Scion - Petro Campaign - Session 114
NOTE: I've just posted a big backlog of journals covering Erika's guest appearances in the latest story of BaronSamedi's Rada Scion campaign, the companion campaign to our normal Petro game, so be sure to scan back and read them if you want. Also, the previous entry covers the downtime between the last Petro and Rada stories and our new story.
Looks like we're up to no good again. Making trouble in Tien. I blame Charles. No…I blame Sonny Wu (who, you ask? Keep reading (^_^) )! Okay, that's totally unfair, but I do feel like I'm having to tread carefully in order not to upset the delicate balance Charles and I have worked so hard to build between our pantheons as proxies of Guan Yu and Amaterasu. Hmmm. Lemme 'splain.
So, there's a rebellion in Tien. It's been started by a lesser god named Chu Jun, and the rebels have a lot of gripes with the reigning authorities. See, even though the Celestial Bureaucracy is supposed to be a meritocracy, all the plush positions have been occupied by the top dogs for so long that no one else has even had a shot at them (except for isolated situations like Yi taking over Diyu). Obviously, this undermines the very principles on which the Bureaucracy is based. In addition, the rebels have gotten word (thanks to us) of the spiritual reworking that was done to Amatsukami and Bureaucracy agents during and after WWII, and they're justifiably unnerved by that sort of abuse of power.
But this isn't limited to Tien. The unrest is spilling over into Takamagahara. Quite a few of my fellow gods and a number of the kami are beginning to feel that Amaterasu is unfit to rule. Her marriage to me is no doubt fueling that fire. (>_<) Well, no one said that change would come easily, but seriously, my wife has ruled the Amatsukami for centuries, and the instant she starts to become a bit more progressive, everyone freaks out. (>_<)
Anyway, Amaterasu even banished Himiko from Takamagahara when people started suggesting that Himiko take the reigns of leadership. Honestly I don't think it was a good move for Amaterasu to do that, but she wouldn't listen to me. She can be a bit stubborn at times. So now Echo is royally pissed off at Amaterasu, because she thinks that Amaterasu banished Himiko because she was jealous of Himiko's interest in Echo. That's not true, of course, but when Echo gets something like this in her head, it's hard to convince her otherwise. Because of this, Echo left Takamagahara and is currently staying with Yi in Diyu…which is probability for the best since the last thing I need is for her to cause more tension.
So, that's the basic situation. Charles and I have been working overtime to keep things under control, and right now we're focusing our attention on the rebellion in Tien. Amaterasu has asked me to become personally involved and help resolve things in Tien so that the rebellion doesn't spill over to the Amatsukami, which is a real possibility since we're pretty sure Hundun has his hands in all of this. I mean, seriously, this sort of self-destructive chaos is exactly his style. (>_<) I'm just glad Yi and Echo are out of the line of fire in Diyu.
[Erika's Journal - Private Entry]
So, the worst part of all this is that it's undermining some of the work Charles and I have done to bridge the schism between our pantheons. Amaterasu and Guan Yu have actually been communicating regularly and trying to find ways to redress the wrongs, both real and perceived, that drove the Amatsukami and Bureaucracy apart. Unfortunately, many members of each pantheon would be against that communication at this point, so they're primarily working through Charles and me as proxies. I mean, Charles and I spend a lot time together anyway, so no one's going to think anything strange of it.
We have to keep that secret for now, though, because if the rest of our pantheons found out about Amaterasu and Guan Yu's attempts to make peace, it would just give them more ammunition for rebellion and would weaken both leaders' positions politically. Politics suck. Yeah, yeah, I'm a diplomat, so politics are my thing. But they still suck. (>_<)
[End private entry]
I should also mention that Susano-o is disturbed by the unrest in Takamagahara, and has insisted on coming up to help keep the peace and make sure no ones is bad-mouthing his sister. Of course, his presence (and the way he yells at everyone) is only exacerbating the situation, but I did gain some small amount of selfish pleasure when he dueled Hachiman after destroying the war god's palace. He means well…it's just that he's a heroic bastard, with all the issues that entails.
