Makin' My Way Down Town, Walking Fast..

It was a nice day in the Latonia area, Elodie ran out of the portal. She was exhausted from all of the running, but she was mostly running from her father and Cain from looking at her... It was nerve-racking for people to even look at you do something awfully embarrassing as bowing dozens of times to two humongous gods! She bent down, placing her hands on her knees trying to catch a breath glad that Finn was running right behind her. "F-Finn! We made it!" She exclaimed in clear Japanese, carefully picking her Shiba Inu up with one hand and holding him carefully to her chest which he licked... Odd. Elodie carefully looked around this unfamiliar place, adjusting her blue rimmed glasses which weren't surrounded by dirty flecks thankfully! She didn't know how glasses wearers could tolerate such filth on their lenses!

"Finn... I've a feeling we're not in Japan anymore..." She muttered, hoping none of the citizens heard her. She hated talking in public especially in front of other people.. The thought gave Elodie goosebumps. She decided maybe taking a walk wasn't so bad? She would hold Finn close to her and walked around Latonia. This place really impressed the Japanese demigod, there was no dirt.. Maybe people actually recycle? She thought with a small smile as she walked on, observing the buildings and the strange looking people... Monsters in disguise!? Elodie was ready to pull out Tonbogiri but her stainless steel katana wasn't equipped.. She passed a building that was surrounded by mirrors and gasped, Finn jumped out of her arms and barked a few times. 

Her dark hair was a mess, some of her edges weren't on point   She was wearing floral printed footies that looked more fit for a toddler than a teenager, She was small so she might have appeared as a child in front of other people her furry eyebrows were... of course furry. She looked, terrifying! She didn't want the pajamas to upset her but she had to find somewhere to buy new clothes and shelter. "Let's go...!" She would say to Finn who barked in response as she quickly walked to the city's center with Finn following from behind.

There was something wrong with this scene.. It was crowded, with all sorts of people who were not only human but different species as well. Elodie gulped and looked down at Finn, Oh how she wished he was human so she can use him to talk to these people.. This was going to be tough, "Here we go," She would say quietly with a sigh as she walked towards the crowded area, Finn stayed to see if there was anybody worth barking at. Elodie looked around, she tapped a green faced man's shoulder and once he turned away from the newspaper he was holding she would take a huge deep breath, "H-Hello there, I-I'm looking forr- uhm..." Elodie stopped when the man saw her as uninteresting and returned to his newspaper. Elodie grimaced, Wouldn't he listen!? She sighed, feeling the sweat run down her back now that was hard! She kept looking around for someone anyone to acknowledge her, she did get a strange glance or two from the citizens but nothing more..

How long had it been since Uriel had come to this world?

It could not be sure.

Today, it moved through the city in the guise of a young, human girl. She was dirty and her clothing worn, the dress she looking as though it were some kind of sleeping gown that had more than a few rips and tears in it's fabric. Her skin was darker, her hair long and clumped together by dirt and grease, and her face held the stains of earth upon it. Her bright, brown eyes traced about the city streets, looking through the mass of people. It was towards midday. Not many people were out and about, as most of them were busy perfecting their livelyhood. Those with irregular work schedules or were retired sat about reading various materials, or walked around the city for exercise. The air in this part of the city was crisp and fresh-- no where near as great as Caelum's, but still lovely all the same.

The backstory was simple. She was from Rustici. That was why she was barefoot, and dirty. She resided in the underground portions with her family, except they were homeless. Why? Their father was a farmer who lost a leg in an accident. She and her mother tried to make up the workload initially, but it wasn't enough and they lost their home and their money. The girl called Susan then traveled around Radix for days at a time, gathering food and supplies that others had tossed out. Latonia was perfect for that-- it was a giant, self-cleaning system. Nobody would miss a few items taken, if it could be attributed to Latonia's nature. They'd be upset, but they wouldn't look for them. Oh, a last name. It needed a last name. How about... Brown? Susan Brown. Nobody accused Uriel of being good at names.

The eyes of the girl bounced about the world, when she settled on something odd from her corner. A girl and her dog had just appeared! At least, that seemed the case. Uriel-- Susan, had not seen them earlier. That would have seemed quite an odd thing to miss given how observant she was. But yet, she was cautious. The girl headed towards a crowded area and Susan followed suit, eyes on the girl. She observed her 'quarry' wandering about looking confused until she attempted to talk to a man on a bench, clearly distracted by his reading material. The man who ignored her. Uriel's face puffed up, and with swagger characteristic of a young girl she sauntered over towards the man, shouting at him in anger. Susan didn't like people to take shit from others. "Hey, you, jerk," she called. "She's asking you a question! Don't you ignore her!" The performance was over the top, but nobody would question it. Some people were just like this. Uriel's disguise was solid.

