." 'Like the Flying Graysons had been.'

    [Um,] Joseph sent, raising his hand uncertainly, [what's your cover going to be for why you're all performing together?]

    "I was thinking we'd just say we were all related and bill it as a family act," I told him "Think: the Daring Dangers! You know, like that."

    "You guys don't exactly look alike," Zee pointed out. "Not that we couldn't fix that, but… well, my glamours won't last that long."

    "They don't really have to look totally alike, do they?" Wally pointed out. "I mean, a family act doesn't mean they're all siblings, they could be cousins, or step-siblings, or whatever. People aren't going to be asking a lot of questions, like Rob said."

    "Hmm…" Roy hummed, rubbing his chin. "Two brunettes, two redheads, and a blonde. We don't want people to ask the wrong questions, or to set off the thief's suspicions when we obviously don't fit in as well… Miss Martian should be able to change her hair color as part of her shape shifting abilities. You can, right?" M'gann nodded. "Then, Artemis and I can dye our hair black to fit in."

    It was a good idea, except I don't think any of us had expected the speed with which Artemis's hands defensively flew to her head.

    "Oh no," she said forcefully. "No dye. Not after all the Twinkie taunts I've had to put up with," she spat, which made something twist angrily in me at the thought of it. "Either it won't have washed out by next semester and I'll confirm all of everyone's accusations, or I'll have to bleach it out and then they'll still think they're right about me. Can I just be the cousin-in-law, with an abusive father I ran away from?"

    I wasn't really sure what I wanted to say to that – I didn't want to say nothing about it, but what was a big issue – but Wally had already swung over to her side and was rubbing her crossed arms soothingly when Jordan spoke up.

    "Maybe if you use something a little less permanent?" he suggested. "Regular hair-dye isn't exactly our only option, here. Red Arrow, do you remember what Black Canary got for her birthday? From Superman? The comb? It's not out in mass production yet-,"

    "But there should be a few we could field-test with," Roy finished, nodding. "That's a good idea; I'd forgotten all about those."

    "All about what?" Wally asked defensively.

    "In her civilian identity, Black Canary is a natural brunette," Roy elaborated.

    'Yeah, I remember she wears a wig. A really good one, since I couldn't tell otherwise… Roy, should you be saying this?' I wondered.

    "Really? I wouldn't have guessed," M'gann admitted. "Does she dye it? I've never noticed her roots being wrong."

    "She used to cut her hair short and wear a wig when she went out to fight," Roy confirmed, and I perked up at the unexpected use of the past-… whatever the term was. "A few years ago, Superman got her something from his Fortress of Solitude records; a comb that can change hair color when it's used one way, and change it back in the other direction. Star Labs is working on mass producing them to sell."

    "Sounds great," I cheered, impressed. "Artemis, is that okay with you?"

    She frowned. "I… sure. But I want to see it work and change back on someone else, first."

    [I'll give it a try,] Jericho volunteered. [We're both blond, and I won't care if it doesn't change back on me.]

    "Sounds like a plan," Jordan said. "I'll work on getting one or two to use tonight. Red Arrow, you want one too?"

    "No thanks. I'll just use the dye," he deferred.

    "So," Conner said without putting too much force behind it. "What type of performance? I'm not going to have to memorize any lines, right?" Wally perked up sharply and spun away from Artemis to face him.

    "Oh, dude! I just realized, you've never been to the circus! Rob, maybe we should make sure they see the show once before-,"

    "That might be a good idea, if we can get the timing right. Maybe even mention that's why we want to sign up…" I muttered.

    "Question," M'gann called, raising her hand out what I guessed was habit. "Do we all have to be part of the same performance? If we're all on the stage – I mean, Hello Megan, it's a circus, not a stage – but that means we won't be looking around while we're performing."

    "Um?" 'I hadn't thought of that.' "I think that probably no one's going to be doing things during the show, since the thefts all happened in the middle of the night. I'll keep it in mind and see what I think our covers needs," I promised, and she looked satisfied by that.

    'It would be pretty easy for Conner or Roy to act as a roustabout instead,' I considered, mulling over our stories to use.
     
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    • Obloquy said:
    Well, Ferris is out for an entirely different reason… I hope she's doing okay.​
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    Hmmmm, here's an AU concept. Instead of landing near Metropolis Renka gets picked up by Haly's circus, and this episode would be her introduction to the team. She would probably be able to work really well as a circus performer due to the versatility of her Feruchemy, and working for the circus would give her a great way to travel and learn about Earth

    PS. Can anyone tell me why the quote is centered and not aligned on the left?
     
