Atlas put all of the purchases he was carrying into his Divinity as soon as he arrived in his God's Realm. Aurora did the same, and they headed off to the Observation room, talking on the way.
"We should probably come up with a plan of action for what we're going to do next," Aurora said, "What were you thinking?"
"Well," Atlas said thoughtfully, "You activated the Time Skip before we left, right?"
"And paused right after so nothing happened while we were gone," Aurora nodded.
They arrived at the Observation room, and Atlas looked at the screen displaying their planet.
"Well, they've certainly been busy," He remarked. The whole planet was covered in plant-life, and he could even see fish swimming in the ocean. He zoomed in on one of the continents, spotting a herd of buffalo like creatures running across an open field.
"They've got the plants and animals thing down," Atlas nodded, "The ecosystem is coming along nicely."
Aurora had pulled up her own screen, "From what I can see, they've finished the weather and season systems as well. It looks like they're pretty well done with all of the tasks we've left them."
"Good," Atlas nodded, "Then we can move on."
"What systems are you going to activate?" Aurora asked.
"[Dragons] and [Mythical Creatures] for sure," Atlas said, "But I was thinking of purchasing a few more races too."
"Good," Aurora said, "You only have Elves right now, and you didn't even finish them."
"Ah, right," Atlas had completely forgotten about that, "I'll do that now then."
"I'll help," Aurora said, "I am an Elven Goddess, after all." She gestured to her ears, which had changed back to being pointy again.
Atlas sat down on the couch, and Aurora sat next to him, leaning on his shoulder to get a good look at the screen. He pulled up the Races tab, and selected Elves. The full fill out form was available to him now.
[Species Name: Elves]
[Lifespan: 500 years]
[Strengths: _____]
[Weaknesses: _____]
[Gift: _____]
"Yeah, see?" Aurora said, "You only added their Race's name and Lifespan."
That brought up a question Atlas had been meaning to ask, "How long is a year on our world, Aurora?"
"A bit longer than Earth," Aurora replied, "Three hundred and eighty four days. Oh, but days are still twenty four hours long, with sixty minutes to an hour, and sixty seconds to the minute."
"Cool, that will help make it less confusing for me," Atlas nodded, "Anyway, moving on. What sort of things go in strengths and weaknesses?"
"If we had bought the [Stats] system we'd put them here, but since we didn't, I think just general descriptions?" Aurora said, thinking for a moment, "Yeah, the Domain will convert the words we use into actual genetic strengths and weaknesses, so there shouldn't be any problems doing that."
Hmm. "I'm thinking that Elves are pretty good at magic, right?" Atlas said, looking at Aurora, who nodded, "They're also pretty wise, I suppose?"
"Sounds good to me," She said.
"And for weaknesses..." Atlas thought for a moment, "They're a pretty spiritual race, sort of ethereal. Some stories even have them fade from existence because of heartbreak."
"Oh?" Aurora said, "So they don't have a lot of Fortitude, you mean?"
"Yeah," Atlas nodded, "Exactly!" He filled the Strengths option with Magic and Wisdom, and the Weaknesses with Fortitude.
"If the Strengths and Weaknesses aren't even, it will cost 20 DP," Aurora explained, gesturing to the screen where Atlas could see that there was a note saying that finalizing the Form would cost DP, "If there's more Strengths, it adds 20 DP for each extra Strength. If there's less, it takes 20 DP off of the cost for every extra Weakness."
"That's good to know," Atlas said, "But I can't really think of another weakness."
"We can come back to it," She said, "You were going to create some other races, right?"
Atlas nodded, "Yeah. I'm thinking at least Dwarves and Humans."
"You'll get humans for free,"Aurora reminded.
"Right," Atlas said, remembering that now, "So another race as well. Maybe Halflings, or Beastmen?" Hmm, hard to choose. Well, he'd just start making Dwarves while he thought about it.