The whole situation has been very hard on Amaterasu, so it's a good thing I can co-locate now. One of me is staying with her at all times to help out diplomatically, but also just to provide moral support. She needs it. (T_T) Speaking of which, she's just come in from a meeting with Inari and I can tell she needs some TLC, so that me is going to be occupied for awhile.
Ummm….yeah. So anyway, Charles and I gathered Adam, Pierre, T-Bone and Elisa to help us deal with things in Tien….and Synn came along with Adam. We have to deal with the rebels and preserve the sovereignty of the Bureaucracy. The only problem is that so far, everything we've learned about the rebellion sounds pretty awesome. I mean, they're bringing some pretty legitimate grievances against the Bureaucracy. And you know how I feel about how the Bureaucracy completely remade a bunch of people as a result of their actions in WWII.
Unfortunately, supporting the rebellion really isn't an option for us. For one thing, Hundun's agents are almost certainly influencing the rebellion, and I'll be damned if I'm going to play into his hands. For another, supporting the rebellion is only going to cause unrest at a time when the gods can ill afford to be distracted from within. Not with the fever pitch of the war against the titans. And of course, if the rebellion grows stronger in Tien, it's going to inspire more unrest in Takamagahara. I can't even start to express how much of a betrayal that would be to Amaterasu. (>_<)
On top of all that, Nuwa has gone missing with Da Ji, and Charles believes she's gone to join the rebellion. Pipa Jing has been seen working with the rebels. And she's not the only goddess to sympathize with the rebels. Chang'E is supposedly with them as well, if only to spite her husband Hou Yi. Meanwhile, Kuanyin has been trying unsuccessfully to mediate.
And to make matters worse, T-Bone says Abigail St. Croix, the woman we suspect of framing him for Siobhan's rape and near-murder, has been active in Tien, and we believe she's an agent of Hundun attempting to exert his influence over the rebels. Not good. But maybe we'll get a chance to make her pay for what she did to T-Bone…if she even really exists. I still have worries about that.
Is that enough set-up for ya? Hope so. We jumped right in and decided to see if we couldn't help the rebels and the Bureaucracy reach a peaceful compromise. I mean, ideally we'd bring harmony again by helping both sides get what they want, but the Bureaucracy is even more stubborn than my wife, so I'm not sure how well that'll work. Even so, we decided to speak to the rebel leadership first to find out more about what they want and whether they're even willing to try and resolve their grievances harmoniously. And to do that, we chose to track down Nuwa. After all, Charles was charged by Guany Yu to find her and convince her to support the establishment. Good luck with that. She's still rightly pissed over what they did to Da Li.
Anyway, we sent a message to the rebel leader, Chu Jun, asking for a diplomatic audience under the auspices of Charles' role as divine mediator, then went to investigate Nuwa's palace for clues as to her whereabouts. As soon as we arrived, Elisa pointed out that someone else had been there already - a redhead, apparently. T-Bone then told us that Natalia, the daughter of the Citizen we dealt with when rooting out the vampiric corruption in China, had been operating in Tien too. Wonderful. (>_<) Still, she's been an ally in the past.
While Elisa and T-Bone investigated the upper floors of the palace, the rest of us entered the ground floor and found Da Li sitting quietly, mumbling incoherently to herself. Apparently, the brainwashing broke her when she was forced to remain mindlessly loyal to both a rebellious Nuwa and the Bureaucracy. See, this spirit reshaping thing just gets worse all the time! I hate it so much! (>_<)
I left Tabby and Sophie (the only two shikome I brought this time around) to guard the palace entry chamber and took Da Li away to get her cleaned up and fed while the others continued their investigation. The palace seemed mostly deserted when we arrived, so T-Bone and Elisa were quite surprised to find Sonny Wu, son of Sun Wukong, asleep alone in Nuwa's bed. Sonny is a Bureaucracy god, but he's not actually recognized as one and is sort of a professional scapegoat. He's also a smelly drunk, but I think his indolent, inebriated lifestyle hides a sharp wit. I don't really know him well, though. I mean, I really only met him when he came to my god party, and then Saltmarsh Andy kept him out of trouble.