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    Oh this remind me of a bit of trivia.

    Artemis isn't he first blonde half vietnamese gal that DC has included.

    In New Talent Showcase there was the story Forever Amber.

    Amber's father was a soldier in the Vietnam war who left. Turns out he was a victim of agent orange, not being able to support a family financially or physically, he felt they would be better off in Vietnam with him sending money when he had some spare cash, rather than living in the USA watching him waste away and taking care of him. Amber didn't know that though, she thought her and her mother were just an afterthought who were only worth the occasional bit of pity money.

    Amber grew up to be an acrobat, then thief, who stole a magic gem from a temple that embedded into her hand.

    Which gave her the power to turn things, and people, into amber with a touch.

    Of course the obvious question is why the DC writers thought that Vietnam was a DnD setting. A thief-acrobat with a divine artifact? She should team up with an elven ranger and a wizard.
     
    Achieving A Dream - part 2
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    • Life Ore Death​
    * ??? [Ferris PoV]

    For the sake of my dignity, I was grateful that Donna had thought ahead, very grateful that I could use a bathroom unassisted, and extremely grateful that the house of Hades in Erebos had something resembling plumbing, and of a quality found in high-class buildings.

    That did not stop it from being weird as an ashen mist, but as I disposed of the wrapper and briskly washed my hands, I resolutely tried to not think about it too much, for fear I would have a… Well, I would have time to wonder about it all when I returned to the above.

    Until then, I would be satisfied with the 'anniversary present to Persephone' explanation from Diana.

    "My turn," Rose quickly called as I rolled out, darting through the restroom's doorway while it was open.

    I blinked after her. 'I would not have thought there was only the one. Then again… No, not productive, stop thinking about it.'

    "Renka, you said you had an individual tribute to offer Lord Hades and Lady Persephone?" Diana inquired.

    "Yes," I confirmed, wondering why she was asking me to repeat something- 'Oh. We have a new arrival.'

    "I have already given our tributes," Diana explained, "but if you wish to offer them your token of esteem in person…" She trailed off, and gestured to a woman who stood nearby, having arrived while I was occupied. "This is Makaria, a member of the Lampades. She will escort you to their majesties, if you desire." At my look, Diana added, "You would not need to worry much about formality or danger."

    I turned back to look at Makaria, who waited, quiet and sober, under an arch in the opulent-albeit-dark hallway. She wore an off-black robe or tunic – I was uncertain of the difference – without sleeves, baring her well-muscled arms. Beyond that, she wore no metal, but several precious gems, which caught the light, and a shimmering red scarf tied about her neck.

    I stroked my own, similarly colored scarf, and met her dark eyes. There I found the main note of her abhumanity: the feint veins in her sclera were the same black as her short curls of hair, rather than red with regular blood.

    "Thank you for showing me the way," I said to Makaria. She nodded, and I wheeled myself after her as she walked down the hall.

    After a few turns she stopped in front of a set of tall double doors, gilded with gold. She gripped the handle and turned to me.

    "Are there any rules on how I should address or approach them?" I inquired.

    She shook her head mutely, and I nodded my ascent.

    With a whispering groan, she pulled the hingeless door open, and I wheeled my way inside with only a bit of tired effort.

    A gray mist seeped in around me from the unseen edges of the unlit room. It carried with it a scent of rich, wet dirt and soil, of the type found on the bottom of riverbeds and around the roots of plants.

    I should not have been able to identify all that by scent, but I knew it all the same. I simply knew.

    I shivered in the chill mist, and hoped I could return when I was not all but numb in my mystic senses.

    A woman spoke.

    "You have come before us, Renka Tindwysra, along the way to pursue a noble quest. Be thou welcome in our home, for this time."

    I swallowed thickly. "Thank you, Lady Persephone." 'Queen Persephone? No, backing away now would not be good.' "Having come from far away, I am unfamiliar with all the mysteries of Earth, and I find your world- your kingdom here, to be most wondrous. I consider myself privileged to have witnessed it, and I hope to temporarily," I said carefully, "return at a later date, when I may learn more without the duties of my current quest to distract me. For your hospitality now, and in hope of it then, I have a token of esteem I wish to offer you."

    I could not see them- No, I could see their faces faintly, their outlines, their presences… 'Probably to avoid disintegrating the mortal,' I assessed, remembering what happened with Zeus's wife. The point being, I could perceive them, and they both seemed patiently interested.