"Okay, so Dwarves will have a Lifespan of two hundred," Atlas said, "And be good at Crafting and Defense. Weaknesses... Wisdom, Dwarves are smart, but can make poor choices. And I don't know, Dexterity?"
"Why Dexterity?" Aurora asked, "I think it's fine, I'm just curious."
"Well, they're tough, like stone, so their movement isn't as good," Atlas said, before pausing, "What exactly does it mean by Gift?"
"It's what is sounds like," Aurora said, "it's a Gift from you, that some of them will get at birth. Each Gift costs 20 DP."
"Neat," Atlas said, "I'll give the Dwarves Stone-Sense, the ability to read the earth around them. They'll be able to sense where to mine to find precious metals and stones, and where not to mine, so as not to cause a cave-in or dig up dangerous gasses."
He filled out the Dwarves Race Sheet.
[Species Name: Dwarves]
[Lifespan: 200 years]
[Strengths: Crafting, Defense]
[Weaknesses: Wisdom, Dexterity]
[Gift: Stone-Sense]
Once he finished and pressed enter, a prompt appeared for him to fill out average appearances as well. He made the Dwarves short and stocky, of course, with long beards for the men, and long sideburns for the women. Dwarves gotta have beards, right? He also wasn't a fan of the trope of having adult Dwarven males be all bearded and rugged, while the adult females looked like little girls. Kinda creepy. He made sure both sexes aged appropriately. All skin tones and hair colors would be possible.
And with that, Dwarves were complete! He saved the Race Sheet which cost 220 DP, but didn't activate it yet.
Next, he went on to the Humans, "Lifespan one hundred and twenty, no Strengths or Weaknesses, Gift... Potential. They won't be particularly strong or weak in any category, so all roads are open to them. If they work hard they can succeed in anything they try to do."
He filled that Race Sheet out too.
[Species Name: Humans]
[Lifespan: 120 years]
[Strengths: None]
[Weaknesses: None]
[Gift: Potential]
The Humans average appearance sheet was apparently already filled out, Atlas guessed that it was because it was taken from Earth's information sheet, which Aurora confirmed.
Atlas decided to make sheets for Halflings and Beastmen as well.
"Halflings' Strengths are Stealth and Speed, and Weaknesses are Strength and Stamina. So they're fast, but don't have long distance. Lifespan...One hundred and fifty years. Gift... Traveler. They have the ability to duck out of sight and reappear somewhere else instantaneously. It only works with line of sight, though."
"So similar to a short range teleportation spell," Aurora said.
"Yes," Atlas said, "But it doesn't cost any mana." He filled out their Race Sheet.
[Species Name: Halflings]
[Lifespan: 150 years]
[Strengths: Stealth, Speed]
[Weaknesses: Strength, Stamina]
[Gift: Traveler]
Atlas also filled out the Halflings Average Appearance sheet. Halflings were just as diverse as Humans, albeit only half as tall. They were the shortest race, narrowly beating Dwarves for the win, and had pointed ears like the Elves. They also couldn't grow beards, unlike the Dwarves, who started growing beards right after childhood. He purchased the finished Halflings for 170 DP.
Beastmen were next, "Lifespan one hundred and twenty years. They're good at Perception, seeing as they have animal-like senses, and they're good with their bodies, so Dexterity, too. They're not very good at Magic, and have low Charisma. Why else would so many stories have them be hated and feared?"
"And their Gift?" Aurora asked.
"Beast-Shape, some of them will have the ability to transform fully into their animal half." Atlas said. He filled out their race sheet.
[Species Name: Beastmen]
[Lifespan: 120 years]
[Strengths: Perception, Dexterity]
[Weaknesses: Magic, Charisma]
[Gift: Beast-Shape]
Filling out the average appearance sheet for the Beastmen turned out to be harder than he expected. He ended up having to add information for all of the animals he could think of, greatly raising the price. But anyway, Beastmen were as varied as humans, not considering the animal parts. With the animal parts however, there was a much greater degree of variation. Beastmen would have the identifying features of their animal halves. If those animals didn't have all of the parts humans in which case they would have regular human versions. So, while snakes and seals didn't have ears, Snake and Seal Beastmen had human ears. They would also generally keep any special biological functions the animal had. For example, Bat Beastmen had somewhat poor vision, but made up for it with a sonar ability.