It seemed as if Elodie asking a question caused quite a scene.. A young girl arrived just in time as the green faced man ignored her, She looked like she was from the other part of this place.. She looked just as out of place as Elodie did, She didn't know why the girl defended her all she wanted to do was hide under a rock to avoid all of the stares they were getting! The man sighed in annoyance, taking the time to fold his newspaper and turned around acknowledging the two girls. "Listen little girl, I don't have time to argue I have grownup things to do like read," The man would say as he stood up from the bench looking at the small girl with an amused expression.  "Do you even know  how to read? Hah, it looks like you can barely even afford a meal!" Elodie didn't like this situation or being in the middle of it, Soon a few people started to stare some of them crowded around the three. The demigod felt like she was about to scream all of these people crowding around her...

"N-No, it's okay. Please don't fight m-miss..." She stuttered, it was the second time she spoke clear English. It has been awhile, she only spoke English to tourists or foreigners and even that was hard! She looked around for Finn, where was her puppy? She couldn't see him because of all these tall people in her way...

Keeping in character was one of the hardest things to do under scrutiny. When the role becomes well known, you can't improvise as much and sometimes you have to recall past improvisations that were never meant to be 'canon'.

This was not an instance where that was a problem. This was a 'new' character. Susan Brown had never existed anywhere before, only being created to satisfy Uriel's need for a disguise. There was a greater degree of flexibility involved with the beginning of a new character. Now, was the time to answer the question the man had basically posed of her character. The girl was brave enough to issue a challenge-- was 'Susan' able to follow through? No, no she was not. The man's eyes were enough to stop her in her tracks, and the girl felt her body froze. From bravery to fear in an instant.

Tears started to well up in the girl's eyes at this awful, terrible man's harsh words. She sniffled silently for a few seconds first, and then heaved sob followed by more sniffling. She was afraid, and she was in emotional pain. "Y-you jerk!" The fearful girl yelled. Of course she was hungry! She was homeless! Now, she was afraid, scared, and mad! People were staring. The girl was locked in by their eyes. She had made a scene, and now was paying for it. He fists clenched while she bit her lip and tears streamed down her face. She couldn't think, she couldn't move but....

She hocked a boogie and spit right on the man's newspaper. "Food for thought," she screamed at the man with tears staining her eyes, "you stupid prick!"

That was it, as soon as the boogie/spit landed right on the newspaper. The green man threw it down and was about to lunge at the girl. Elodie thought fast, she ran in front of the poor girl her leg out in front of her aiming to kick the man in the torso area. It worked, catching him off guard sending him in a nearby waterfall. A little girl and her mother shrieked as they got wet, the little girl started crying holding her big hat over her elf ears, The green man surfaced his eyes were still shut as he reached over and grabbed the hem of the little girl's dress hopping it was something to dry himself with causing the girl to cry some more. This made the mother slap the green man's hand and picked her shrieking daughter quickly walking away.

The people were glad that this was resolved and went back to their business, The man climbed out of the fountain staring Elodie and the little girl down with a curious but angry look and walked away.. Elodie started to shake, she couldn't believe she kicked the man in order to save the girl. Heck! She didn't know the young lady and was willing to save her, Though she was young she wasn't going to try and turst this girl. Trust no one but yourself and Finn, She reminded herself as she turned around to the young girl eventually bowing to her, "Ari- Thank you young miss! For standing u-up to m-m-m-mme... I respect such kindness.." She would try and say without stuttering. Elodie bowed a few times showing her respect and stood up hoping the girl would say something, Elodie noticed a beam of sweat running down her own forehead and absentmindedly wiping it away.

Uriel's thoughts came in waves as the man dropped the newspaper and in a rage lunged at its small, feminine form. The little girl that everyone saw, still crying, went wide eyed as he drew closer. The world would have slowed down for the girl in panic. Uriel's thought's raced. Who was Susan? Would she stand here? Would she defend herself? A small twitch of the hand and it starting glowing just slightly, charging with energy. Uriel was ready to defend itself against the man's aggression. Time really did slow down for the Angel, and it prepared to strike.

Before it could even raise a hand, the girl the man had scoffed at earlier was upon him. Her kick was fantastic-- the blistering force of her leg sent the man sailing out of sight behind a small water fall in the plaza. Uriel's widened eyes weren't even upon the man anymore, anyway. They fell upon the girl before her, still teary and sniffling. The girl in front of her kept bowing, suddenly. She even thanked 'Susan' for standing up for her. Uriel had a choice to make. Was Susan's previous bravado an entire facade?