    I reached into my pocket and pulled out a small pouch; one I had kept constantly on me since departing.

    Hades leaned forward, and his hand – only the hand of a man, it seemed, albeit a large one – stretched out to me, palm open.

    I offered him the pouch, and he took it.

    As they both opened it and examined the contents, I thought I could see them more clearly through the mists. I was uncertain if that was mystic, or if my eyes were merely adjusting naturally, but they both seemed to me pleased and impressed.

    "A princely gift, indeed," Hades rumbled, his voice like the rock falls of distant mountains. He tipped out the 5 beads into his hand.

    "I have never seen this substance, not even in the forges of Hephaestus. What is it called?" asked Persephone in a willowy voice.

    "Atium," I answered, "from my home planet. I read that you hold domain over expensive stones and metals, as well as the afterlives of the dead. On Scadrial, atium is found inside a geode in only a specific cavern, and it is a metal of Ruin. I hope it is appropriate."

    "Very much so," said the voice of Hades. I saw the – now slightly more visible – figures pass the beads from him to her.

    "Were there any further matters?" Persephone asked me quite kindly.

    'Please do not give them away to anyone else.' I did not say it out loud, as I expected it would be rude, and I had no idea who would bargain with Hades for them, or similar. 'I would like to come back here eventually,' I considered saying, except it sounded ominous.

    "In the future, I would hope to return to your kingdom for a temporary visit," I said carefully. "A time… in the next year or two. If that would be permissible, I would be very grateful to you." I bowed as best I could in my chair, and waited.

    "Another day, then," suggested the voice of Hades as his presence faded.

    "Yes," said Persephone softly. "Perhaps when I return here next Autumn, I will offer you to travel with me."

    "I would be honored," I answered, impressed by the idea, and I waited until I felt that the room was empty before I straightened my spine.

    The shadows were mostly gone, and the mist, and I could make out obsidian, and granite, and marble all across the throne room.

    "…I will escort you back to Princess Diana, if that is acceptable," said Makaria, entering behind me.

    "Yes, please. And thank you," I replied, allowing her to wheel me this time as I processed everything. "…I would like to ask you a question."

    "I may not answer, but I will not be offended," she allowed. "You are an honored guest; it is your prerogative."

    "Thank you. Di- Princess Diana said you were a member of… of the lamp-? I apologize, but I forget the word."

    "The Lampades. You wish to know what it means?"

    "Yes, please," I confirmed.

    "Among all the nymphs across the Earth, there are five large divisions by which we are distinguished," Makaria informed me. "The Lampades are one such order, primarily serving Lord Hades, or other interests in Erebus."

    "Thank you," I murmured. Then, "Dryads are one order as well, yes?"

    "Dryads, Oceanids, Oreads, Lampades, and Asteriae," she agreed. "The princess may tell you more about this."

    We rounded a corner and I found the other five waiting at a gate for me. I waved, and then took control of my wheels.

    "Thank you. I hope to see you another day," I offered.

    Makaria said only, "Likewise," and then departed.

    I wondered if it was my imagination that my fingers trembled as I exerted my arms to turn my wheels, or that my hands were numb and clammy. I decided not to risk it, and I must not have looked well, because Rose took the handles of my chair without asking.

    "Thank you," I said.

    "Not a problem. This part of the path gets a little bumpier, anyway, Diana says. Everything go well?"

    "Yes. I am curious about nymphs, and… Lamp-Hades," I tried to pronounce as I glanced at Diana.

    "Lampades," she corrected, and waited a moment for me to repeat it before she continued. "At a later date, when I need not be on guard."

    "No one expects-!" Squawked the crow Matthew, only for John Dee to snatch him from the air faster than he could fly.

    "I love that joke," he reminisced with sad nostalgia, looking upward and not seeming to notice Matthew's struggles.

    "Old habits," Diana chided, prying his fingers open with her own even as he paid no attention. Matthew hopped out, flapped over to Barbie's shoulder, and shook himself before preening his disarrayed feathers. John Dee was still off in a world of his own, murmuring.

    "Well. That was a blow to my ego," Matthew commented crossly. Then, "Ooh, wheat bread! I haven't had that in ages!"

    "There's more where that came from," Wesley promised, letting Matthew eat the crumbs out of his upturned palm.

    "Mm-mm! Keep me fed like that and I'll stay happy," Matthew promised. "Right! Off to the Gate of Horn and the Dreaming!"