All in all, it ended up costing an extra 200 DP to create the Beastmen race, totaling in 320 DP. Now they were back at the Elves again.
"How about a Spirit Vision ability?" Aurora asked, "They'll have better vision, distance sight, and be able to see the Nature Spirits."
"Sounds good," Atlas nodded, "I was thinking their other weakness could be Defense. They're more like Spellcasters and Archers, or maybe a Rogue, anyway."
Aurora nodded, "That works."
Atlas filled out the Elven Race Sheet with that new information.
[Species Name: Elves]
[Lifespan: 500 years]
[Strengths: Magic, Wisdom]
[Weaknesses: Fortitude, Defense]
[Gift: Spirit Vision]
Atlas set it so that Elves could be just as diverse as humans. There was even a precedent for it in fiction, the dark-haired tanned Wood Elves, the light-skinned blonde High Elves, and the dark-skinned silver haired Dark Elves. He didn't separate them into different categories, though. They were all Elves. Atlas also attached the Gift Spirit Vision to bright green eyes, like Aurora's. Every Elf that was born with Spirit Vision would have Aurora's green eyes, no matter what their genetics said. Finalizing that only cost 20 DP, which confused Atlas. He turned to look at Aurora.
"You already bought the Race for 500 DP, remember?" Aurora prompted. Right, Atlas had forgotten.
"Five races seems good to start, right?" He asked, changing the subject.
"Humans, Elves, Dwarves, Halflings, and Beastmen," Aurora listed off, "And we're adding [Dragons] and [Mythical Creatures], too."
"That reminds me," Atlas said, "Now that we're adding the Races, we should activate [Kingdoms], [Titles], and [Crafting]." He was going to wait to add [Monsters] and [Adventurers] until the races were a little more established.
"Right," Aurora nodded, "we can activate those at any time, but we might want to talk to the Spirit Kings before adding any lifeforms to their planet."
Atlas nodded, "That's probably a good idea. I'll activate the Systems then, but wait on the Races and Creature Packs." He activated [Kingdoms], [Titles], and [Crafting], and looked at Aurora, "Should we use an Oracle to announce our arrival again?"
"Definitely," She nodded, "It would be kind of rude to show up unannounced."
"Let's get ready, then send the Oracle," Atlas said, "We have to create all of the things we promised to bring."
"Right," Aurora nodded, and they got to work.
Cybele was finally getting to relax. The past Millennia was hectic, filled with lots of creation and management of those creations. Life was a lot of work! She sighed, settling down into the hotspring, and lifted the cup of fruit juice to her lips. It was one of her newer creations, a small but sweet fruit that grew on a vine. When Nimue had introduced her to the idea of making food, she'd been inspired. Sure, she wasn't very good yet, she was sure her Father was better. She could make simple meals, preferring more sweet foods over savory.
A smallish canid ambled closer, it's light blue fur wet from the spring waters. She gave it some pets behind the ears, and it cooed at her. All around her were her creations, carnivores, herbivores, and omnivores all relaxing together. They knew that, while she had created them this way on purpose, it still hurt her to see them attacking each other. There was no fighting in her presence, it was a Rule. There was also no fighting in any places she frequented, such as this hotspring. None of them wanted her to find blood in one of her resting places, so if the Spirit King of Life's magical energy was in an area, it became a safe spot for all animals.
Cybele knew this, and was thankful to her creations. She also knew that some of them needed to hunt each other, so she avoided most wild places after she had completed them. As much as they didn't want to make her sad, she didn't want to force them to starve themselves. Naturally she was a vegetarian, but she had no problem eating plants and animal products that didn't involve hurting the animal. All plants were happy to offer her their fruits and seeds, and they would even give her some of their roots that they'd grown, usually grown specifically for her. Animals were the same, birds happy to offer their unfertilized eggs, but only after she'd double checked that they were indeed unfertilized. Colonies of fuzzy insects she'd created would offer her their extra stored nectar, and nursing mammals would gladly give some of their milk if asked.