By the time I got Da Li taken care of, the others had questioned Sonny and learned that he didn't have anything to do with Nuwa's disappearance and honestly didn't even know how he ended up in her bed. It's probably his father's fault. But he did offer to help up resolve the rebellion.
As a side note, when I arrived, Sonny was wearing an amazing silk robe with a fox motif. It wasn't his - it was way too feminine and apparently belonged to Da Ji. The seductive qualities of the robe (which, disturbingly, even made Sonny seem strangely appealing) were obvious, so we pieced together that Da Ji and Nuwa must have made up and were lovers again. Since we know Da Ji's been working with the rebels, there was little doubt left at that point that Nuwa had joined them too.
Unfortunately, Nuwa didn't take her Bureaucracy seal when she left. You know, the one that makes any documents stamped with it completely official? Elisa's investigation revealed that Natalia had taken it. That is so not good I don't even know where to begin. I mean, that seal is basically the equivalent of Nuwa's solemn word, and the potential chaos that could be sown by its misuse is beyond imagining. (>_<) I just hope Natalia's got the Bureaucracy's best interests in mind. (T_T)
Elisa also tracked Da Ji's movements in the palace, and learned that she has probably used the seal herself. She didn't take it, but she did take something else. We don't know what it was, though.
Anyway, after looking around Nuwa's palace, we decided to check out Da Ji's house, but first, T-Bone fixed the break in Da Li's mind and roused her from her catatonia, temporarily at least. You know, after worrying over her since we arrived, it was nice to see her brightly smiling face and eager-to-please attitude again, but that made me feel guilty. it was a very bittersweet reminder what the Bureaucracy did to her.
Da Ji's house didn't reveal anything new to us. One of her servants was there, but was pretty evasive. So I decided to cut to the chase and prayed to Nuwa, asking that she somehow get in touch with us andtelling her that we were trying to help Da Li, who had been left nearly mindless by the mind-warping effects of what the Bureaucracy had done to her. Da Ji was the one who responded, or an illusion of her, anyway. She wasn't happy about being disturbed, and it quickly became apparent that she was busy repairing her relationship with Nuwa and didn't want anything to get in the way of that. But when we told her that we were trying to mediate with the rebels, and that we believed Hundun was involved, she relented and told us to meet her and Nuwa at a nearby luxurious hot spring cave. She demanded only that we not try to woo Nuwa back to the side of the Bureaucracy, and that we not try to pull her away from Da Ji no matter what.
I didn't have a problem with that. I mean, Da Ji was obviously trying to reestablish romance with her one true love, and I certainly wasn't going to get in the way of that. In fact, I wanted to do whatever I could to encourage it. I mean, it's obvious that Da Ji and Nuwa love each other a lot, and, to be honest, I kinda see some echoes of me and Amaterasu when I look at Da Ji and Nuwa. (^_^). Fortunately, my companions agreed to Da Ji's demands too, so Charles teleported us to the hot spring.
Sigh. Can I take a moment to say that Adam is becoming more and more of an unfeeling bastard every time I see him? Seriously, I love the guy, but he is such a colossal jerk! Personally, I don't see how Synn puts up with it, but then again, she seems to have him wrapped around her finger. Which is funny (and a little insulting) since he's put so much effort into making sure he's not wrapped around MINE. (>_<)
Yeah, so anyway, we had a nice long talk with Da Ji and Nuwa. Of course, they were relaxing in the hot springs, and I couldn't resist enjoying the baths myself, so I transformed my clothing into a sexy spiderweb-patterned black bikini and joined them in the spacious, steaming pool. And then the others gave in and decided they'd enjoy it too. Sonny, Pierre, T-Bone, and Elisa didn't need much encouraging, but Adam, Synn and Charles were kinda hold-outs. Honestly, it was one of the best hot spring baths I've ever had, and the conversation went much better since we were all mellowed out. (^_^)
Nuwa and Da Ji confirmed what we knew about the rebels and filled in some missing details, most of which I've already shared this entry. One new bit of info was that Chu Jun wanted the Bureaucracy to withdraw from the affairs of the other pantheons so that it could focus on fixing itself. And that would be bad, since it would leave a gaping hole for the titans to exploit, and would leave the Bureaucracy isolated and vulnerable. Seriously, can't Chu Jun see that?
