ohmyarceus | JANUARY - FEBRUARY TEST DRIVE MEME

It's an inherited trait, apparently. Father can't spend very long up there either. Not to worry, I've found mother and she's since agreed to return to the Underworld, so all's well in my opinion.

[The Olympians still need to be taken care of, but that's a task for another day. Zagreus is happy with the current outcome.]

I'm sorry about that, mate. Especially after you'd been kept from each other for so long. Maybe she'll show up here eventually? I've heard it's possible. Either way, you'll return to the same home you left to get here, down to the minute, so you'll be on the same terms when you get back.

Your mother...? [ Nyx? But she's already - wait, no. ] Oh! You mean to say that Lady Persephone has returned, and all mention of her name and former presence in the Underworld is no longer strictly forbidden on pain of - um, you get the idea. Or she will return, and it will no longer be forbidden some time in my future, which is your past. How strange that time should operate in such a way here, although I suppose with a disconnect in space so great that it spans many worlds, it does make sense, to a degree.

[ If you say so, Orpheus. ]

And I suppose it is good to hear that she will not have occasion to miss me, though I will miss her greatly, not least because all the splendors of this would would be that much sweeter if I could see her face upon witnessing them with me. Imagine, Zagreus, how much it would mean to her to see living forests again. It pains me to be the one out here among the trees and not her.

You've got the gist of it. It took a bit of snooping here, persuading there... But I think she's happy with the result. I've never seen my father cow down to anyone, and he was meek as a child when she began rebuking him. It was quite a sight.

That is a shame, mate. I hope it won't cause you too much grief. I haven't heard the sound of a lyre since I got here, it seems the instrument has fallen out of favor.

They do have quite the strange dynamic, don't they? I am certain that without Lady Persephone's hand in things, I would never have been able to persuade Lord Hades to make that fateful pact with me. Or, at least, that the terms of it would have been even more severe.

[ He goes a bit distant for a moment, his mind drifting to his time in solitary confinement, before he shakes it off and continues as before. Not worth dwelling on! Moving right along. ]

And fear not, my friend, for though my muse and I are separated, she is not wholly lost to me. I think I can still find it in my once-more beating heart to play, though that is complicated somewhat by the fact that my lyre does not seem to have made the journey here with me, and that the constant eminence of strange music from some indistinguishable source makes it difficult to focus on playing anything else. But I'm certain that I will manage something, eventually!

She does love your music, mate. Although I don't think she'd let a love story like yours pass her by without doing anything to help. It takes a very special relationship to motivate someone to travel to the Underworld before their time.

[Zagreus honestly thought that the contract was too strict to begin with, but he's since taken care of that. And it won't be the last time he meddles in his father's affairs.]

I don't think I've ever seen you without it. I'm sure you could buy another one, unless yours was special? It was a beautiful piece, now that I think about it.

Eurydice was a very special person, and the light she brought to the world made every step of the journey down and back out again worth it. [ Just, you know. The last ones didn't go quite as planned. But he's done castigating himself over that, at least out loud. ] I think the deal we struck was as much your parents recognizing that in her as it was any doing of mine.

[ He goes quiet and wistful for a moment, lost in his thoughts before bringing himself back to the conversation at hand. What were they talking about? Right, his lyre. ]

It was a very special piece, in that it was commissioned for me by Lord Hades himself when I first arrived to fulfill my role as court musician. I'm given to understand it was quite expensive! Which made it all the more disappointing when I could not bring myself to play it for such a long time, I'm sure. Oh, but I am getting off-track. Any other lyre would do, I think, but thus far I have been unable to find a replacement - as you said, they seem to have fallen out of fashion in this strange land.

I like her well enough. Nice voice, excellent cooking, good head on her shoulders... But I think she's the sun and stars only for you, mate.

There has to be one somewhere. This place has just about everything. It's amazing what humans have done have done for themselves here-- And the fauna is far more impressive from what little I've seen on the surface back home.

Well, we can agree that she is everything to me, at least. But yes, it is truly incredible what heights humanity has managed to soar to in this place - quite literally, in some cases. [ He peers up at the tallest of the skyscrapers off in the distance, before looking back at Zagreus. ]

Doubtless with no small amount of help from the remarkable creatures surrounding them. They are very helpful, are they not? And virtually everyone seems to have at least one companion or more. To see man and beast living in such harmony is inspiring, in its way. I don't think I ever could have imagined something quite like it.

So it's not like this normally? I mean, I know that animals aren't really on the same level of intelligence as humans back home, but some of them do live together. Dogs, cats... Cows? [That's a thing, right? Domestication?] But you're right, everyone here has a Pokemon companion or two. It's just their way of life. I've even caught a few myself, and they're excellent company.

There is a great deal of cooperation between man and animal, back in Greece and the countries beyond, yes. Great hunters and their dogs, farmers and their livestock, families and their pets, horsemen and their - well, horses. But few live so closely as the people here do with their Pokemon! Perhaps the occasional master and his hound would go everywhere together, as they do here, but they were generally the exception.

Who is accompanying you, though, if I may ask? I only have the one companion, at present [ he hefts the Oricorio that he's currently cradling like a very smug, feathery infant in his arms ] but I do wonder if she would not be less lonely, if she had more peers? It is something to consider.

Here, let me show you. [Zag has a couple of Pokeballs in the hoodies hanging around his hips, and he lets two of them out. A Houndour and a Trapinch appear!] This here is Ena. [He gestures at the Houndour. His name is short for Ena-Kefali, meaning one-head.] He was my first. And the chompy fellow over here is Anthos, I caught him later.

[Anthos immediately begins to dig, or at least try to. Whether or not he's successful depends on if they're on concrete or some kind of softer foundation.]

