New Hope [Completed]

[tenshinomakai.livejournal.com]

Character(s): Urd, open!
Content: Urd opens up her temporary relief shop to all!
Setting: Across the street from The Cheap Prayer.
Time: Week 24, all day!
Warnings: None.
Note: This log will be done via "party style" threading! Come in and make your own thread to get Urd's attention, or join into someone else's thread. It's all good!

Praetoris was playing dirty. Though Urd put on a casual, unaffected mood on the network, she was just as annoyed and insulted by this new attitude toward the visitors as anyone else. When it came to dressing "inappropriately," the goddess took it to a new level in a way that even modern-minded individuals would deem a little too sexy. She never minded much; she enjoyed finding new and colorful ways to show off both her style and her body. She was a goddess! You had to instill a certain amount of awe in people!

Her favorite tea shop had been adamant in not serving her and as a result, she had broken most of their cups in a fit of frustration. Really, they'd been lucky she hadn't set fire to the whole place! But once her temper had cooled and she had a clear mind, Urd admitted that fighting back had to be done in a better way. A smarter way.

Thankfully, poorer natives of the city weren't so quick to judge them. She'd always had a good relationship with the gypsies, in part due to her continued business with them (she had to get her ingredients for her potions somewhere). It didn't take much to strike a deal with them for her new plan: they'd supply her what she needed and she, in turn, would make sure the majority of the money the visitors had would go to them. Urd didn't need money, of course. Even if she wasn't a divine being, she had a djinn on her side!

Now the goddess floated in a reclined position in the middle of her shop, hands held out in front of her. Rich cloth and strings of beads flew up to the walls and windows, rags wiped the tables and floors on their own and merchandise of nearly every kind arranged themselves onto shelves and tables. She could have done it all by hand, but manual labor did not sit well with Urd.

Out front, a large embroidered banner read, "New Hope."

Comments

[celestial-hope.livejournal.com]

Celes had heard, but not seen, the reason for the clamor that was going on over her communicator. At first she had thought it was a whole bunch of overreacting to not being able to shop. When she finally saw it for the first hand, she changed her mind. The whole idea of segregating people that were different just felt... so... wrong. She had been used to being set apart for a lot of things: casting magic, leading a unit, being a traitor, but never because of what she decided to wear. It was all so... petty.

Not that she could do anything about it, and she wasn't sure if she wanted to yet. Though she had the opportunity to explore Paixao, she regained the ability to walk comfortably only just recently. Whole new areas of the city remained unexplored that were previously inaccessible to her. She was just begun to understand the culture, the people, the government, the situation. Overall, it was a lot to take in and she wasn't quite sure what to make of it yet. She hoped that she'd find something a little more familiar: a small nugget of comfortable understanding that she could build the rest of this city from.

Boy was she in for a surprise. She wandered through the poor district, having heard an advertisement for a shop that wouldn't turn her away for her military uniform and was curious of what they meant by "selling anything". As she passed the banner bearing "New Hope" on the front, she was surprised at both how richly adorned everything looked... and the small floor brush sweeping out a small pile of dust out the front door. Her eyebrow raised and her attention wary for more of the unusual, the former general peered quizzically around the store, wondering what else she could find (and hoping that some of it would be useful).

[tenshinomakai.livejournal.com]

"Ah, my first customer of the day!" an elegant female voice sounded from somewhere above Celes. Urd was floating above the woman, long silver hair curling and hovering as if she were underwater. "Come in, come in!" Having been upside down, the goddess righted herself in mid-air and placed her hand on Celes' shoulder, her bracelets twinkling as she guided her further into the shop. "Watch out for the mop, it's been giving me attitude all morning," she added, shooting a meaningful glare at the nearby mop in question, which was currently swabbing up what looked like a spill near the back door.

"I'm Urd. What can I do for you?"

[celestial-hope.livejournal.com]

A floating woman. While that was still extremely surprising to see it was also completely unsurprising to find in a store like this. That thought did little to prevent the alarm from coming to Celes' face and starting a little, her hand clutched close to her heart.

A beat passed and the former general reclaimed her composure, remembering the times that her friends surprised her with the float spell for the first time. And after several imp spells reminded them not to pull pranks on her. Acting as though the whole moment hadn't bothered her at all, Celes looked up at the goddess trying desperately hard to keep her face straight. The part about the mop did make her chuckle a little, but only just.

"I'm looking for a place to buy some provisions..." Celes said tepidly as her guard was dropping. "I had heard that this store will do business with me after certain... laws were passed." She added.

