I.351 The Outer Deck of the VVVC.... The sounds of laughter and cheering drifted from the Cafe as Daricell stared out to sea. Her head was, at last, clearing, and as she batted away the mental cobwebs, she remembered something about the cookies... specifically the cookie dough... "D'Oh! Albatross--" she growled, remembering his herbal baking experiments before she had banished him from the kitchen. "Ah, well, it's too late now." Shaking her head, she stood, tightly gripping the rail for support, and stumbled toward the door of the VVVC. AFter all, she couldn't miss Cado and Traveler's celebration, and she knew that Cado would want a chocolate cake. to be continued later... User: Dark Lady should not write VvVc stuff at work. Date: 16-Dec 09:49 AM 756035396
I.352 ECSTASY pours a cup of hot tea for everyone. Then she looks around and sees taht everyone is acting a bit goofy. She sighs and then offers Doritos to her giggling comrades. User: ECSTASY Date: 16-Dec 02:27 PM 756052068
I.353 ECSTASY ducks behind the bar to find her toolbox. WHen she finds it, she leaps over the bar and heads for the red room. "Hey! Where are you going?" asks Jon Vallee as he polishes the coffee mugs. "I'm so damned bored over this break that I am going to build a new room onto the VVVC. TRAVELER and I discussed it. You'll see what it is later...if you qualify." With toolbox, _The Post Card_ by Derrida, tweed, and MOODINDIGO in hand, she heads into the depths of the red room. User: elitism 101, anyone? Date: 21-Dec 00:15 AM 756432931
I.354 TRAVELER awakens groggily. He is lying on the couch in the room adjoining his office. The light from outside says it's late afternoon...he's slept away most of the day since returning from the Indigo Toucan in the morning. The sound of construction from outside has brought him back to consciousness... He stumbles to the door that opens on to the northern terrace, the one above the Red Room. Smoothing back his long, tangled hair, he sees ECSTASY in work clothes... "Ah, you're adding on that 'Ivory tower' addition we talked about. Carry on...we elitists need a private retreat from the world. :)" He goes back inside... User: TRAVELER Date: 21-Dec 00:44 AM 756434699
I.355 ECSTASY grins at the retreating back of TRAVELER. "Ah. Break time. MOODINDIGO, could you hand me my bloo...oops, make that red wine? I'm a little thirsty." User: your sororigoth, ecstasy! Date: 21-Dec 00:56 AM 756435380
I.356 TRAVELER comes down the long, winding staircase that leads from his office to the kitchen, putting his hair back into its usual ponytail as he goes. At the bottom of the stairs he encounters DIQMAN. "Have you seen DARICELL?" the baker asks. His expression is light, but Trav has known him long enough to know that he is worried. "Not since I crashed--that was a few hours ago," he says. "For that matter, what about ZOROASTER? Didn't somebody say he went looking for me, or something?" Just then, the Dark Lady herself wanders into the kitchen, a vague expression on her face. "Did someone mention Zoro?" she says. "I've been wondering where he is." "Where were you all this time?" asks Diq. "Oh, I was...I guess I went for some air. I was out on the back walkway, just watching the water. I sort of tranced out..." "Tranced out?" says Traveler. "That reminds me! I've got to get going on the plans for the rave." The cook and the baker give him surprised looks. "Yes, that's right, I'm going to throw a rave here at the VVVC! It'll be fun. I'm not sure of the theme yet..." FIREFLYTE strolls into the kitchen, a smile on her face. "Can ye feel it, friends? Something in the air!" She leans in conspiratorially. "It's the winter solstice! The world is at the edge of its cycle...poised with a kind of energy..." "This is the longest night of the year, you know. It could be a dark energy in the air..." Trav says. "Yes, there is darkness...but the darkness makes us all the more ready for the birth of the light," she replies. "Whatever spiritual concept you may have of that light." Traveler nods thoughtfully. "This is giving me some ideas for the rave. 