    We proceeded down the less paved path, and I kept my hands folded in my lap for warmth, as Rose was pushing me.

    Time passed, until I slowly became less numb. And then, when the palace in Erebus was no longer in view, we came to the Gate.

    The Gate of Horn… It was…

    Well. It was.

    It was a large arch set into a wall or cavernous passage, and the door/gate itself was composed of intricately carved and arranged... bars? Perhaps. They weren't simply vertical and straight, but intertwined, like a more ornate version of Earth's common 'chain link fence'.

    The patterns and arrangements of the bars themselves, moreover, changed a little every time I looked away and back, or blinked.

    Beyond the Gate of Horn was a barren wasteland, but we could see an oddly colored sky, more of a purple than anything else.

    "We are here, we are here," crowed Matthew, flapping off to perch on a part of the gate.

    "Are we going to meet Horton, or a Who?" Rose asked, chuckling. I had no idea, and didn't ask about it.

    "Hey. Just about anything is possible," said our guide, shrugging his wings.

    "We will be going into untread ground from here, at least for me," stated Diana. "Any advice?"

    Several of the group tried to answer at once, stopped awkwardly, and I got to enjoy watching them figure out who said what when.

    John Dee cackled. "Me first, me first, go away! That is not the way friends play!" He howled with laughter and shook a little more before he suddenly stopped, though his wide, toothless smile remained. "People think dreams aren't real because they aren't made of matter, of particles. Dreams are real," he insisted, his expression unchanging as he stared through the Gate. "But they are made of viewpoints, of images, of memories and puns and lost hopes…" Finally, he turned to look back at us. "Now we're the things that won't be real, here…."

    Wesley stepped up. "A succinct enough answer, I suppose. More than astral projection or lucid dreaming, we're going bodily into the real of dreams, now. We will bring some of our rules with us when we go, but we will be subject to some of their rules, too."

    "It's dangerous," Barbie contributed piously, as we had discussed this somewhat several times over our trip down. Wesley nodded.

    "In dreams, it's very hard to die, because you can either reform yourself, or you just wake up. We may not have that protection," he warned, "but we also will have more control of our situation; just as dreams materializing in daylight would make the world around them less 'real,' we will make the world more 'real' by our standards with our presences, so we should hopefully avoid most of the environmental pitfalls."

    Rose took over from him: "The Dreaming is infinite, and bounded on every side at the same time. Conventional geography, geometry… a lot of the science things we're used to aren't going to work there. Not the way we're used to. But like Wesley says, we're not going to work the way they're used to, either. It's about stories, in the end, and the rescue quest is one of the oldest and strongest narratives."

    I turned to Barbie, to see if she had anything else to say, but she just shrugged uncertainly.

    "Infinite can mean it's a bit hard to navigate, but it's theoretically infinite," Matthew contributed, "and that tends to represent as depth instead of distance. Traveling to and between areas is easier than traveling in or through them."

    "How so?" Diana asked.

    "Ehh… It's a little tough to explain. My best example is the Castle at the center of the Dreaming. It is at the exact center of the Dreaming, even though there's no way to measure that, and its location is changing all the time. It is both only one of the many areas in the Dreaming, and at the same time the inside of the Castle is as vast as everything outside of it combined. You got me?"

    "Degrees of infinity," I agreed with a nod, getting everyone to stare at me in surprise. 'I hope I can remember all the vocabulary Wally used when we talked about this.' "The… the numbers from one-plus and more," I began carefully, "are counted infinity. They are infinite.

    "At the same time, however, every number greater than one is also a fraction, of the number divided by one or over one. Two divided by one equals two. Five hundred point six five divided by one equals five hundred point six five. Thus, every number greater than one has a counter number, that is one divided by that number, such as one divided by two, or one divided by five hundred point six five.

    "Thus," I finished, proudly, "there are infinity numbers above one, and equal infinity numbers between one and zero, and also equal infinity of number between one and zero as the infinity between two and three, or twelve and thirteen, but all are still infinite." I smiled at them.

    "Woo-hoo!" no one shouted among the impressed applause of our imaginary audience. I wrote it off as 'of the Dreaming' and ignored it.

    "…I think that sounds accurate enough for our purposes, yes," Wesley said slowly.

    "Good enough for government work," Rose agreed.