As for Da Ji, she admitted that she was mostly interested in changing the reshaped people back into their true selves, and I am totally with her on that. BTW, it's a little scary that we seem to be on the same page so much… (>_<) In this case, I imagine there's a little guilt mixed in with her feelings on what they did to her daughter.
In the end, we decided that we needed some leverage to gain Da Ji and Nuwa's help in resolving things harmoniously. So we excused ourselves and chatted a bit in a neighboring room. And we ultimately decided to fix Da Li ourselves. I mean, we know Nuwa and Da Ji are angry over what the Bureaucracy did to her, and since they aren't willing to defy the imperial edicts and return her to her true self on their own, we could do it for them. Sure, the Bureaucracy will have a collective fit when they learn about it, but you know what? F**k them. We've let this slide for too long as it is. And now that Charles has the power to repair the damage, damned if he isn't going to use it. There will be fall out, of course, but Sonny assures us that we can just blame him for it. The rest of the Bureaucracy does it all the time. Yeah, Sonny's all right. (^_^)
I kept Da Li entranced while Charles gracefully reshaped her spirit, undoing the brainwashing and returning her to the same woman who was working with the corrupted vampires and almost killed me. But she remembers everything, and doesn't blame us at all for what happened to her. She doesn't bear us a grudge at all, in fact, but she's pretty pissed off at the Bureaucracy, and I think it's pretty safe to say she's joining the rebellion with her parents. Personally, I wouldn't care if she did hate us. The important thing is that she's who she is supposed to be again, and that's all the matters right, now.
She wants her naginata back, though, so I guess I'm going to have to convince Audrey to give it up. Poor Audrey…she's grown pretty attached to that weapon. (T_T)
Hold on…a messenger's just arrived with urgent news.
Oh great. Looks like Hou Yi and Xiwangmu's army has engaged the rebel forces led by Chang'E and a dragon named Ao Shun. Not sure who started it, but this is bad. I'd hoped we could forestall any open conflict…but it looks like we're too late.
More later.
Looks like we're up to no good again. Making trouble in Tien. I blame Charles. No…I blame Sonny Wu (who, you ask? Keep reading (^_^) )! Okay, that's totally unfair, but I do feel like I'm having to tread carefully in order not to upset the delicate balance Charles and I have worked so hard to build between our pantheons as proxies of Guan Yu and Amaterasu. Hmmm. Lemme 'splain.
So, there's a rebellion in Tien. It's been started by a lesser god named Chu Jun, and the rebels have a lot of gripes with the reigning authorities. See, even though the Celestial Bureaucracy is supposed to be a meritocracy, all the plush positions have been occupied by the top dogs for so long that no one else has even had a shot at them (except for isolated situations like Yi taking over Diyu). Obviously, this undermines the very principles on which the Bureaucracy is based. In addition, the rebels have gotten word (thanks to us) of the spiritual reworking that was done to Amatsukami and Bureaucracy agents during and after WWII, and they're justifiably unnerved by that sort of abuse of power.
But this isn't limited to Tien. The unrest is spilling over into Takamagahara. Quite a few of my fellow gods and a number of the kami are beginning to feel that Amaterasu is unfit to rule. Her marriage to me is no doubt fueling that fire. (>_<) Well, no one said that change would come easily, but seriously, my wife has ruled the Amatsukami for centuries, and the instant she starts to become a bit more progressive, everyone freaks out. (>_<)
Anyway, Amaterasu even banished Himiko from Takamagahara when people started suggesting that Himiko take the reigns of leadership. Honestly I don't think it was a good move for Amaterasu to do that, but she wouldn't listen to me. She can be a bit stubborn at times. So now Echo is royally pissed off at Amaterasu, because she thinks that Amaterasu banished Himiko because she was jealous of Himiko's interest in Echo. That's not true, of course, but when Echo gets something like this in her head, it's hard to convince her otherwise. Because of this, Echo left Takamagahara and is currently staying with Yi in Diyu…which is probability for the best since the last thing I need is for her to cause more tension.