[tenshinomakai.livejournal.com]

Urd nodded enthusiastically in response. "Of course. Stupid law, isn't it? No basis in reality." As she spoke, she made no effort to disguise the obvious way she checked out Celes and her outfit. "So you're showing a little cleavage...and such beautiful skin!" Her feet touched the ground and Urd chuckled, looping her arm around the woman's shoulders. "This city just can't handle real beauty like ours, you know? Now, what provisions do you need? Food, clothes, rope? I have plenty of rope!"

[celestial-hope.livejournal.com]

"Rope..? What would..." her voice trailed as Celes realized she didn't particularly want to know the answer to that. Was this woman trying to make her uncomfortable? She was very good at that, what with the touching and all, but so was Celes at soldiering on through challenges.

Hoping to get some distance (and thinking it might be a futile effort), the former general took a large step to the side before turning her attention as she did so and beginning to explain. "Anything and everything. I do not know how long I will be staying here, and knowing what my options are would be helpful for whatever..." her eyes narrowed somewhat at the store owner (or was she the cashier?) "...whatever trouble we might have."

[kotetsu-blade.livejournal.com]

Auron had been one of the lucky few to receive minimal attention from the natives of Paixao. Perhaps it was the fact that, while his attire was odd by the citizen’s standards, it covered as much of him as the citizen’s attire covered themselves. Aside from the difference in cultures, and the bright colors there was little to criticize.

At least to the guardian’s face. There was no doubt that the citizens were intimidated by the tall, gruff, scarred man who always seemed to be short and to the point with people. And even moreso now.

Auron supposed he should have been relieved or hopeful in some way that Spira was the next world, but he wasn’t. Instead there was only a sinking pit in his stomach and a sense of wrongness that he could not shake. This was a castle of memories. He remembered that specific title being said. The Spira that lay beyond was likely just another of those memories. And even if it wasn’t, he didn’t belong there. It was the world he came from, but it was no longer his world. He had left it behind. He was supposed to have left it behind.

And he would have to tell Braska and Jecht sometime.

Auron had seen something on the network about a new shop opening. Not surprising given the response from most of Paixao’s visitors. The message, and subsequently, the shop, had piqued Auron’s interest, if only for something to get his mind off of Spira and have at least one place to go to to escape the cautious stares and glares of the xenophobic citizens.

[tenshinomakai.livejournal.com]

The chimes above the door signaled Auron's entrance. Urd turned slightly from a row of shelves nearby and smiled in greeting. "Who do we have here?" She placed the glass tincture she was inspecting back onto the shelf and made her way over, half-lidded eyes tracing him from head to foot. She recognized him, of course, even if she didn't really know him personally. Folding her arms under her chest, she tilted her head coyly.

"You can't be having any problems with the shop keepers...I can only see the top half of your face. What can I do for you, Auron?"

[kotetsu-blade.livejournal.com]

If Auron took much notice of the way Urd was looking at him, he made no motion of it. After so much time spent as a monk in Bevelle, it became easy to ignore the advances of others, or to at least put them out of mind. "You said you were able to find anything," he began, thinking of the ad Urd had put on the message board. "Exactly how do you plan to do that?"

He was curious more than anything else. Even if she had help, he doubted Urd would be able to find everything available. Then again... she did claim to be a goddess.

[tenshinomakai.livejournal.com]

Urd seemed almost disappointed that he had no discernible reaction to her or the magic around them. At his question, she shrugged a little, heading towards the counter in the middle of the shop. "Even I don't know where or how the natives get their supplies, so I had to enlist the help of the gypsies." She sat on the counter, long legs revealed by the slit of her dress as she crossed them. "They were more than willing to rebel against Praetoris, seeing as they don't fit what the rest of the city has deemed 'appropriate' any more than we do. They find me what I need, and in return, I give them the shops earnings."

She leaned forward a little, the curtain of her hair sliding forward. "And what they can't get, I find a way to supply via my own means." This last bit was said with a flirtatious smile, a mysterious glint in her eyes.

[fuhgottaboutit.livejournal.com]

It didn't take much for Osaka to get lost. Urd-obasan had given her the name of the apartments and stuff, but no matter how much she looked back at the map on her handheld, it didn't seem to match up with where she was. It didn't help that she'd never been up in this part of town before. She'd found the train station all right, but from there...

In any case, she well and truly had no idea where the Iriela Apartments were, and she'd been wandering around forever and her feet were really starting to get sore. She was just about to give up and sit down somewhere for a while when she noticed the place with the "New Hope" banner out front. Maybe she could ask for directions there... it didn't have one of those signs on the front, at least. So she entered, setting the door chimes jingling.

The shop, though, instantly enchanted her. It was decked out so different from the other places she'd been here, and... was that a mop mopping the floor on its own, nearby? Or was there some invisible person doing that? Osaka trotted over to it to investigate.