Yes, yes it was. He also decided that Susan wasn't thanked for anything that often, and started bawling harder, babbling incoherently alongside the tears. The words she spoke seemed to run on and the girl was forced to her knees from tears, before she managed to spit out a barely audible "thanks" between the sobs.

Elodie was a bit embarrased by the girl who fell upon her knees crying harder than before.The demigod placed her hand behind her neck slightly rubbing it, a blush crept upon her cheeks. Was she suppose to hug the girl..? She wasn't sure how to react to this emotion very well. She placed her hands on her knees and bent down until she was at the younger girl's eye level, she was kind of the same height as the girl being very small and all so it wasn't that hard to look at the girl. She reached out to put both of her hands on the girl's shoulders but decides not too seeing that she was still sweating and that the girl's clothes were dirty, with disgust at herself and at how unclean the girl was she wiped her sweaty palms on her footie pajamas.

"H-Hey.. please don't cry," Elodie would say, getting a little uncomfortable bending over and with long hesitation decided to sit on the floor. "No, please don't thank me I thank you for standing up to m-me there." She was accomplished that she said this without stuttering. She noticed that Finn was gone but knew he was going to come right by her side any second! "You're very brave for somebody t-this young." She gulped, she had never really complimented a stranger before...

The girl noted Elodie's hesitation in touching her, and started to cry even harder, and slamming her palms to the dirt and forehead to the same began to cry out pathetically in a semi-coherent tone, "I'm sorry that I'm dirty, please don't hate me! I'm sorry!" Despite Elodie's compliments, the girl only focused on that. Only on the look she had received, similar to many other Uriel had observed from within other forms like this one. Thousands of years of seeing sentient disgust, and while he knew it wasn't malicious he sure liked tugging on the heart-strings.

The little girl sobbed into the cement below her, tears steadily streaming from her eyes that stood clenched shut from shame. The sobs became more incoherent as her whole body heaved, but they retained the same general sounds of "I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry."

Elodie frowned when the girl apologized for being dirty and begged Elodie not to hate her, "No, I d-d-don't hate- Please...." She wished the young girl would accept her compliments, Elodie has never been in a situation like this before and it was getting extremely uncomfortable especially since she was starting to sweat. What should I do? She thought as she wiped her sweaty palms on her sleeves as the girl kept sobbing. She looked around for Finn or for anyone that was social to be put in a situation like this...

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Meanwhile in a sea kingdom, Suijin appeared slowly walking over to his throne. He stopped when he found the sun goddess Amaterasu, his wife standing there with her arms crossed. "Ama, hey why aren't you in your chariot...?" He asked his wife with his eyebrow raised. She glared at him under her long blonde bangs, she didn't look like the rest of the Kami gods with their almond shaped eyes and dark hair, She stood among the rest of them with her striking features golden eyes and blonde hair. "Where have you been?" She asked him, a little worry in her voice but she looked calm.. "I was just taking care of Elodie is all..." He would say, walking past her to get to his throne. Before he could sit down, Amaterasu gently grabbed his arm and looked at him with a frantic expression.

"I SAW! YOU SENT HER TO THAT DIMENSION WITHOUT ANY FOOD OR MONEY!? AND HOW IS TATSU GOING TO EAT!???"

"Ama! I hate when you spy on me! Sheesh! Why were you even- Ama...."

Suijin was interrupted when Amaterasu conjured up a hand woven brown basket she sat at her throne placing folded dollar bills and a bag of treats in the bag with tissue and dog treats, "I know you hate it, but I always need to know what you're doing! I don't care how the lesser Kami find that obsessive but I do it because I love you," She would say, patting the folding a few clothes neatly. She would hold the basket up in admiration, "I wove it while I was watching you talk to the God Cain, I knew you wouldn't give her anything for her punishment because you are so godamn selfish... Pretty isn't it?"  She would smile and snap her fingers, two women appeared taking the bag and disappearing.. Suijin sighed but then looked at his wife, "You're right, I never thought about it... Thanks Ama, just try not to spy on me again?" He asked his wife, sitting on his throne looking at her with  with pleading eyes.

Amaterasu nodded, leaning over and planting a kiss on his cheek,  "I can't promise that, my love," She replied with a sigh as a bright light appeared over the ocean, the mermaids and sea creatures outside of the beautiful kingdom swam away in fear as if they were not use to seeing this bright light. "Ah, my chariot is here~! Bye love!" Amaterasu exclaimed giving Suijin another kiss and disappearing to the surface to her chariot.