In this way she'd really expanded her cooking repertoire, with lots of experimentation. Some of her great successes were her breads and cakes, and by combining them with the fruit she'd created, she had even made a fruitcake that Vesta and Khione had fawned over. Her favorite creation was juice, however. Drinking a cold, sweet liquid while relaxing in a hot bath was the best way to de-stress. The canid curled up next to her, and an even smaller creature with long ears and lots of fuzz approached her as well, jumping into the air and twisting around quickly. It ran up to her and stopped before flopping over. She smiled and gave it some pets as well.
My beloved Children,
We have missed you, and now it is time
We will be at the place where the star landed
We will be waiting, see you soon
Ohmygosh! Cybele sat upright quickly, surprising the surrounding animals, "Sorry, sorry," She apologized, gesturing for calm, "I just got an important message. I'm afraid I'll have to cut this short." She sighed, seeing the sad looks on all of the animals' faces, "I know, I wish I could stay longer as well, but this can't wait." She stood up, the water sliding right off of her leaving her dry. Conjuring a long flowing dress, it appeared on her body. It was green, and had yellow embroidery in the shape of tall stalks of grains along the hem. A yellow sash ran around her middle.
The small creature hopped up to her and placed it's forelegs on her shins, "Do you wish to accompany me?" She asked, bending down. She outstretched her arms, and the fluffy grey creature flopped into them. Standing back up, she held the creature in the crook of her left arm, and and began floating upwards. She turned as she rose, waving to the creatures still on the ground, as a few colorful birds flew up to join her, landing on her shoulders. She turned again, and continued her ascent, gaining speed. She knew which island the message was talking about, and turned in that direction. She cast a quick spell to shield the creatures accompanying her, and took off into the distance.
Vulcan was in his workroom. It was deep in the bowels of a volcano, and extremely hot. But, seeing as he was the Spirit King of Fire, such heat didn't affect him too much. He was at a particularly tricky stage in the forging process, where he had to continuously pound and fold the metal. How long did he have to do that for? Until the blade was completed. How long would that take? Who knows? He'd been working on this blade for a while now. Made out of mithril, it would be extremely difficult to find this much of that elusive metal again. He'd have to beg Titan to grow some if he wanted more of it quickly.
Speaking of Titan, it was him that got Vulcan on the path of creating these weapons. Something he mentioned he heard their Father say. That there would be more creatures that Father would create, and that some of them might be dangerous. It got Vulcan worried. So, he'd designed some instruments that his Ifrit and the other Nature Spirits could use to protect themselves. Sure, they had Magic, but that wasn't good enough. No Magic was unbeatable. He'd also been working on some things to cover their bodies with, made with tough and strong materials. Hopefully, once these creatures arrived it would prove to be unnecessary.
This fold was probably the last, Vulcan decided, pounding the metal into shape. As soon as he was done, he dunked the blade into a nearby bucket of water, sending a cloud of steam into the air. It was kind of difficult to get water to stay liquid down here, with all of this heat. He'd asked Nimue, and she'd helped him learn a spell to keep the water cooler. It was pretty handy, if he did say so himself.
It was right about then that the Oracle happened. Vulcan, stunned, sat there a moment. All of the sudden, he burst into motion, packing up his tools and putting them away. A Ifrit woman came running in, panting. "My King!" She shouted, "The light has appeared in the sky again, your Father is descending!"
"To the North of here, yes?" Vulcan nodded, taking off hid work apron and throwing on a shirt. He rushed out of the room, nodding to the Ifrit.
He wanted to say he looked calm, but honestly it probably looked like he was panicking, running full tilt through the halls towards the surface. He ducked around a maid carrying bedsheets, nearly knocking her over, and yelled his apologies over his shoulder.as he continued upwards.
