New Hope Returns [Open]

[world_of_elegance]

Character(s): Urd, open!
Content: Urd's relief shop once again opens to the public.
Setting: Across the street from The Cheap Prayer.
Time: Week 39, 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!

Urd sat in mid-air, floating casually as she watched the wide shop window in thought. Though she'd opened up the shop for all the right reasons -- new people needing guidance, meeting those with magical skill to help keep Shantotto's curse at bay -- she had to admit it was also a way to hide from everything going on in her personal life. She needed a retreat from Genie and Eden and all the problems therein. She wasn't hiding...she was just...taking a breather.

Smiling wryly, she sighed and closed her eyes. Hopefully people would come by, or this whole attempt to get her mind off her troubles would hardly work.

Comments

[lifelines]

Considering she was a Victorian woman by birth, the style of dress some of the shopkeepers insisted on wasn't exactly terrible for her. However, today she'd decided to wear the outfit she'd arrived in, after she'd washed it, of course. But it was more comfortable and a better fit for the place she was to visit that day. She made her way to the shop in the morning, wanting to get an early start on the day and her agenda. Taking in the layout of everything, she pushed open the shop doors and headed inside.

"Hello?" she called as she stepped inside, looking around to see if anyone was around.

[world_of_elegance]

"Just a second!" Urd's voice rang out from behind the beaded curtain that served as a door to the back of the shop. Suddenly, her voice was right near Helen's ear, slightly-higher pitched. "Geez, I've left this place alone way too long."

A Mini-Urd hovered in the air next to Helen, wearing a tiny maid outfit and wielding a tiny feather duster. Another maid mode Mini-Urd was running a rag along the floor, bumping into Helen's feet. "Hey, think you could step aside?"

The whole shop was filled with miniature versions of the goddess, all cleaning, all grumbling.

[lifelines]

Okay, that was a new ability. The only sign that Helen was at all startled was the widening of her eyes and the way she turned around very quickly. She didn't leap out of the way, but she did move when asked, watching as the... clean-up crew moved alone.

"Ah... I'm looking for the owner of the shop. I'd wanted to have a word with her."

Perhaps... well the voice sounded similar, though with the way this... woman(?) - Helen wouldn't dare to label what she was until she knew better - was running around, who knew if she'd been talking to the owner or one of the clones.

[world_of_elegance]

"Oh...right," said one of the Mini-Urds. All at once, every little version of the goddess disappeared in a puff of smoke and Urd, in her full form, parted the beaded curtain and entered the shop front.

"Helen, right?" She smiled as she approached. "Sorry about the mess."

[lifelines]

Helen blinked and suddenly the clones were all gone, replaced by a larger version of the woman walking from the beaded curtain. She wasn't sure she'd ever gotten the woman's name, but that could wait for now. She offered a small smile in return, her body language guarded. Helen was nothing if not careful.

"Dr. Helen Magnus, yes," she answered. "It's a pleasure to meet you. You've got a lovely shop here. Have you been running it long?"

[world_of_elegance]

She snorted in amusement, waving a dismissive hand. "No, no. Sometimes I even forget this place exists. It's more like a hobby, really..." Urd cast a critical eye over Helen, smiling. "Hmm..." As she spoke, she made a slow rotation around the other woman, arms crossed.

"So what does a human doctor know about magic? I take it mortals from your world can cast a few spells?"

[lifelines]

"I suppose we all need a few of those," Helen conceded. She wasn't particularly pleased with being treated like a creature, something to be fawned over, but the only sign of her wariness was the slight lift to her chin and the steady way she shifted into a strong position to stand in. Helen didn't scare easily, but her guard was always up. More so when she was being looked over.

"Not exactly. It's much more scientific, where many creatures and humans have genetics that gift them with abilities most would consider to be magical in nature." Honestly, she'd been mostly offering her brain to puzzle out a possible solution, not any sort of ability - magical or otherwise. That and simple curiosity about this woman had brought her here.