So, that's the basic situation. Charles and I have been working overtime to keep things under control, and right now we're focusing our attention on the rebellion in Tien. Amaterasu has asked me to become personally involved and help resolve things in Tien so that the rebellion doesn't spill over to the Amatsukami, which is a real possibility since we're pretty sure Hundun has his hands in all of this. I mean, seriously, this sort of self-destructive chaos is exactly his style. (>_<) I'm just glad Yi and Echo are out of the line of fire in Diyu.
[Erika's Journal - Private Entry]
So, the worst part of all this is that it's undermining some of the work Charles and I have done to bridge the schism between our pantheons. Amaterasu and Guan Yu have actually been communicating regularly and trying to find ways to redress the wrongs, both real and perceived, that drove the Amatsukami and Bureaucracy apart. Unfortunately, many members of each pantheon would be against that communication at this point, so they're primarily working through Charles and me as proxies. I mean, Charles and I spend a lot time together anyway, so no one's going to think anything strange of it.
We have to keep that secret for now, though, because if the rest of our pantheons found out about Amaterasu and Guan Yu's attempts to make peace, it would just give them more ammunition for rebellion and would weaken both leaders' positions politically. Politics suck. Yeah, yeah, I'm a diplomat, so politics are my thing. But they still suck. (>_<)
[End private entry]
I should also mention that Susano-o is disturbed by the unrest in Takamagahara, and has insisted on coming up to help keep the peace and make sure no ones is bad-mouthing his sister. Of course, his presence (and the way he yells at everyone) is only exacerbating the situation, but I did gain some small amount of selfish pleasure when he dueled Hachiman after destroying the war god's palace. He means well…it's just that he's a heroic bastard, with all the issues that entails.
The whole situation has been very hard on Amaterasu, so it's a good thing I can co-locate now. One of me is staying with her at all times to help out diplomatically, but also just to provide moral support. She needs it. (T_T) Speaking of which, she's just come in from a meeting with Inari and I can tell she needs some TLC, so that me is going to be occupied for awhile.
Ummm….yeah. So anyway, Charles and I gathered Adam, Pierre, T-Bone and Elisa to help us deal with things in Tien….and Synn came along with Adam. We have to deal with the rebels and preserve the sovereignty of the Bureaucracy. The only problem is that so far, everything we've learned about the rebellion sounds pretty awesome. I mean, they're bringing some pretty legitimate grievances against the Bureaucracy. And you know how I feel about how the Bureaucracy completely remade a bunch of people as a result of their actions in WWII.
Unfortunately, supporting the rebellion really isn't an option for us. For one thing, Hundun's agents are almost certainly influencing the rebellion, and I'll be damned if I'm going to play into his hands. For another, supporting the rebellion is only going to cause unrest at a time when the gods can ill afford to be distracted from within. Not with the fever pitch of the war against the titans. And of course, if the rebellion grows stronger in Tien, it's going to inspire more unrest in Takamagahara. I can't even start to express how much of a betrayal that would be to Amaterasu. (>_<)
On top of all that, Nuwa has gone missing with Da Ji, and Charles believes she's gone to join the rebellion. Pipa Jing has been seen working with the rebels. And she's not the only goddess to sympathize with the rebels. Chang'E is supposedly with them as well, if only to spite her husband Hou Yi. Meanwhile, Kuanyin has been trying unsuccessfully to mediate.
And to make matters worse, T-Bone says Abigail St. Croix, the woman we suspect of framing him for Siobhan's rape and near-murder, has been active in Tien, and we believe she's an agent of Hundun attempting to exert his influence over the rebels. Not good. But maybe we'll get a chance to make her pay for what she did to T-Bone…if she even really exists. I still have worries about that.