Mine all get along, more or less, although they all have their own personalities. I think they do better in groups.

[ Orpheus jumps a little when the Pokemon emerge, still unaccustomed to all the light and the sudden appearance of things from virtually nowhere. He supposes it's a little like the way he and the other shades could move about the Underworld, but the way pokeballs work is just abrupt enough to startle him regardless. Still, he dips his head politely in greeting after the two get their bearings. ]

Oh! A pleasure to meet the both of you, I am sure. Um. [ He takes a step back as Anthos burrows into the soft earth next to his feet. ] Well, he seems to be very determined! To do what, I am, admittedly, not sure. But, yes, they do seem to be very social beings, on the whole. I will have to see about convincing another to come with us on our travels.

He really likes to dig. They call him a "Ground-Type" so I think that has something to do with it. He also sticks his head out like a bear trap when he finishes-- there, see? [Anthos pokes his head up out of the hole he dug, in the classic antlion pose.] It must be how his species hunts.

It doesn't take much convincing. Most seem more than happy to join a trainer after they're captured.

How fascinating! Oh, and hello to you as well, Ena. [ Orpheus kneels, putting his Oricorio down and offering Ena a hand, palm out, as one would to let a regular dog get acquainted with one's scent. ]

This is Aulos, [ he says, nodding to the bird, who fluffs up her feathers in deep personal offense at being forced to walk again. ] She was with me when I first arrived, and I'll admit I have not tried to catch any others as of yet. The strange balls they gave us are critical in this, are they not? You're meant to... throw them at the ones you wish to come with you? That seems a little counterintuitive.

[ He certainly wouldn't want to travel with anyone who had been throwing things at him, but maybe that's just a personal problem. ]

[Ena snuffles at his hand in a friendly manner-- Despite his species, he's as sweet as any puppy. And since Zagreus is maximum dog energy himself, they get along very well.]

Hello, Aulos. She's very pretty. And yes, after you have a battle with a wild Pokemon, you throw the ball, and there you go. It seems a bit backwards to me too, but none of my Pokemon took offense at it. I guess it's just... How it works.

[ Aulos chirrups up at Zagreus in greeting, despite still being somewhat huffy about being set down. ]

I suppose it is no stranger than some of the other things that I've seen to occur in this strange land. And Aulos has already defended me many times from other Pokemon that seemed set upon attacking us, so I suppose it would not be too much of an adjustment to try to ask one of them to come with us. [ By throwing things at them! ] Assuming you approve, of course.

[ The last part is directed at Aulos, who coos softly. ]

There you go! I find that it's best not to question things too deeply here, and focus on enjoying yourself. The locals make it quite clear that everyone's happy with this arrangement between man and beast, and society seems to be doing very well in general. Not that I'm that experienced in the subject, but...

Oh, no, you are very correct in that this place is particularly idyllic, at least, to my eyes. Since arriving here I have heard no talk of war, or famine, and have seen no one go hungry or stay ill without treatment, and they welcome us strangers to the land with such open arms it is almost surreal. Which is not to say, of course, that the land of my birth was without its virtues - far from it - or that here is without its flaws, but there is something paradisaical about all of this.

Ah, so I'm right in that assumption. I wasn't exactly sure... I haven't gotten the opinion of a mortal I know yet, just random passerby. And while Thanatos and cousin Hermes are here, they're still gods, you know? I couldn't be sure about their perspectives.

[Thanatos especially leans towards the grim side of things, and tends to be too pessimistic.]

[ Orpheus looks briefly alarmed by the notion of Death Incarnate (and, to a lesser extent, Hermes) being away from their duties before remembering that right, people return home to whatever time they came from when they leave this place. Still, he can't help but feel vaguely uneasy about the prospect, and it shows on his face even as he says; ]

Oh? Well, my friend, I am glad to hear you have company here, at the very least. I do imagine that a god's perspective would be significantly different from that of a mortal's though, yes - they tend to take a longer view of things, for one, immortal and eternal as they are.

[ And he can't help but wonder what it must be like to go the bulk of your existence being worshiped and revered only to suddenly... not be. Would it sour them on this place? Maybe it would be refreshing. He guesses he could just ask Zagreus, though the prince's experiences with godhood were a bit unorthodox to his understanding. ]

Is it strange, though? Wandering among us mortals as near-peers after all your time as Prince of the Underworld? I know you have always been closer with the shades that wander your father's halls than most of the other gods, but the living and the dead can be quite different from one another, in various ways.

[Lol don't worry Orph, they've already worked through that possible dilemma. They're also just hoping that people haven't simply stopped dying back home. Now that would be a story worthy of a written verse!]

Being mortal really does change how you think. There's something about the tedium of it-- all the eating and sleeping and whatnot-- that really makes you appreciate the few conveniences available to you. [That's what bothers Zag the most. He feels like he could be doing something better with his time instead of performing this endless cycle of upkeep.] But I'm enjoying myself! It's an adventure, I suppose. And I do rather like the mortals. Shades are so morose, but live humans seem to put a lot into seizing their day, as it were. I can appreciate that mindset.

There is something about being dead that gives one a predilection for dwelling on the mistakes of the past and those opportunities lost to us rather than moving ever onward as the living often do. [ Says... Orpheus, the man who spent his entire life after it occurred dwelling on a singular, admittedly very major mistake and refusing to get past it. But still. ]

And it is inconvenient, somewhat, having to eat and sleep, isn't it? But I think, there is some joy and respite to be had in these simple pleasures, when there is a comfortable place to lie or a good meal to be had. It is a shame we cannot go and explore and work without need for rest, but perhaps it would be an equal shame not to have these moments of stillness and calm. I appreciate them now, here, more than I did in life originally.

JANUARY - FEBRUARY TEST DRIVE MEME

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