== > Be Hekata.

 OwlSprite is being surprisingly kind. She pets your head gently with her silky feathers as you cry into her wing. Luckily, she has second tier prototyped herself with a lovely snowy cape which gives her long and luxurious feathers and gives her the advantage of now being fully touch-able.

HEKATA: Wh∆t ∆m | d•|ng wr•ng?

OWLSPRITE: THERE, THERE, SWEET HEK∆T∆.

Her rasping bird-voice is surprisingly comforting.

HEKATA: D• they h∆te me?

OWLSPRITE: H•W C•ULD ∆NY•NE H∆TE Y•U?

HEKATA: | just... d•n't c∆re ∆nym•re.

OWLSPRITE: YOU DO CARE. YOU CARE SO MUCH YOU FEEL AS THOUGH YOU WILL BLEED TO DEATH WITH THE PAIN OF IT.

HEKATA: Y•u're r|ght.

She offers you a bit of chocolate.

OWLSPRITE: E∆T |T. Y•U'LL FEEL BETTER.

HEKATA: **Sm|les** Y•u ∆re w|se ∆fter ∆ll.

OWLSPRITE: HERE C•MES Y•UR FR|END. SHE W|LL HELP.

HEKATA: ... C∆r|el!?

CARIEL: +— HEKATA!

You rush toward her and she hugs you, hard.

CARIEL: +— are you alrIghT?

HEKATA: |'m f|ne. | ∆te s•me ch•c•l∆te ∆nd felt better.

CARIEL: +— They're hIdeous people!

HEKATA: N•t ∆ll •f the|r v|s∆ges ∆re |ns∆lubr|•us to v|ew. S•me ∆re ∆ctu∆lly qu|te be∆ut|ful.

CARIEL: +— I spoke of The pITch-black Inner DepThs of TheIr souls.

HEKATA: Well, ∆ren't y•u sepulchr∆l?

CARIEL: +— shaDowhuntTer, hekaTa. whaT do you expecT?

HEKATA: ∆nd wh∆t c•l•r d• y•u suppose the |nner depths •f y•ur s•ul ∆re, M|ss ∆rch∆n?

CARIEL: +— easy. mauve.

You laugh and feel almost alright. Soon, you and Cariel are chatting away and you feel back to your a-little-bit-snooty self. Soon, however, other trolls are arriving. You hear Canira and Ciphre talking through the great hall door, their voices getting louder as they approach.

CANIRA: C#@lleng!ng @uthor!ty !$ fun!

CIPHRE: when there are no cops around, anythxng^s legal.

CANIRA: K@t@'$ l@nd sure !s pretty.

CIPHRE: x prefer the woodsxness of my home, but x^m sure our lands are catered to our personalxtxes

CANIRA: You're prob@bly r!ght.

You open the door and let them in, a bit frostily. You don't recall them leaping to your defense.

HEKATA: Welc•me t• L•C∆S, Esper• and •ps|d∆.

HEKATA: The •thers w|ll be here s••n.

They take seats that you conjure in the great hall. Food automatically appears on the plates, courtesy of your kitchen-savvy consorts. You've taken to calling them feathered elves, obsequious little creatures they are.

Coanan and Hestus come next, followed by  a scowling Iferna. Persus goes over to discuss something with Cariel as Ninfia stalks in, not meeting your eye. Once everyone's here, and gathered into a reasonable approximation of a circle, you begin.

HEKATA: We n•w c•mmence the f|rst sess|•n •f the S•c|ety f•r the Pr•tect|•n •f Unst∆ble Tr•lls, ∆ble t• be ∆bbrev|∆ted as S.P.U.T. We g∆ther t•d∆y t• d|scuss the |n•rd|n∆te sp•nt∆ne|ty ∆nd r∆ther w•rr|s•me beh∆v|•r∆l devel•pme-

CARIEL: +— can we jusT geT sTarTed alreaDy!? I love ya, kaTa, but you really neeD To quIT The preTenTIous InTroDuckTIon.

PERSUS: DiD YoU JusT SaY IntroDUCKtioN?

CARIEL: +— yeah, your poInT beIng?

HEKATA: ∆s | w∆s s∆y|ng! The r∆ther w•rr|s•me turns C∆b∆l•'s beh∆v|•r h∆s t∆ken.

HEKATA: There, "Pretent|•us |ntr•duct|•n" f|n|shed. F|re ∆w∆y, every•ne.

CIPHRE: well, x saw hxm xn hxs room. x was worrxed aout hxm, you understand, not spyxng or -

COANAN: W3 G37 17 4LR34DY.

CIPHRE: ok. well. he was dancing around in one of zenana^s dresses and he looked lxke he had fxxed hxs mane to look like her, uh, coxffure. he also trxed to sxng one of zenana's songs and that's, uh, when x ran away clutchxng my ears

HESTUS: ~So 1ha1's why you were running around wi1h your hands over your ears on LoSaC!~

HESTUS: ~I'd wondered why you'd cut shor1 our 1ime session. Was his singing really 1ha1 loud?~

HEKATA: **F∆cep∆lm x2 Co•mb•** ∆nyone else h∆ve relev∆nt |nform∆t|•n, prefer∆bly •f the v∆r|ety th∆t d•esn't |nvolve e|ther runn|ng ∆m•k and screech|ng w|th y•ur e∆rs c•vered •r ducks?!