Is that enough set-up for ya? Hope so. We jumped right in and decided to see if we couldn't help the rebels and the Bureaucracy reach a peaceful compromise. I mean, ideally we'd bring harmony again by helping both sides get what they want, but the Bureaucracy is even more stubborn than my wife, so I'm not sure how well that'll work. Even so, we decided to speak to the rebel leadership first to find out more about what they want and whether they're even willing to try and resolve their grievances harmoniously. And to do that, we chose to track down Nuwa. After all, Charles was charged by Guany Yu to find her and convince her to support the establishment. Good luck with that. She's still rightly pissed over what they did to Da Li.
Anyway, we sent a message to the rebel leader, Chu Jun, asking for a diplomatic audience under the auspices of Charles' role as divine mediator, then went to investigate Nuwa's palace for clues as to her whereabouts. As soon as we arrived, Elisa pointed out that someone else had been there already - a redhead, apparently. T-Bone then told us that Natalia, the daughter of the Citizen we dealt with when rooting out the vampiric corruption in China, had been operating in Tien too. Wonderful. (>_<) Still, she's been an ally in the past.
While Elisa and T-Bone investigated the upper floors of the palace, the rest of us entered the ground floor and found Da Li sitting quietly, mumbling incoherently to herself. Apparently, the brainwashing broke her when she was forced to remain mindlessly loyal to both a rebellious Nuwa and the Bureaucracy. See, this spirit reshaping thing just gets worse all the time! I hate it so much! (>_<)
I left Tabby and Sophie (the only two shikome I brought this time around) to guard the palace entry chamber and took Da Li away to get her cleaned up and fed while the others continued their investigation. The palace seemed mostly deserted when we arrived, so T-Bone and Elisa were quite surprised to find Sonny Wu, son of Sun Wukong, asleep alone in Nuwa's bed. Sonny is a Bureaucracy god, but he's not actually recognized as one and is sort of a professional scapegoat. He's also a smelly drunk, but I think his indolent, inebriated lifestyle hides a sharp wit. I don't really know him well, though. I mean, I really only met him when he came to my god party, and then Saltmarsh Andy kept him out of trouble.
By the time I got Da Li taken care of, the others had questioned Sonny and learned that he didn't have anything to do with Nuwa's disappearance and honestly didn't even know how he ended up in her bed. It's probably his father's fault. But he did offer to help up resolve the rebellion.
As a side note, when I arrived, Sonny was wearing an amazing silk robe with a fox motif. It wasn't his - it was way too feminine and apparently belonged to Da Ji. The seductive qualities of the robe (which, disturbingly, even made Sonny seem strangely appealing) were obvious, so we pieced together that Da Ji and Nuwa must have made up and were lovers again. Since we know Da Ji's been working with the rebels, there was little doubt left at that point that Nuwa had joined them too.
Unfortunately, Nuwa didn't take her Bureaucracy seal when she left. You know, the one that makes any documents stamped with it completely official? Elisa's investigation revealed that Natalia had taken it. That is so not good I don't even know where to begin. I mean, that seal is basically the equivalent of Nuwa's solemn word, and the potential chaos that could be sown by its misuse is beyond imagining. (>_<) I just hope Natalia's got the Bureaucracy's best interests in mind. (T_T)
Elisa also tracked Da Ji's movements in the palace, and learned that she has probably used the seal herself. She didn't take it, but she did take something else. We don't know what it was, though.
Anyway, after looking around Nuwa's palace, we decided to check out Da Ji's house, but first, T-Bone fixed the break in Da Li's mind and roused her from her catatonia, temporarily at least. You know, after worrying over her since we arrived, it was nice to see her brightly smiling face and eager-to-please attitude again, but that made me feel guilty. it was a very bittersweet reminder what the Bureaucracy did to her.
Da Ji's house didn't reveal anything new to us. One of her servants was there, but was pretty evasive. So I decided to cut to the chase and prayed to Nuwa, asking that she somehow get in touch with us andtelling her that we were trying to help Da Li, who had been left nearly mindless by the mind-warping effects of what the Bureaucracy had done to her. Da Ji was the one who responded, or an illusion of her, anyway. She wasn't happy about being disturbed, and it quickly became apparent that she was busy repairing her relationship with Nuwa and didn't want anything to get in the way of that. But when we told her that we were trying to mediate with the rebels, and that we believed Hundun was involved, she relented and told us to meet her and Nuwa at a nearby luxurious hot spring cave. She demanded only that we not try to woo Nuwa back to the side of the Bureaucracy, and that we not try to pull her away from Da Ji no matter what.