    "Ehhahahahahah! It's all non-sense to me," crowed John Dee. Then he leaned in to Diana and whispered, "I'd have said it's all Greek to me, except I speak Greek almost as well as I spoke mathematics, back before I stopped having been crazy." She placed a careful hand on his shoulder, but he didn't seem to do anything else, not even straighten up from leaning over. He just stayed in that pose, twitching.

    "Eh, yeah, close enough," Matthew squawked. "So, I don't actually know what you all are doing here or where you're going."

    "Sanderson Hawkins has been trapped in a part of the Dreaming. We seek to free him," Wesley said.

    "Hrmrph. Any idea about which part? One of the seas, or the shores, or the plains, or any of the mountainous caves?"

    "Indeterminate, save that it is out of easy reach, and an old place, and we would be able to find out when we arrived."

    "…Find out?" Matthew asked carefully, and I immediately perceived there was a significance about this.

    "Yes. There is a place, if I remember right, where the unknown is recorded," he said soberly.

    "Ahh… The Houses of Secrets and Mysteries, yeah, you could go there. Getting them to give you the information ain't gonna be easy, though. I gotta say, I can only lead you part of the way before I have to go on some other duties. That okay?"

    "Quite alright," Wesley said. "We will handle the rest. May we enter?"

    Matthew squawked. "Well… I know I can go through." He hopped through to perch on the other side. "If you can, you can."

    "Excellent. Ladies," he said, striding forward to seize the gate, "if I may?" It swung open silently, and I felt a wash of air.

    "Alright, let's go," Barbie agreed.

    "Wait," Rose interrupted. "One quick safety precaution." She stepped around my wheelchair and plucked a pocketknife from her pocket. Snapping it open, she snipped a few long strands from her head, and tied them around her left wrist. Then she snipped a few more and tied them around Diana's wrist. I allowed her to do the same to me, then Barbie, Wesley, and John Dee. "To keep us from separating."

    I wasn't certain how or why it would work, but everyone seemed to accept that it would, so I took it as it was. 'I'll ask afterward,' I decided.

    I gripped the wheels with my own arms, exerted my strength, and one-by-one we passed bodily into the Dreaming.
     
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    • Y'know I'm not so sure that would've been an appropriate venue to present a god with Disney's Hercules. What a shocker, Renka is smarter than me.
     
    nmWarden said:
    Y'know I'm not so sure that would've been an appropriate venue to present a god with Disney's Hercules. What a shocker, Renka is smarter than me.
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    Not for the first meeting, no. And especially not with Hades portrayed as flaming-haired and bitter in the movie, teaming up with the titans to overthrow Zeus. It's practically a hit piece against him.

    Future interactions might include a gift of the Myth-o-Mania series, though.
     
    Achieving A Dream - part 3 ... POP QUIZ
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    • Life Ore Death​
    * ??? [Ferris PoV]

    "Aaand I'm afraid this is as far as I can take you," Matthew called, wheeling over us in the air. "Go up ahead and take one of the paths to get to the brothers' houses; I'm not sure which, cause it keeps changing, but someone there should know." He flew away.

    "And so it begins," Wesley mused as we continued after a moment on our forested path.

    "These challenges should be more like riddles and puzzles than fights, correct?" Diana checked again nervously.

    "And there's one for each of us! So everybody gets a turn," John Dee cackled, tilting his neck at an odd angle as he waddled.

    "I suppose name markers for who does what would be a little much to ask for?" Rose wondered, sounding resigned to the idea.

    Ahead of us, the path spread out into a small, brick-paved clearing with a fountain in the middle. Many ravens – or some species of black colored birds – perched in the branches of the surrounding eight trees, on the bricks, or on the octagonal edges of the fountain.

    We walked (although I technically rolled) into the clearing, and the birds all turned to gaze at us.

    "Hello," Rose said somewhat nervously, stepping forward onto the N inlaid in the pattern of bricks. "Could you tell us where we can find the Houses of Secrets and Mysteries? Matthew said that's where we need to go." As she spoke, I did a quick count.

    There seemed to be twenty-three adult ravens spread out between the trees, the bricks, and the fountain, as well as one piece of carrion and a few nests that bore closer examination. My attention snapped around as two ravens directly to our left began to cackle.

    "Oh! Oh! Oh!" cried one female raven through her laughter. "If you really think it will be that easy, boy you have another thing coming!"

    "Solve the mystery and go on your way, but until you answer us here you will stay," cackled the other gleefully.

    As their laughter slowly calmed down, the six of us shared a look among our selves, and then back out to the unkindness ahead.