[world_of_elegance]

"That does explain how well you've adapted to this fantasy world," Urd replied with a chuckle, finally ending her scan of the woman to walk towards the counter by the far wall. "I'm always amused how tenacious the human mind can be." She turned and slid up onto the counter, sitting with her legs crossed.

"Well, then. Do you have any questions before we get to the real meat of this problem?"

[trademark_skull]

Meeting Urd in person did seem like the best choice of action if it meant doing something about the curse. After dealing with the A-virus back home, he wished to never see another situation like this ever again. All this curse did was resurface some... unsettling memories. It had to be prevented, or else.

There were maybe a few other things worth discussing about too, perhaps. Unfortunately with all this stuff going on now, NiGHTS was maybe gonna have to wait just awhile longer.

Either way, this did look like the right place (maybe the maps were good for something after all). Better head on over.

[world_of_elegance]

As Emiziel approached Urd's shop, a stream of curses broke through the mild bustle of the street. "No! I command you to stop!" Suddenly a table crashed through the shop window, apparently of its own accord. Urd immediately followed, wrestling it to the ground and continuing her angry tirade against sentient furniture until she finally managed to subdue it...though all the table legs had been broken in the process.

[trademark_skull]

Did that table just--

Emizel leapt back once a table had magically broke though a window. Afterwards he merely watched as Urd did her best to stop its rampage and really had no idea what to make of what he was seeing. It was only after the table appeared to be destroyed that he finally stepped a bit closer.

[world_of_elegance]

Urd stood up, dusting off her hands with a disgusted sigh. "What is with my casting today...? Maybe I should stay away from more advanced algorithms..." She trailed off as she finally noticed Emizel.

"Ah! You!" She leaned down a little to get a closer look, smiling. "Hey, you're even cuter in person. Come on in, I have snacks." Then she turned and lead the way back into the shop, ignoring the felled tabled for now.

[trademark_skull]

Did she just call him cute? Of all the nerve to--Wait, there was snacks? ... Fine, maybe he'll let it slide just this once.

Emizel took one last look at the table before following Urd. "... Does that sort of thing happen often?" Tackling tables in the middle of the street, that is. Maybe slightly concerned if coming here was really such a good choice.

[world_of_elegance]

An embarrassed look on her face, Urd avoiding meeting Emizel's eyes. "Uh, not really...I mean, today's just not my day." She turned suddenly, scowling at him. "I'm usually a lot better at basic sentience spellcasting, okay? Just keep that in mind." Then she lead the way inside the shop, flipping her hair off her shoulders. Everything was perfectly fine.

"So...how goes finding your friend?" Urd sat down at the table in the middle of the shop, sliding a plate of cookies Genie had made his way.

[trademark_skull]

And now Emizel was also avoiding eye contact. Those cookies were pretty tempting, but it wasn't quite enough to coax him over, not quite yet. He really hoped nothing about this would get brought up even if it was pretty inevitable.

".... Not so well," he barely spoke out. He really got fed up with everyone saying that it was a 'friend' (Although he's not sure what he is anymore). But having to correct it every time just lead to more complications. Might as well just let everyone believe whatever they wanted.

[beautifulrondo]

Urd's comment had piqued his interest, and so the demon had taken a short detour to the apartment before heading over to the goddess's shop. He wasn't entirely certain he could help Urd out with the problem that mage had created, but he was more than willing to help where he could. Vyers had no intention of looking like her. That she was even threatening to curse his good looks into nonexistence was terrible enough.

Vyers stepped into the shop with wine bottle in hand and peered around, as much to survey the wares as to look for the shop's owner.

[world_of_elegance]

"You came?" Urd popped upside down into his line of sight, hair curled in the air around her head. Floating above him, she righted herself to look at the bottle in his hands with glee. "Wonderful! I'll get some glasses, come on." She pulled his arm and lead him to the back room, away from the tables and shelves full of merchandise.

"I'm surprised. I figured you wouldn't want to be alone with me after the whole...potion thing."

[beautifulrondo]

Vyers jumped as Urd suddenly appeared in his vision, and the wine bottle he was holding leapt from hand to hand in Vyers' desperate bid to keep it from falling to the ground. He managed to catch it just in time and stood straight, acting as though the sudden game of one-man hot potato had never occurred just in time to be pulled into the back room.