I didn't have a problem with that. I mean, Da Ji was obviously trying to reestablish romance with her one true love, and I certainly wasn't going to get in the way of that. In fact, I wanted to do whatever I could to encourage it. I mean, it's obvious that Da Ji and Nuwa love each other a lot, and, to be honest, I kinda see some echoes of me and Amaterasu when I look at Da Ji and Nuwa. (^_^). Fortunately, my companions agreed to Da Ji's demands too, so Charles teleported us to the hot spring.
Sigh. Can I take a moment to say that Adam is becoming more and more of an unfeeling bastard every time I see him? Seriously, I love the guy, but he is such a colossal jerk! Personally, I don't see how Synn puts up with it, but then again, she seems to have him wrapped around her finger. Which is funny (and a little insulting) since he's put so much effort into making sure he's not wrapped around MINE. (>_<)
Yeah, so anyway, we had a nice long talk with Da Ji and Nuwa. Of course, they were relaxing in the hot springs, and I couldn't resist enjoying the baths myself, so I transformed my clothing into a sexy spiderweb-patterned black bikini and joined them in the spacious, steaming pool. And then the others gave in and decided they'd enjoy it too. Sonny, Pierre, T-Bone, and Elisa didn't need much encouraging, but Adam, Synn and Charles were kinda hold-outs. Honestly, it was one of the best hot spring baths I've ever had, and the conversation went much better since we were all mellowed out. (^_^)
Nuwa and Da Ji confirmed what we knew about the rebels and filled in some missing details, most of which I've already shared this entry. One new bit of info was that Chu Jun wanted the Bureaucracy to withdraw from the affairs of the other pantheons so that it could focus on fixing itself. And that would be bad, since it would leave a gaping hole for the titans to exploit, and would leave the Bureaucracy isolated and vulnerable. Seriously, can't Chu Jun see that?
As for Da Ji, she admitted that she was mostly interested in changing the reshaped people back into their true selves, and I am totally with her on that. BTW, it's a little scary that we seem to be on the same page so much… (>_<) In this case, I imagine there's a little guilt mixed in with her feelings on what they did to her daughter.
In the end, we decided that we needed some leverage to gain Da Ji and Nuwa's help in resolving things harmoniously. So we excused ourselves and chatted a bit in a neighboring room. And we ultimately decided to fix Da Li ourselves. I mean, we know Nuwa and Da Ji are angry over what the Bureaucracy did to her, and since they aren't willing to defy the imperial edicts and return her to her true self on their own, we could do it for them. Sure, the Bureaucracy will have a collective fit when they learn about it, but you know what? F**k them. We've let this slide for too long as it is. And now that Charles has the power to repair the damage, damned if he isn't going to use it. There will be fall out, of course, but Sonny assures us that we can just blame him for it. The rest of the Bureaucracy does it all the time. Yeah, Sonny's all right. (^_^)
I kept Da Li entranced while Charles gracefully reshaped her spirit, undoing the brainwashing and returning her to the same woman who was working with the corrupted vampires and almost killed me. But she remembers everything, and doesn't blame us at all for what happened to her. She doesn't bear us a grudge at all, in fact, but she's pretty pissed off at the Bureaucracy, and I think it's pretty safe to say she's joining the rebellion with her parents. Personally, I wouldn't care if she did hate us. The important thing is that she's who she is supposed to be again, and that's all the matters right, now.
She wants her naginata back, though, so I guess I'm going to have to convince Audrey to give it up. Poor Audrey…she's grown pretty attached to that weapon. (T_T)
Hold on…a messenger's just arrived with urgent news.
Oh great. Looks like Hou Yi and Xiwangmu's army has engaged the rebel forces led by Chang'E and a dragon named Ao Shun. Not sure who started it, but this is bad. I'd hoped we could forestall any open conflict…but it looks like we're too late.
More later.