'The Birth of the Gods?' Hmmm..." Now ALBATROSS joins the group in the kitchen. "Look what I found!" He holds up a dirt-covered skull. "I was in the garden, planting DEMENTIA's sunflower, when I dug this up." <<A reminder of death, just as we were talking about birth,>> thinks Trav with irony. "Death and birth, tomb and womb, are two sides of one coin," says Fireflyte with a small smile. "And I could have told you you'd come across something like that. Didn't y'all know there's an old graveyard out there? Out past the garden, in the trees, you can still find some of the old headstones." She sighs. "It's sort of my special place. I'd rather you didn't tell too many people about it." "Sure," says Traveler, as Albatross shows the skull to Daricell and Diqman. "You know, I'll have to look at those documents I got from VENKMAN's office; maybe they tell something about what was here before the Cafe." "Sounds wise," opines Diq. "As a man, featuring wise, once said, 'He who does not remember the past is condemned to repeat it.'" User: TRAVELER Date: 22-Dec 02:17 AM 756526678
I.357 CADO walks over to ALBATROSS and takes the skull out of his hands. He holds it gingerly as he stares into what used to be its eyes. He dusts a little dirt off the top of its head, and with a tearful look hands it back to the gardener. "...and those who cannot let go of the past are condemned to relive it." He sighs heavily, but suddenly smiles, a look of revelation on his face. "Trav...I've got an idea..." User: Cado...Let the heads roll! :) Date: 23-Dec 02:13 AM 756612836
I.358 "Whatever you've got planned, can it wait a bit? I'm gonna surprise ECSTASY with this thing," Albatross says mischievously. CADO shrugs and smiles. "Ok, sure." He passes the skull back to Albatross. "She's upstairs working on the new 'Ivory Tower,'" Trav tells him. "'S'ok, I'll just leave it on the bar," he says, and walks out... At the bar, Albatross looks for a place to hide the skull. He settles on a junk drawer beneath the cash register at the bar in the White Room--a drawer that Ecstasy has reserved for her own use. No one is likely to look here, until she does. As he positions the grinning skull, he thinks of some amusing scenes from _Rosencrantz And Guildenstern Are Dead_...then something catches his eye... A glint of silver. His hand reaches out almost involuntarily, and picks up the object--an old, irregular, somewhat tarnished coin, the strange engravings on it worn smooth with time. On one side is the proud, almost haughty visage of some unknown ancient; on the other, a trident-like symbol. Is it Roman? Or older? He stares at the coin in his palm...it has a strange beauty. The noise of the Cafe dims, and everything around him seems to fade away. The coin is so much more vivid, almost glowing with a cold light... "Can I help you, sir?" asks an assistant bartender, one of Ecstasy's "minions" in the usual tight black leather. Albatross quickly conceals the coin, looks at her and smiles. "No, no, just leaving a little surprise for X. Do me a favor and don't tell her I hid something here." He slides the drawer shut; the assistant, playing along, smiles and nods. Albatross winks, and walks away, but his smile quickly fades. All he cares about is that marvelous coin, tingling in his hand with a cool energy. His whole arm feels charged, from fingertips all the way up to the shoulder--the shoulder where the old sea captain gripped him once-- the old sea captain who paid for his drink at the VVVC with the coin in Albatross' hand...But he isn't thinking of any of this. Just the coin, the beautiful coin... User: TRAVELER Date: 23-Dec 11:09 AM 756644980
I.359 "My precious....." User: I didn't say that... ...put the axe down, Max... ...not -there-!!!... Date: 23-Dec 06:09 PM 756670250
I.360 Ok...I'm gonna be gone for a week. Don't do anything TOO weird! Cado, X, no 500 line postings sprees that totally screw up my story plans. :) Actually, you can have a lot of fun if you just avoid dealing with Albatross, the sea captain, and the folder full of documents on the VVVC's past. :) User: Trav says "Here are the keys...don't stay out too late..." :) Date: 25-Dec 11:56 PM 756863834
In which the Cafe folks hold a rave, an ancient evil is unleashed, someone is framed for murder, and other fun stuff happens... :)