[tenshinomakai.livejournal.com]

As Osaka approached, Urd entered from a hall, the doorway of which had been strung with a curtain of glittering purple beads in lieu of an actual door. She paused as she noticed her new guest, taking in the girl's wide, innocent eyes and nearly vacant expression. There was only one person this girl could be...

"Ah. Osaka, right?" Urd's lips twitched upwards in vague amusement as she stepped closer, one hand on her hip. "Any luck getting that new apartment?"

[fuhgottaboutit.livejournal.com]

Osaka looked up at the sound of her nickname, and there was Urd, who now that she saw her in person didn't really look like an obasan type after all. It was the white hair, she guessed.

"Oh... no, I couldn't find it," she said, a little dismayed.

[tenshinomakai.livejournal.com]

Urd blinked, eyebrow raised. "Oh? That's odd..." She stepped towards Osaka and placed her hand on the girl's shoulder, steering her towards the front door wordlessly. As the both exited the shop and headed out into the street, Urd stopped, turned Osaka west and pointed. Just a few blocks down was Iriela Apartments. "That's it right there," she said, more than a little amused at this point.

[whitelotustea.livejournal.com]

A few gentle knocks sounded at the door. "Excuse me..."

Iroh's round head peek around the corner of the frame. "I apologize for interrupting anything, but I was wondering if you had any paints?" he asked knidly. He slowly made his way into the New Hope shop. "I would have gone through the other shops, but it seems the new policy makes it difficult for a man like me to get things. Even in my old age, I could not stand wearing anything but sandals. How else are my toes supposed to breathe?" he asked rhetorically, wiggling his toes playfully along with it.

[tenshinomakai.livejournal.com]

"Iroh~!" Urd called, her voice melodic and flirtatious, as per usual. She came around the counter and floated towards him, hair streaming behind her. She wrapped her arms around his shoulders and smiled brightly. "Just the man I wanted to see. I was hoping you'd stop by. How is the Golden Turtle doing?" She paused for a beat, looking down between them to his feet. "...are you saying they refused a charming man like you just because of your toes? That's ridiculous."

She let go of him and, feet on the ground now, headed back to the counter. "Why don't you pull up a chair and have some tea with me?"

[whitelotustea.livejournal.com]

He had not recognized her, and was in fact confused by her ability to float. However, once she turned and called out his name, he instantly recognized her for reasons other than the curves of her body. "Lady Urd?! My goodness, I apologize. I had no idea this was your new place of business," he said in a surprised but happy tone, "But I am happy to see you own this 'New Hope.' It is certainly optimistic!"

Although the offer was overgenerous of her, Iroh could only do so much before refusing a cup of tea with a stunning young woman. "I suppose I should. I have certainly been around tea for a long enough time in the past few days. Besides, how often is a teashop owner offered to be made tea by someone else?"

Upon seating himself in Urd's makeshift office, Iroh began updating her, "Oh, the shop is coming along in its own way. I am merely adding the right feel and emotion to the atmosphere, so I was going to paint the walls. When I came in earlier, there was a sign posted on it of this new rule. It was my own teashop...that was not even open yet!" He rubbed his hand on the side of his face and shook his head. "I do not even understand how they knew."

[tenshinomakai.livejournal.com]

As Urd listened to Iroh, she set about pouring a jasmine tea into two delicate, polished black cups inlaid with a small golden rune. Rather than sitting on the other side of the counter, she sat on top of it on Iroh's side. "They probably read your posts about your shop on the network," she sighed, handing over a cup. There was none of the usual ritual when Urd prepared the tea, but it was delicious regardless, no doubt a testament to the quality of the tea itself. "This is an incredibly childish maneuver on their part."

She took a slow, appreciative sip, eyes drifting half-way closed. There was a moment of contented silence before she turned to Iroh again, smiling ruefully. "I'll get to the bottom of this, I promise. I just hope in the mean time, your business doesn't end before it begins!"

[crystalchamber.livejournal.com]

Kida never had much of a temper. Though playful and childlike at times, she assumed an air of maturity during more serious situations. However, she always had a strong sense of justice. And that is not to say, however, that she never displayed an attitude. After having a debate-turned-argument with a store owner, she had been asked to leave. Ironically, she had been trying to buy the very attire that would have allowed Kida to make purchases in the first place.

She also wondered if her landlord would not accept her payments and evict her at this rate.

As time wore on, she grew increasingly frustrated with the new policy. Unable to even buy clothes to fit the dress code, Kida trekked from store to store until she reached the streets of Vanaheim. There she came upon a store with a banner out front. "New h-oap-eh. Hope." Weary as she was, reading a foreign language seemed harder than it should, especially given her usual enthusiasm to practice the skill.