    Nine ravens were perched in the tree directly to our right. At some unseen signal, three suddenly took wing:

    One flew directly across the fountain to the exact opposite edge, and perched beside two others on a piece of carrion there.

    One flit down to the center of the fountain, taking center stage like the main actor, so that it could take a drink and a bath.

    One flapped over to us and startled a shriek out of Rose when it darted in front of her face, only to wheel away with something shiny from her shirt in its beak. It finally landed in the tree just beyond the one had started in, which was also the tree with the greatest number of shiny nests, sitting on the branches like several fat, sparkling fruit.

    "Sorry about that," said the raven in the fountain, drawing our attention back as Rose lowered her hands, "but Pachyderm can be a real asshole sometimes." He shrugged his wings, lifted off, and flapped over to the empty tree beside the E in the bricks - to the tree just beyond the where the two laughing ravens remained in their perch. "The rules are the rules, though. My condolences," he said sincerely.

    The lone raven in the tree directly across from us cawed to catch our attention, flapped down to peck at a piece of the carrion below the tree to its right (our left), and then flew back to the tree on the other side of where it had started, where there had been no ravens.

    'No adult ravens,' I mentally corrected, as it landed beside a nest that lacked the metallic sparkles of the other nests around us. Immediately, I heard pleading and cheeping coming from the nest, as four baby birds stuck out their heads in an effort to be fed.

    "Rules are rules, this much is true," intoned that older raven after depositing the meat in the nest. "Even so, you'll get a clue."

    "Listen close or it will pass you by," called on of the birds in the tree above the carrion, before all four took wing.

    "Like a cloud across the sky," chirped a second raven, as the four flew down and landed on the bricks.

    A third, which hadn't said anything yet, took wing after pecking at the dirt, and landed in the tree directly to our right.

    Almost immediately, a different raven in that tree took wing, flying down into the fountain, but saying nothing.

    "Sadly," said the one raven in the tree near the E marked in bricks, "I believe that is all the help you will receive."

    "Well," laughed one of the ravens still in the tree to our left, "there can be one more clue."

    "It's not back the way you came, so no turning back for you," mocked the other one merrily.

    I closed my eyes in quick thought, wishing I had a zinc-mind to tap for this.

    But Feruchemy only altered my natural attributes, in most cases. I could do without. It would just….

    'Where are they all, now?' I opened my eyes and glanced once more around the clearing, counting. 'No ravens are in the tree behind us, by the path we traveled to arrive… Two ravens are in the tree immediately to our left, as are… three nests, or maybe two; one might be twigs.'

    'Continuing clockwise, there is one raven in the next tree over, and no ravens- no wait, one raven in the next tree after that and two on the carrion on the ground by its roots. There are no ravens in the tree directly across from us, three adult ravens now and three nests in the tree to our right of it, and six adult ravens but only five nests in the next tree clockwise. Finally, there are six adult ravens and …two nests in the tree directly to our right, with five ravens on the ground and two ravens in the fountain.'

    I sighed in some exasperation.

    'A majority of that is, I expect, extraneous information. And 28 ravens where I only saw 23 at first, so more arrived at some time. I know some of this is significant but I am not certain what. There is a riddle to it, though. A puzzle, a pattern. How did the rhymes go…?'

    I closed my eyes and began reciting things to myself, listening in a bit as the others discussed where we could go.

    It took… several repetitions and variations, and I really wished for a pencil and paper, but things eventually clicked.

    I opened my eyes, did a quick count to confirm, and smiled.

    "I have an answer," I announced, and the others all turned to me.

    _____________________________________________________________________________________​

    Pop Quiz!

    Which of the possible paths (8 directions - 1 way they came = 7 options) should the group take to reach their goal?

    In case you didn't notice, the options match up with NEWS directions, so you might want to try writing it down.

    Post an answer, (and preferably an explanation, but length/detail is optional,) if you think you have it figured out.

    The next installment of LOD, (POP QUIZ part 3b,) will be posted with the answer included and explained at some point on Sat., April 26.

    See you all soon enough! (And wish me luck on my finals)
     
  • Threadmarks
    • What kind of monster forces me to backtrack to retrieve quotes?
    Obloquy said:
    "One for sadness, two for mirth;
    "Three for marriage, four for birth;
    "Five for laughing, six for crying;
    "Seven for sickness, eight for dying;
    "Nine for silver, ten for gold;
    "Eleven a secret that will never be told!
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    Obloquy said:
    "One crow sorrow, two crows mirth,
    "Three crows a wedding, four crows a birth,
    "Five brings silver, six takes wealth,
    "Seven crows a secret, I can't tell."
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    Obloquy said:
    "One for sorrow, two for mirth,
    "Three for a wedding, four for a birth,
    "Five for rich, six for poor,
    "Seven for a witch, I can tell you no more."
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    Did they come in from south facing north? Not sure how to align with compass.

