[b]Redana![/b]

"Oh, thank you so much for the compliment young lady," said the Ceronian with a kind civility that almost makes you wonder if you're somehow incognito. "Sit! Zeus bids us to always be glad at guests, and we are honoured to respect the laws of mighty Hades' sister. Have some lime soda!"
"Hold up a moment Sands," said Leon. "Do Zeus' laws still apply here?"
"Oh, that is a fascinating point," said Sands. "We've not had a guest before... we should check!"

The two of them turn away from you, back to their game of marbles. "Hades, brilliant lord, you who reign over this, the Kingdom of Elysium and to whom we honour above all others. Do the laws of Zeus apply in your kingdom?" Sands flicked a marble and both rheumy old eyes watch intently as they click-clacked against each other.

Hades knelt down, staring at the game with intense fascination. He reached his fingers out to adjust the course of a marble ever so slightly.

"Ah - they do!" said Leon. "Praise be, lord Hades, and respect to your regal sister of Olyumpus. In your name, and hers, we welcome you to Elysium. It must have been a glorious death indeed to bring you here with us."
"She doesn't look dead," said Sands. 
"Neither do you!"
"Oh, what a lovely compliment~" said Sands, who was old enough to appear at least dead-adjacent. "But she's on a mission from Hades, she must be dead."
"Didn't you hear her mention Athena? That's a god for the living."
"Oh, just think about how long it took you to get out of that habit."

The lime soda is a thick and deep flavour. Its creation was unskilled; there is too much bitterness, not enough of the refinedly sweet perfection of the Imperial kitchens. Just an ordinary person doing their best, but enough to refresh on a hot afternoon as the old warriors bicker. You might notice a shaking of the sun, the shadows crazed for a tiny second, but the distances are so vast that whatever violence caused it is distant from here.

"Oh! Where are my manners. I'm Leon, this is Sands. As you know, we were warriors of Ceron before we were gathered here in Elysium after death by Lord Hades," said Leon brightly.

Hades, sitting across the game of marbles, makes casual eye contact with you and gives a gentle shrug. He's giving no opinion on this, even though your auspex seems to clearly think that these two are very much alive.

"Princess Epistia is the daughter of Queen Hatchan," Leon went on. "We all dote on her of course but she's always so moody, just like her father," he laughed. Hades' cheeks turned a soft shade of pink and he gave another idle shrug, this one a little more forced. "She doesn't understand just how valuable peace is! She's always wanting to go off and fight like we used to. I told her, princess! This is the kind of place you fight [i]for[/i]! But then, I never listened to my grandfather either."

"The queen wants her to settle down," said Sands. "And it makes sense she does. This place is favoured by Hades because she's here. He covers the fields in flowers, makes exotic crops bloom, brings forth diamonds and gems from beneath the earth to cheer her - and even if she doesn't appreciate them it's good luck to have someone like that around."

"And now Hades has even brought you here!" laughed Leon. "Someone the same age! And a princess too! Why, I think that you two would make a gorgeous couple!"

[b]Vasilia![/b]

Don't celebrate your triumph too soon - a lot of escape vessels got off the Veterosk before it broke, and you can see even now most of them drifting towards the Eater of Worlds. The King may have lost his ship but his military is still about - though widely scattered and deeply disorganized amidst all the chaos. Your ship has ridden through it better than any other.

But you can hear the muttering of Poseidon's voice as he draws lines in the air with malformed hands. Great sweeping lines trace winds and waves and the storm darkens between here and the Armada. It would require great courage or great callousness to order ships through that tempest.

Which means that the Admiral will still be coming, of course. But you at least have a little time.

[b]Alexa![/b]

Ares finally lowers his tools, eyes alight, his molten-metal body rippling and cooling into grey slate. He gives an intoxicated grin and a lazy salute - and then he runs cold. His skin stops steaming. His eyes cloud over. Twenty fingers run through his wild hair, and then scissors cut it neatly short again. Red burns away to blue and Athena smooths out her uniform with a single gesture. It never happened, of course. She is the victor, she would never lose control like that.

Between Dolce's quick actions and your endurance the chaos has calmed rapidly. There are no dead, there is no battle, and Athena steps away for there is nothing for her to do here. You've got a moment to brush yourselves and each other down as you head for the launch bay.

[b]Bella![/b]

"Ow-ow-ow-ow-[i]ow -[/i] I'm just trying to [i]help[/i], Bella," said Mynx. "It is the mark of an expert actress to be able to talk about the most dirty and provocative subjects without letting one's true feelings slip. Why, if I was less of a creep my skills would atrophy and we'd both be - ow! [i]Bella[/i]!"

She huffs and folds her arms, an incongruously childish and petulant look on a face so old and severe. 

"But - hm! Fine. Another question then. If you were to pick up a beautiful woman, how would you like to do it? Sweeping off their feet into a princess carry? The squealing humiliation of hefting them over one shoulder? The dark and smouldering one-handed grip to the throat while you hold them aloft?"