"While my attitude toward those potions is still one of, ah... dubiousness," he admitted, "they do not have any effect on my being alone with you."

[cowardly_hero]

“Well they have mine.” Timon replied, climbing atop the demons shoulder where he then perched himself. “Er, your being alone with her, that is.” After all Vyers had been through at the hands of the goddess, he could not be trusted alone with her. Not when so many times things had gone wrong and the fault none other than his own. Vyers deserved a good smack in the head for even considering a visit to the shop.

“You can thank me later,” he continued, leaning comfortably against Vyers’ head. “Preferably over lunch.” If the demon intended to shop he had undoubtedly brought money with him, money that could be put to far greater use. Though why he had brought the bottle with him too was certainly a mystery. Just what had he intended to use that for?

[world_of_elegance]

"Can you not talk about me like I'm not here?" Urd grumbled, putting her face into Timon's line of vision by leaning towards Vyers' shoulder. Frowning, she poked him lightly in his little furry chest. "You don't call, you don't write...I'm starting to think you don't like me anymore, Timon."

She straightened and plucked the bottle out of the demon's hands, rummaging around on a shelf for some glasses. "Look, I apologized for the potion thing, didn't I?" As she poured them both a glass, she scowled and muttered to herself. "You activate one demon's love life and suddenly you're a pariah..."

[beautifulrondo]

Were Vyers a lesser demon, he would have rolled his eyes at the meerkat's actions. Instead he chose to ignore him for the time being, allowing Urd to defend herself as needed. Really, he wasn't entirely sure why Timon didn't trust him with Urd. Yes there had been a few mistakes, but surely a simple browsing didn't require him to be watched quite so closely, did it?

"What exactly did you want me to bring the wine for?" he asked, a good part of him hoping that Timon wouldn't want to try any of it. He shuddered to think of what the meerkat would be like drunk.

[cowardly_hero]

Timon frowned and carefully brushed his fur clean of any ‘cooties’ Urd may have left when she poked him. He never was a gentleman and certainly had no plans on becoming one any time in the future either. She may not have been serious regarding his lack of calls but the idea alone made him cringe. First journal conversations on a daily basis, then house calls… It only got worse from there.

“Yeah, I’ll send you a birthday card.” He replied, waving his paw carelessly at the goddess. There had been more he’d planned to say but Vyers’ shudder had caught Timon’s attention. He raised a brow at the demon, though nothing more. Perhaps Vyers had been lucky in that case, the meerkat for once succeeding in not running his mouth. Or even two times as lucky for his lack of interest in wine, the meerkat far more disgusted by it than anything else. He stuck his tongue out as Urd poured two glasses.

[sparkwithinme]

Twilight hadn't needed to stop for a moment to consider offering to lend a hoof to the cause. Solving problems, especially of a magical nature, was her specialty, after all. A transformation curse would be very not good; it was really the last thing they needed right now, hopefully, she could help figure out a way to counter the curse.

The young unicorn had been missing her library a lot since she'd ended up here, and today was no exception. Finding an answer would have been far easier if she'd had access to all her books, but she only had the few she'd arrived with that had been in her pack. She wasn't sure if they'd be any help, but just in case, she brought them with her.

She'd wasted no time in heading over to Urd's shop, pushing the door open, and peeking inside.

"Hello...?"

[world_of_elegance]

"Wow, you really are a pony." Urd's voice rang out from behind Twilight. There the goddess stood, carrying a small trunk and a few books and looking down at Twilight with open curiosity. "And a cute one too! Wait, is that a horn?" She bent down, investigating her new visitor.

[sparkwithinme]

"Ah...Yes, it is?" Twilight said, looking up at the tall woman, still not in the least bit used to being looked at so strangely. Were there really no other ponies around here other than Rainbow Dash and herself? "I'm a unicorn pony," she added, as Urd bent down to look at her horn.

"Soooo... you wanted help with that curse, right?" she asked.