    Left:
    Obloquy said:
    Two ravens are in the tree immediately to our left, as are… three nests, or maybe two; one might be twigs.'
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    Two for mirth, and either four or five which is birth or wealth.
    Left/Forward:
    Obloquy said:
    Continuing clockwise, there is one raven in the next tree over, and no ravens- no wait, one raven in the next tree after that and two on the carrion on the ground by its roots.
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    Four for birth? Symbolic of life, seems promising.
    Forward:
    Obloquy said:
    There are no ravens in the tree directly across from us
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    Not really a sign
    Forward/Right:
    Obloquy said:
    three adult ravens now and three nests in the tree to our right of it
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    Three or Six, I don't think anyones here for marriage however. And six aint good.
    Right:
    Obloquy said:
    and six adult ravens but only five nests in the next tree clockwise
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    Eleven for a secret? Also however six ain't a great number
    Right/Backwards:
    Obloquy said:
    Finally, there are six adult ravens and …two nests in the tree directly to our right,
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    Six or Eight depending on how its counted, thats either poverty, crying or dying, pass.
    Backwards: N/A

    Backwards/Left/Fountain?:
    Obloquy said:
    with five ravens on the ground and two ravens in the fountain.'
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    Seven for a secret/witch? Is this what they're looking for? Seven for Sickness as well though.

    Kinda feels like I'm grasping at too many straws here given that I'm often getting two different numbers for each path, I'm also a little suspicious that I haven't counted a 1 anywhere, if they sequentially counted through 1 to 7 or all but one was a bad omen I'd feel a lot more confident that I'd worked out the pattern. I'm guessing Left/Forward however as I think the group is generally looking for some kind of magical healing, but I forget if we've actually been told. Would be great to hear other peoples thoughts.
     
    I was thinking that the silent ravens are important since there's the but about listening closely se it would 'pass you by' and silence is easy to overlook, but I have no idea how that relates to anything. Maybe the movements of the ravens matter?
     
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    Obloquy said:
    "People think dreams aren't real because they aren't made of matter, of particles. Dreams are real," he insisted, his expression unchanging as he stared through the Gate. "But they are made of viewpoints, of images, of memories and puns and lost hopes…" Finally, he turned to look back at us. "Now we're the things that won't be real, here…."

    Wesley stepped up. "A succinct enough answer, I suppose. More than astral projection or lucid dreaming, we're going bodily into the real of dreams, now. We will bring some of our rules with us when we go, but we will be subject to some of their rules, too."

    "It's dangerous," Barbie contributed piously, as we had discussed this somewhat several times over our trip down. Wesley nodded.

    "In dreams, it's very hard to die, because you can either reform yourself, or you just wake up. We may not have that protection," he warned, "but we also will have more control of our situation; just as dreams materializing in daylight would make the world around them less 'real,' we will make the world more 'real' by our standards with our presences, so we should hopefully avoid most of the environmental pitfalls."

    Rose took over from him: "The Dreaming is infinite, and bounded on every side at the same time. Conventional geography, geometry… a lot of the science things we're used to aren't going to work there. Not the way we're used to. But like Wesley says, we're not going to work the way they're used to, either. It's about stories, in the end, and the rescue quest is one of the oldest and strongest narratives."
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    We have a riddle! I've bolded lines from a previous section which will be relevant here and now with this challenge or will be crucial in a future one.

    I doubt this riddle will be as simple as explaining the answer followed by the whole group agreeing to walk in the same direction. What sort of story would that be? We need to guess at which rule from the real world might be useful here; which narrative/traditional rule of stories could be required here; what sort of flaw (ex- a hunger to retrieve a stolen shiny object) is worth supporting or needs to be suppressed.

    The obvious clues to this riddle are the previous Counting Crows lines, the assumption that this trial will be difficult, and the movement of the birds in this chapter. I have no idea if we learned anything from Matthew's interactions with our party that will help us at this stage of the adventure. I'm guessing Matthew will be the key to escaping the Dreaming once we've rescued our target.

    Edit: Good luck with your tests!
     