Through the final door, and he was outside, the tropical breeze cooling his skin. But he didn't really have time for that! He could see the remains of the pillar of light and he leapt into the air, flying in that direction.
Khione was having tea. It was a practice she'd gotten into the habit of over the Millennia, after Cybele had introduced the brewing process. It was relaxing, and the perfect way to warm up after a long day of work outside in the snow. Not that she got cold, mind you, it was just an expression. She sipped at the warm liquid and set the cup back on the saucer. She looked outside, her castle had a glorious view of the icy tundra in the north part of the western continent. She could see a herd of Cybele's creations, gallivanting in the newly fallen snow. It snowed nearly year round here, which was why she'd chosen to have her castle built here.
She loved the snow. A good thing too, seeing as her work involved a lot of it. Bringing winter every year wasn't easy, but it was what their Father wanted. 'A time of rest', he'd said, what a beautiful way to put it. And it was a time of rest, a necessary one. She'd come to understand that, over the Millennia. It had seemed like a chore at first, a boring and difficult task that she didn't really want to do, but it had become much easier over the years. She'd become better at it, and the world had adapted to it as well. The animals even expected it now, having added hibernation to their schedules. It was something she even enjoyed nowadays, which would have shocked her younger self. Father really did always have a plan, it seems.
Anyway, tea. Cybele had baked her an excellent fruitcake to go with this, the sweetness of the cake harmonizing with the slightly bitter tea. She had just taken a bite when the Oracle sounded, and she listened intently, continuing to enjoy her tea as she did. Once it was done she sighed. Unfortunately tea time would have to be cut short today. She waved over a Sprite, and handed her the cup and saucer she was holding. Standing up, she nodded to the Sprite, "I'll be back later, please clean all of this up for me." The Sprite bowed low, managing not to spill the contents of the cup she was carrying. Khione nodded, smiling softly, "Please tell the brewer that the tea was excellent today." She said, then exited the room.
Closing the door behind her, Khione concentrated. She was much too far away to fly, so she'd have to teleport. She'd been to the island where Father and Aurora first appeared, so that made things much easier. If she hadn't, she'd have needed to cast a scrying spell first, and the scrying itself would have taken some time. She was glad that she'd planned ahead. Picturing the Runic Circle of the teleportation spell, Khione summoned her mana together and pushed it into the image. The Circle appeared in front of her, and, picturing her destination in her mind, Khione stepped through the circle and vanished.
Jupiter was asleep. This time of year didn't have a lot of storms, and even if it did, Jupiter would still probably be asleep. He enjoyed sleeping, even if it wasn't necessary. It had become a bad habit in recent years, seeing as his missions were mostly complete. He'd even had a bunch of cloth sacks filled with soft plant fibers made, specifically for more comfortable sleep. He was just so bored. He'd tried a lot of different hobbies, but none had really clicked. If Nimue saw him right now, he'd probably get in trouble. Anyway, the Oracle woke him up. He startled, sitting up quickly, and fell off of his pile of pillows, landing with a 'thud'.
"Ouch," He moaned, rubbing his head, still sleepy. He looked around the room he was in. It was his 'sleeping chamber' as he called it, a room he'd had built off of his office in his mountain castle. The mountain was on a larger island, in the south-eastern ocean. He waited for the Oracle to finish, then stood up and gave a big stretch.
A Raiju male stuck his head in the room, "You alright, my King?"
"Fine," He said, hopefully none of them saw that, "Did you all get the Oracle as well?"
"Of course," The Raiju nodded, "Will you be heading out?"
"I'm sure I'm meant to," Jupiter sighed, "And I'll get in a lot of trouble if I don't, so..." He trailed off.
"We'll be waiting for your return, my King," The Raiju nodded.
Jupiter sighed, "I'll be back, keep everything afloat while I'm gone." He nodded to the Raiju, who saluted. Stepping into his office, Jupiter ran off the connected balcony, taking flight. He knew where the island mentioned in the Oracle was, and he headed in that direction.