Kida entered the shop and looked around, crossing her bare arms immediately. She expected the same refusals and people to look down their noses as if she where prancing naked through the streets. The queen was not in the mood for it. Still, she glanced around looking for the shop keep, ready to get this over with.

[tenshinomakai.livejournal.com]

A dress flew across the shop. This was promptly joined by a teddy bear, a string of beads, three books, another dress and a powdered wig. Rather than landing on the floor like gravity would dictate, the items rotated around in a circle before arranging themselves on a nearby display shelf.

"What do you think?" Urd's voice came from behind Kida. The goddess was floating in place, leaning forward with her arms crossed as she gazed critically at the finished display. "The teddy bear just kind of ruins it, don't you think?"

[crystalchamber.livejournal.com]

The very last thing Kida expected was for various inanimate objects to come flying towards her. She took up a defensive stance immediately, ready to lash out if need be. She moved to the side, relaxing her stance as the items settled. She cocked her head curiously, reaching out to touch a dress with the same caution as one would a potentially-hot stove burner.

At the voice Kida flinched slightly before turning around in a hurry. Her face was one of disbelief, wide-eyed and dumbstruck. She noted the woman's lack of contact with the ground. "How are you floating? Who are you and where do you call home?" The dark skin, white hair and blue facial markings all rang true of her people. The woman's facial structure was a little different, however, and the tattoos were either not of her people or done by an inexperienced artist unfamiliar with the meanings.

[tenshinomakai.livejournal.com]

Urd stared back at Kida, a mild smile on her face. "Ooh, you get right to business, don't you?" She held up her fingers, counting down each question she answered. "I'm a goddess; my name is Urd and I'm from the seventh dimension, otherwise known as Heaven." Still hovering in the air, she moved closer to Kida, moving around the woman to take stock of her appearance, even going so far as to touch her earring and the hem of her odd wrapped skirt.

"So who are you? You have great style, I'll tell you that much right now."

[my-blessedbell.livejournal.com]

The energy signature was unmistakable: this was Paixao.

Making her way throughout the city, Belldandy was a bit confused. The last thing she recalled was building a new house for her elder sister and Genie-san, and... then nothing. Judging by the ebbs and waves of energy, this was definitely not correct. It was as if she was waking up from a deep sleep, almost. She had to admit to herself, it troubled her.

In times of like, it was customary, nay, expected to visit somebody for advice. So, Belldandy searched for Urd.

Noticing the building, she took in a deep breath, and stepped in. On her face was a smile which could have melted stone.

[tenshinomakai.livejournal.com]

The first time Urd thought she felt Belldandy's unique presence, she thought she was mistaken. When it persisted, when the signature of her sister's power grew even stronger, she felt dread in the pit of her stomach. She hadn't forgotten her experience in the Hinterlands with the strange Heartless who had taken Belldandy's form. Surely this was another attempt to rattle her, perhaps in the wake of her rebellion against Praetoris.

When the door opened, she was waiting in a fighting stance, electricity crackling around her fists. Faced with the full force of her sister's serene and loving smile, however, and Urd knew without a doubt that this was her sister. Her younger, gentle, near perfect sister. She felt her breath catch for a moment, hands unclenching slowly.

"...Bell?" she called softly, her vulnerable expression a rare sight that only her sister could really bring out of her.

[my-blessedbell.livejournal.com]

"Nee-san..." Belldandy was slightly surprised at Urd's rather aggressive stance at first. What had her elder sister gone through since she was gone? Belldandy felt a twinge of guilt. Urd was already here before Belldandy in Paixao, and Belldandy couldn't do anything about it. Then Belldandy somehow was frozen in time, once again unable to help her elder sister through anything she went through. The doubts in her mind and guilt sparked a single second of concern on her face, yet as the energy from Urd's lightning bolts dissipated and Belldandy's hair settled once again due to the force of gravity, Belldandy once again smiled. She approached Urd.

"I'm back." She bowed, humbly.

[tenshinomakai.livejournal.com]

Before Belldandy had even straightened all the way, Urd was there to hug her close. "...yeah," she finally said, her voice soft. "Welcome back." There was so much she wanted to say and talk about now, things she had trouble putting into words. She wanted to tell her how much she'd been missed, how much Urd realized she needed her around. Even if Urd was supposed to be the strong, guiding eldest, she knew without a doubt that she was only as strong as her sisters inspired her to be.

She couldn't voice any of this, but knowing Belldandy, she'd still understand the words that weren't spoken. Urd pulled away slightly, more composed. Her hands still on Belldandy's shoulders, she scowled slightly. "Where've you been? We've been worried sick."