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    Yep, Dreaming is a one Hell of an brain twist.

    Unless I misread Sandman to major degree, the answer is... Well, everything. Objectively (without anchoring to an person view, that is), they could have taken pretty much any path, since the intent matters more than exact path.

    But, the intent matters more and dear Crows successfully made our merry band or Adventures mentally invested in the concpet of "solve the riddle get the right path"... When there is no truly right path...

    Did I say how The Dreaming is brain twister? :D
     
    Obloquy said:
    Not for the first meeting, no. And especially not with Hades portrayed as flaming-haired and bitter in the movie, teaming up with the titans to overthrow Zeus. It's practically a hit piece against him.

    Future interactions might include a gift of the Myth-o-Mania series, though.
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    Oh man, I remember that series. Had forgotten the name though.

    Certainly the Disney version of Hades painted him in quite the unflattering light, and is the first version of him to pop into mind for most. Took some time to unlearn the ruler of the underworld automatically equaling evil.
     
    No thank you. I'd rather kill myself than subject to geometric riddles from a unkindness of ravens on the dreaming, at least it'd be fast instead of slow, humiliating and also lethal.

    I'd probably mooch off the brainy goddess right there and stay silent thou. It's dangerous to talk or enter contracts in the dreaming. If they're all supposed to solve a riddle, i hope it scales to capability/personality.
     
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    Renka and company enter from the North. I put together a visual for the final state of the courtyard, with the number of birds (and nests) noted for each tree/location.

    You'll need to read through the scene again to follow the movements of the ravens. I have some thoughts on the solution but I'm not quite there yet, so I'll save those for a later post.

    EDIT: Here's my solution. I think it's correct, but there are a couple points that I am less confident in, so I welcome input.
    The path they want is South. (I'm definitely open to critiques of my thought process here.)

    The group "brought their rules with them," which means they are operating off the counting rhymes from the previous chapter. There are seven choices of direction, and the majority of counting rhymes went up to seven, and were functionally identical with minor wording changes. Not only are they wanting the answer to the mystery, they are explicitly looking for the House of Secrets, so the goal must be to choose the tree corresponding to "secrets."
    The rhyme gives us:    ​
    1. Sorrow
    2. Mirth
    3. Wedding
    4. Birth
    5. Rich
    6. Poor
    7. Secret
    Starting clockwise from Renka and company in the North, I'll label the trees A-G as well as give their direction.​
    • A (NE) - These two birds are laughing or cackling every time they are mentioned, which makes them mirth (2).
    • B (E) - The one bird in this tree says "my condolences" and "sadly," which makes him sorrow (1).
    • C (SE) - Every time Renka looks at this tree (or the carrion at its root) it has more birds in it than it did before. The numbers multiply and grow with every mention, making it wealth (5).
    • D (S) - No birds in this tree, and no bird spoke while sitting in it. Moreover, there are seven birds in the middle of the courtyard, directly between where Renka entered and the southern pathway. This path is secrets (7). (More discussion below)
    • E (SW) - Four baby birds in a nest make this one birth (4).
    • F (W) -Six birds here, and the bird that stole something shiny ended up in this tree, making it "takes wealth" or poor (6).
    • G (NW) - These birds also never said anything, making them a candidate for "secret" along with D to the south. However, the only other rhyme unaccounted for is wedding (3), and it makes a lot more sense to apply "wedding" to the tree with multiple birds in it than to the one that had a single bird and is now empty. There were nine birds to start with, and three flew away, leaving six. That could be further evidence of being associated with the number 3. One more bird arrived during the scene, and one left, still leaving six. I'm not sure if that part is evidence for or against the rule of three here.
    Assigning tree G as wedding is the weakest of my associations, and the most probable point for my answer to be wrong, but it makes sense to me and without further clues this solution is the best I can come up with.​
     
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    I vaguely suspect that if we trace the paths of the ravens on a diagram like ccstat's, we'll get the letter W, E,or S. I'm sadly not capable of keeping track of which raven went where in my head, so I can't verify at the moment.
     
    InterstellarHobo said:
    I vaguely suspect that if we trace the paths of the ravens on a diagram like ccstat's, we'll get the letter W, E,or S. I'm sadly not capable of keeping track of which raven went where in my head, so I can't verify at the moment.
    Click to expand...
    Click to shrink...
    Here are the movements traced on my diagram. Some paths were followed more than once. Dotted lines indicate a waypoint or indirect path.
     
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