Atlas and Aurora had reached the ground, after floating down in a beam of light. They'd gussied themselves up again, robes and halos and all that. The island itself had been gussied up as well, there was a lovely new plaza built where they landed, and surrounding it was a lush tropical forest. Vesta was again waiting for them, but this time she wasn't alone. Titan and Khione were also there, though Khione seemed a bit more nervous than the others. Vesta ran to give Aurora a hug.
"Aurora!" She cried, "Father! It's so good to see you again!" She finished hugging Aurora and hugged Atlas next. He hugged her back, smiling. Vesta pulled back and grinned at him, "How have you been?"
"Good," Atlas said, "We've brought gifts." And boy had they. Atlas had made copies of the books, though he'd left out any that would confuse them too much, and Aurora had cast some magic so the books wouldn't be affected by Time or the Elements. He'd mostly brought along Fantasy books with more simple stories to start. He'd also begrudgingly watched some musical theater, and while he wasn't really a fan of the style, he could admit that the performances were excellent from a technical standpoint. He just hoped that Nimue enjoyed them.
They'd figured out how to attach memories to crystals, and how to use magic to play the recorded memories. Well, Aurora figured it out, he'd been busy recreating some of the more impressive foods he'd eaten over the course of his life. Like the expensive chocolate cake his parents had bought him when he'd graduated high school, the entrees at his Aunt's wedding, or the catering from some of the fancier restaurants he'd been to. He'd also looked up the recipes for said foods, and what each ingredient was actually made from, so hopefully the Spirit Kings would be able to make some themselves.
Titan approached them as well, bringing Khione along with him. He nodded to Atlas and Atlas nodded back, before turning to look at Khione.
"It's nice to finally meet you in person, Khione," Atlas said, smiling.
She smiled shyly, tucking her hair behind her ear, "Yes, I've been looking forward to this too."
While they were greeting each other Nimue and Boreas had arrived, bringing Jupiter with them. It almost sounded like Nimue was scolding Jupiter as they walked up the beach, but she stopped as soon as everyone came into earshot.
"Nimue!" Aurora called, and waved the others over, "And this must be Jupiter."
Nimue nodded as she walked over, Jupiter and Boreas behind her, "Yes, that's him."
"I am capable of introducing myself," Jupiter said, rolling his eyes. He stepped forward and presented his hand to Atlas, "Hey, I'm Jupiter, Spirit King of Storm. But you already knew that."
Atlas took his hand, smiling, "It's nice to officially meet you, Jupiter."
Jupiter nodded, "Likewise."
"So where were we planning to go?" Aurora asked, "Last time there was a party at Nimue's castle, will we be going there again?"
"That was originally the plan," Nimue said, "But after Titan built this plaza to spruce things up, we decided that having a party outdoors wasn't a bad idea. We've been keeping the weather nice, just so we could do this here."
"Oh?" Atlas said, "That sounds like fun."
Vesta took over, "I took care of preparing for this one, I've got all of the things in my Spacial Pocket."
"You got the Spacial Pocket spells working?" Aurora smiled, "Wonderful! Those will definitely come in handy."
Nimue nodded, "I finally figured out that two spells were necessary for the spell to work. One to initially create and establish a connection with a Pocket Space. This one only needs to be cast once. The second one is the spell that accesses the space, allowing for the putting in and taking out of items."
Atlas had been mostly figuring out his Divinity so far, so he hadn't really had a chance to try out magic yet. He'd have to get Aurora to teach him how spell casting works, because right now, this conversation was kind of flying over his head.
Vesta created a spell circle and stuck her hand into it, pulling out a table. She continued pulling out items, and soon the plaza was looking a lot more party-like. Long tables lined the edges, and the middle had some tables and chairs on one side, and a space for dancing on the other. While she was setting up, Cybele and Vulcan arrived at pretty much the same time, albeit from different directions. Atlas figured that now was a good time to bring out the food he'd prepared.
