Application for Aphrodite

[seafoamrisen]

There's a shimmering in the air and a scent of roses, and suddenly manifest in the entrance plaza is a woman of nearly impossible beauty. She is tall, perfectly formed, with cascades of red-gold hair.  She wears a Greek chiton of the finest translucent linen, trimmed with gold and royal purple, and around her waist is a jewelled belt of literally

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[kuchiki]

"WAIT!" Rukia yells, running towards the woman at the entrance. She's taken it upon herself to stop anyone who tries to leave before they hurt themselves or something. She doesn't know what this woman intends to try to do, but she's going to be there.

She skids to a stop and says, more calmly, "Wait! You can't leave. And if you run off into the ether, you'll just make yourself sick."

[seafoamrisen]

"Don't be silly. And do you think I'm just going to walk out?" She closes her eyes and a look of concentration crosses her face --

And nothing happens.

She opens her eyes and frowns. "Why am I still here?"

[kuchiki]

"Because you can't leave here." There might be just a hint of smugness in the shinigami's voice, but it's mostly overpowered by genuine regret. "You can't walk out, you can't dig out, you can't fly out, you can't teleport out and you can't use any other powers to wish or wink yourself out, either."

She frowns, and amends, "There's probably some way out, but no one has found it yet."

[seafoamrisen]

Aphrodite's expression darkens. "Who's responsible for this?" she demands. "This is ridiculous -- I've never encountered such an outrage. It's complete nonsense."

[imyourking]

Tamaki had of course heard of Aphrodite before. Who hadn't? He went to the gate because he had figured it was his duty to meet every woman who came through the gates, but when he actually saw Aphrodite, he was somewhat taken a back. He had never had to charm a Goddess before (he wasn't aware of Psyche's godliness).

Still, she was just like every other woman, so he didn't let himself hesitate for too long. "Milady," he said, presenting a wildflower that he had found on his way. "I'm afraid it wasn't possible to find a flower that could match your beauty."

[seafoamrisen]

Wasn't he just adorable? And in his own way, a worshipper of hers, even if he didn't know it. She accepted the flower with surprising grace and patted him gently on the cheek. "Thank you, lovely boy," she said.

[imyourking]

Tamaki blushed a little, which was unusual for him. Though he was quite easily embarrassed, he tended to be much more composed around women. "Welcome to Disneyland, the Happiest Place on Earth," he said.

[seafoamrisen]

"But I thought it wasn't on Earth?" She seemed momentarily confused.

[unclouded_rose]

Jeliza had heard of Aphrodite before, even if she wasn't altogether familiar. Most of her knowledge of the ancients lied with the Norse-folk. She went down to the front gates, gasping aloud when she saw the newcomer. She was so used to mean, old, fat women, that such a beauty outright stunned her. Even all the very pretty girls at the park couldn't compare. She was so grand, in fact, that the normally outgoing child found herself too shy to approach for a moment. She was suddenly aware of a dirty spot on her dress (Alice in Wonderland today, her absolute favorite) -- And her hair, perhaps, was it still too messy...?

[seafoamrisen]

Why, look at the child over there. Aphrodite turned to her and smiled. "Hello, darling. Don't be shy."

[unclouded_rose]

She clasped her hands behind her back, blushing a little and slowly beginning to smile. After the briefest hesitation, she approached. "Hello..." Her still-shy smile broadened. "I'm Jeliza-Rose. You're really, really pretty." She blurted out in an amazed breath, her blush increasing.

[seafoamrisen]

"Why thank you, Jeliza-Rose. That's a lovely name. Roses are very important to me, you know." And as she'd done with Rukia, she cupped her hands together and was suddenly holding a single pale-pink rose, which she handed to the girl.

[average_adam]

Adam didn't visit a lot of people at the entrance, but he made an exception in this case. Call it curiosity, if you need a label, but he'd been compared to a Greek God enough times that he thought it would be nice to actually meet one. Well, Goddess. One who'd been born into it, at any rate.

"Hallo," he said with a bright smile. "My name's Adam. Welcome to Disneyland."

[seafoamrisen]

"Hello, Adam," Aphrodite replied, giving him a good and none-too-subtle visual once-over. "And thank you. My, I've met some interesting people here so far."

[average_adam]

"I'm sure you have," he laughed, ignoring the look with practised ease. "We're an interestin' group. Not quite as interestin' as Hogwarts, but gen'rally a lot nicer." Adam gave her something of a searching look that stayed above the neck.

[seafoamrisen]

"Oh? You were there too?" She frowned slightly. "I'd think I'd have remembered you."

[late_born_myth]

If you'd been in Psyche's path from her little pavilion in Fantasyland to the gates, you might have seen her with an unaccustomedly black expression on her bright countenance, muttering something under her breath in a long-dead language. When she reached the entrance, however, her face smoothed over into impeccable - if slightly pale - calm.

"Hail, gold-crowned Queen of Paphos, Kytherea, she whose lips are honeyed and whose eyes are sweeter than the first breath of violets, Aphrodite." There are deserts less dry than her tone.

[seafoamrisen]

Oh. It's her.

What in Tartarus is she doing here?

Still, Aphrodite is mindful of the disgrace that ensued the last time the two of them crossed paths, and there's no Eros, Ares, or Hermes to distract them or pull them off each other, so she decides to be on her best behavior whether she likes it or not.

"Thank you, Psyche, wife of my son," she replies. A pause; then she huffs out a little sigh. "How did you get here?"

[late_born_myth]

Psyche very nearly laughs out loud at her single given title. Instead, just the corners of her mouth curl up in wild (for her interactions with Aphrodite, anyway) hilarity.

"I was going down to see Persephone," she explains. She wonders whether this is the Aphrodite she saw last in Scotland. "Like you, I seem to have been...diverted."

[seafoamrisen]

"Diverted." She snorts. "Oh, yes, that's one way of putting it. I was on my way to Olympus from that dumpy little magic school." A heavy sigh. "And apparently we're stuck here, so I'm told."