HEKATA: Well, y•u d|d just f|ne, •ps|d∆, but ∆ttenn? M∆ybe st|ck t• the relev∆nc|es th∆t c•uld help us f|gure •ut h•w t• help, n•t h∆rm, C∆b∆l•. N•w, wh• else h∆s s•mef|n |mp•-

CANIRA: W!LL YOU JU$T $#UT UP!

CANIRA: WE'RE DO!NG T#E BE$T WE C@N HERE!

CANIRA: C!p#re and He$tu$ g@ve gre@t !nform@t!on! T#ere'$ no w@y you c@n d!$count !t l!ke t#@t. @nd ! not!ced you don't #@ve @nyt#!ng "relev@nt" to s@y ot#er t#@n $pew B$ @t u$! You'd do @nyt#!ng to be @ le@der @nd r!ght now, you're k!nd@ f@!l!ng pretty h@rd @t !t!

NINFIA: Y(o)u kn(o)w I can't stand her either, but fighting with (o)urselves will get us n(o)where.

NINFIA: As it happens, I have s(o)mething t(o) say.

NINFIA: I saw Irisen walking thr(o)ugh the streets (o)f L(o)PaB with (o)ne of th(o)se creepy p(o)ny d(o)ll things of Zenana. I th(o)ught he (o)nly had the (o)ne, but he (o)pened his satchel and t(o)(o)k (o)ut a wh(o)le bunch m(o)re. He lined up all (o)f th'em and started chanting. I think he was trying t(o) resurrect Zenana s(o)meh(o)w using those d(o)lls. He can't do magic, th(o)ugh.

HEKATA: Necr•m∆ncy |s ∆ s•mewh∆t •verr∆ted f•rm of m∆gic; |t |s merely ∆n|m∆t|ng ∆ c•rpse, kn•wn ∆s ∆n |nfer|us (plural |nfer|) t• serve y•ur will, unless y•u h∆ve the Resurrect|•n St•ne. H∆d y•u the St•ne, y•u c•uld l|kely -

NINFIA: SHUT THE BL(O)(O)DY HELL UP.

NINFIA: ANYWAY, when the spells didn't work, he gathered up all the d(o)lls and left the park dejectedly. I think he als(o) started kissing (o)ne (o)f them?

CIPHRE, IFERNA,HESTUS,PERSUS,CANIRA:GROS$!!!!!!!!!!

NINIFA: Agreed, gr(o)ss.

NINFIA: But at the same time... sad.

PERSUS: HE ReallY MisseS HeR.

IFERNA: (i realy mis my meowbeasts but nobody holds a council fur them///)

IFERNA: (theyre just cats/// they say/// get over it/// they say///)

PERSUS: I HearD ThaT.

IFERNA: WEL WHY DONT WE HOLD A COUNCIL FOR THE MEOWBEASTS THEN///

CARIEL: +— how abouT no!

COANAN: C4N W3 PL3453 G37 84CK T0 8US1N355?

HESTUS: ~Righ1. Al1hough hones1ly I'm no1 agains1 holding a council for 1he meowbeas1s.~

HESTUS: ~Anyhow, maybe we should 1alk to Irisen. 1his is about him, righ1?~

COANAN: 1'M C0MPL3T3LY SUR3 7H47 15 4 73RR18L3 1D3A.

HEKATA: | bel|eve he's been try|ng t• h∆ve Zen∆n∆ l|ve •n thr•ugh h|m. |t ∆ll f|ts - we∆r|ng her dresses, s|ng|ng her s•ngs, even d•|ng h|s h∆|r. He c∆n't st∆nd be|ng h|mself w|th•ut Zen∆n∆, s• he br|ngs Zen∆n∆ |nt• h|mself.

CANIRA: ! gue$$ th@t could be the c@$e.

COANAN: MY D3DUC710NS H4V3 L3D 70 7H3 S4M3 C0NCLUS10N.

PERSUS: DonT YoU MeaN DeDUCKtionS!?

CARIEL: +— WIll you sTop.CARIEL: +— WIll all of you just effIng STOP.

HEKATA: **S|ghs** Th|s c•ncludes •ur f|rst meet|ng of S.P.U.T.

HEKATA: Every•ne d|sm|ssed.

You turn to Cariel as everyone files out the door, all irritated and touchy. They each head to the suggested House assignment you gave them. You sorted them all like you sorted your consorts, according to personality and skills. Ninfia, Zenana, and Irisen were planned to be Yellows, cheerful, dedicated, and fun. Iferna, Persus, and Canira were planned to be Reds, loyal, chivalrous, and brave. Coanan, Desten, and Cariel were planned to be Greens, ambitious, cunning, and power-seeking. Ciphre, Hestus, and you are the Blues, the intelligent, creative, and curious.

HEKATA: •k, s• wh∆t went wr•ng?

CARIEL: +— you DID The besT you coulD.

HEKATA: Y•u l••k exh∆usted. G• t• bed. Y•ur dre∆mself just d|ed ∆nd y•u h∆d ∆ l•ng d∆y. Y•u need rest.

CARIEL: +AlrIghT. Love ya, hekaTa.

HEKATA: Sleep well, M•|r∆|l.

You look mover at OwlSprite, sleeping calmly in her little enclosure. She can leave it at any time but she seems to find it secure. You decide not to wake her up and bother her. Some things you need to shoulder alone.

You just need something to make some of your insecurities and depression go away. You head to the kitchen and decide to mix a few ingredients via alchemization. You decide on butterscotch and carbonated water. Sugar, caramel, and a bit of cream. And perhaps a little alcohol...