He was kind of hoping to really wow them, so he brought out his Aunt's wedding cake first. It was a pretty three tiered cake with buttercream frosting and white fondant flowers decorating it. Then he brought out the rest of the desserts. There were cookies of every kind he could think of, cupcakes in all sorts of flavors, ice cream by the bucket, dessert breads, donuts, pies, pastries, puddings, candies, bars, chocolates, fudge, jello, and it was right about now that Atlas realized he might have gone overboard. And this was only the desserts! He filled a table with the desserts alone, so he moved on to Breakfast foods.
Eggs cooked in every form, bacon, sausages, fruits, granola, berries, pancakes, syrups, waffles, french toast, breads for making regular toast, jams, jellies, yogurts, peanut butter, regular butter, biscuits, bagels, cereals, milk, coffee, hot chocolate, fruit juices, cinnamon rolls, muffins, quiches, oatmeal, poptarts, and more.
Then lunch and dinner foods, sandwiches with all of the fixings, bags of different types of chips, soups, salads, chilies, stews, all things grilled, pasta dishes, rice dishes, anything made with a tortilla, potatoes cooked in all manner of ways, meatloaf, lasagnas, enchiladas, casseroles, burgers, pizzas, all sorts of cooked veggies and meats, loaves of french breads, many different types of condiments, and by the time he was done, he'd filled another three tables. He also pulled out the bookshelves he'd prepared, and filled the shelves with the books they'd picked out.
The Spirit Kings looked surprised by all of the options, and Cybele was already hovering by the dessert table, oohing and aahing. Aurora took his cue, and began placing the things she'd brought as well. She'd taken care of creating the clothes and games, and transferring the movies onto crystals.
"Oh!" Boreas said, "That's a lot of stuff!" He looked closer at one of the bookshelves, "What are these things?"
"They're books," Atlas said, pulling one out and opening it, "They tell a story. There's a different story in each of these books."
"Really?" Khione asked, stepping closer, and looking at the book Atlas held open, "Interesting, I don't recognize these words."
"Oh," Oh no, Atlas didn't realize they wouldn't know how to read English!
"It's fine, there's spells for translation," Aurora said. She had finished emptying her Divinity and walked over. Atlas looked around. Cybele and Titan was examining all of the different foods, Vesta and Nimue were talking about the different clothes, it looked like Jupiter was asleep with his head down on a table, and Vulcan was examining the movie crystals. Atlas approached him, to explain.
"You all are familiar with the concept of plays, right?" He asked.
Vulcan nodded, "Yes, Nimue has put on more than a few over the Millennia you've been gone. I've mostly helped with the set pieces."
"These are similar, they're recordings of people people acting out a story," Atlas explained, "They're a bit different than plays, and they take place in other worlds, so they might seem a little strange, but I think you all will enjoy them."
"That's interesting," Nimue said, walking over with Vesta. "I'll definitely take a look at those later."
"I'm more interested in some of these clothes," Vesta said, "What do you call these shirts with the short sleeves?" She held up a female graphic tee.
"A T-shirt," Atlas said, "When they have images on them, they're called graphic T-shirts. They're typically worn for comfort and as a casual look."
"I see," Vesta nodded, "They do indeed look comfortable. What are they made from?" She folded the T-shirt and hung it over her arm. Was she planning on wearing it later?
"They're usually made from cotton, which is a plant fiber. There's a tag on the inside of the neck hole that has the information on what they're made from." Atlas explained.
Vesta nodded and unfolded the shirt to look, "What does machine wash mean?" She asked.
"Oh," Atlas said, having forgotten that a lot of clothes have washing instructions on them, "There is a specific mechanism for washing clothes where I come from. When that's used to clean, it's called 'machine wash', as versus 'hand wash'. It's a little rougher on the clothes, uses some chemicals to clean, and the washing is usually done in large batches instead of one piece of clothes at a time. Most people where I'm from have this mechanism, so people who make clothes usually will let people know on the tag that their new clothes item is safe to machine wash. If it isn't, they'll print 'hand wash' instead."
"I don't have this mechanism, though," Vesta said, seeming sad, "I won't be able to wash these if they get dirty."
"They're still safe to hand wash," Atlas said, smiling, "It's just also machine wash safe too."
"Oh, good," Vesta said, "Then I'll do that. I'm somewhat used to washing clothes, as opposed to the others. Boreas still wears the clothes he awoke in regularly, and those clothes don't seem to age or get dirty. I do still have the red dress I awoke in, but I'm pretty sick of that look. I prefer something new and different." She walked back over to the table holding the clothes, "This robe is extravagant, I'll definitely wear it to an important event." She held up one of the fancy kimonos that Aurora created after looking for inspiration online.
"That robe is called a kimono," Atlas said, " And I think it's meant to be worn with one of these sashes called an Obi." He pointed to the nearby neatly stacked obi.
"How is one supposed to fasten it around you?" Vesta asked, "Are you supposed to tie it?"
"I believe so," Atlas said, "But I think it's supposed to be tied in the back. You'll have to ask Aurora to show you."
"I will," Vesta said, and, after picking out an obi to go with her red kimono, gathered both in her arms and went to talk to Aurora.
"Can we watch one of these recordings?" Vulcan asked.
"Sure," Atlas nodded, "I'll pick one out that's good for someone who hasn't seen anything like this before. You gather everyone up, grab some food and get comfortable." Vulcan nodded and went over to talk to the others.
"Which one will you pick?" Nimue asked, looking more closely at the lined up crystals.
Atlas hummed, "Probably one of the Disney ones. They do simple stories told through drawings and music. It'll be a good place to start."
Nimue nodded, "I definitely like the music aspect."
"Yes, it's starting to grow on me as well," Atlas said, picking out the crystal for the movie 'Encanto'. He wasn't sure that that was entirely accurate, but there was something about Disney movies that were charming. The business side of things was another story, Atlas wasn't too fond of Disney the Company.
He set up the crystal in a good spot, then sat on the couches that Aurora had apparently brought. She was good at planning ahead, it seems.
Anyway, they all settled in as the opening credits played.
The short explanation was they loved it. Atlas had done a good job in picking out the movie, as there was a little something for everyone. Vesta really enjoyed the outfits, already having some new ideas for her creations. Nimue loved the music, of course, and was still humming 'Surface Pressure' under her breath as they packed up the party. Titan seemed to empathize with Luisa, about having to feel strong all the time, he even said something like maybe learning the same lesson as her would be a good thing for him. Boreas really liked the funny antics, and got a kick out of Camillo.
You would have thought that Cybele would have identified with Isabella because of the plants, but surprisingly she identified most with the Aunt, Pepa. Something about having her emotions go out of control all the time, worrying those around her. Jupiter seemed to be asleep for most of the movie, but Atlas was pretty sure he was faking it. It looked like he was tapping his foot to the beat during some of the songs. Vulcan empathized with Bruno the most, saying that he understood what it was like to feel like your powers were a curse. Atlas would probably have to talk to him about that later. Khione loved the story, she said that it was a wonderful breakdown of family dynamics and inter-generational trauma. She must have already read a few of the books. Did Aurora teach her the speed reading technique? How? Wasn't it a Divinity technique? Well, whatever.
They'd also devoured most of the food. Ten immortals, consisting of eight Spirit Kings and two Gods, could apparently put away a lot of food. And since they didn't have to actually digest it, they could just turn it into mana or Divine energy if they wanted to, and the fact that none of them needed to eat in the first place, meant that really, they could eat as much as they wanted without gaining weight. Well, it did seem kind of wasteful, but whatever. It was all food made from aether, anyway.
Now that they had finished packing up, Atlas figured it was time to explain what was going to happen to this world going forward.
Thank you for the chapter
Out of the Spirit Kings, I think my favourite so far is Jupiter he just connects with me so much and we finally got to see all the races