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As Elodie was sitting in silence, two women passed by them they were giggling in their palms and approached Elodie and the small girl. "Delivery from someone special!" They both said in unison as they placed the basket in Elodie's lap and walked away. Elodie looked down at the basket and found dog treats, some food, spare clothes, and waded up dollar builds from this dimension... "Hey, I c-can g-g-get you cleaned up, if you w-wan-n-na come with me?" She looked at the young girl, maybe she can buy a room at a motel and feed her something. She owed her so much after rescuing her from the fear of talking to someone so rude..

Susan's sobs were so heavy that she barely heard Elodie's offer, but she understood the gist off it. Turning her still stained face from the earth and still sobbing she couldn't articulate her response properly, and her words simply dribbled from her mouth incoherently until finally, she gave up on trying to speak and merely nodded at the girl, still heaving heavy sobs. Instead of standing up though she wrapped her arms around herself trying to control her involuntary and teary convulsions, her eyes fighting against her as she commanded them to open fully. The tears were slowing, and her panic was subsiding, but not fast enough to be comfortable.

Uriel's interaction wasn't actually planned to go this way. Provided, it never really had considered how this would unfold but it had assumed that this one, given her awkwardness would probably try to remove herself from such an abrasive situation. Instead, two others approached the girl with a delivery. How very strange... how would they have known she was here? Yes, Uriel was certain that they had just appeared earlier but they probably could teleport, or trans-locate or some similar method of travel. Was somebody tracking her? If so, was it Radix himself? Probably not. Radix hadn't intervened in the city for eons.

Susan's tears were gradually drying up, but her body still shivered and she still was refraining from speech. Elodie's words had an apparent effect on the girl, though the extent was yet to be seen.

The girl was still shaken up, Elodie smiled warmly and took the woven basket in her hand and knelled down towards her. "We should get out of here, b-before we cause another s-s-scene." She placed her hand on the girl's shoulder then quickly withdrew it to the basket and walked towards the street signs, Finn ran over to Susan and nudged her with his little head if she lifted her head even once he would lick her cheek and if she didn't then he would bark and circle around her running back to Elodie who was having trouble reading the signs which were pointing in several different directions, How can I read this..? She thought as she tapped her chin with uncertainty as the words started to move around. Elodie winced, the suckish part about dyslexia was not being able to read well.

She turned around and looked at Susan, maybe she knew what these words said? "Hey-y-y. do you know what these words say?" She asked her, wanting to facepalm by the way she stuttered.

This had certainly turned into an unexpected scenario for Uriel, and in truth he quite enjoyed the thrill of it. As Susan lifted her head lightly, the tongue of the small dog slid up her cheek gently and quickly, lapping up a few of her tears. She outstretched a hand to him gently, attempting to pet the creature. A smile was forced, and the sobs considerably fewer and smaller. She looked up and after Elodie, wiped the snot from her nose and onto her aging dress, and then rose to her feet.

She walked over to Elodie's side, sniffling as she peered at the sign. "Street names," she replied, pointing at the two at the top arranged in a cross. "The first one says one-thousand-eighth street. The second says Datrulga Avenue." Below that one was another sign, with large numbers. "Speed Limit," Susan explained, her voice still low and shaky. She was speaking low and meekly still, as though she expected trouble to resume at any moment. There were three different numbers though, arranged from top to bottom. The very top one said, 'Flight: sixty cubes per mentum', which Susan read off to Elodie. Then, "Foot-traffic: thirty cubes per mentum. Vehicles: thirty cubes per mentum." She pointed at one more sign, at the bottom.

"This one says where we are right now. We're at the Latonia south-eastern secondary plaza, the corner of K-eighth and Datrulga." Right below that sign was a small dispensary. Upon pressing it, a small tablet made of clay would be dispensed. Stroking the top would turn it into a temporary sort of navigation device, though it's function was limited to the person holding it. People with more magical potential got significantly less use out of them, which is why Uriel never wanted to hold them. They broke at its touch, seeing that it was an Angel. However, it did indicate the dispenser to Elodie. "These are kind of like maps, if you need one..."

Elodie listened to Susan as she explained what the street signs said, she head was spinning suddenly wishing she knew how to read English properly well if this was English. She looked down and saw that something came out of a small dispensary, when Susan explained that it was like some sort of map Elodie grabbed it without hesitation. Finn barked and jumped on his high legs, placing his paws on her legs wanting to be picked up. Elodie would examine the angel with her hands but got distracted by Finn's bark, she shook her head in frustrations, she hated being interrupted. She hesitated and once again felt the angel just suddenly stroking the top, she gasped and almost dropped it when it turned into some sort of device.

Elodie held it in her hands gently, trying not to drop it from her shaking hands. "So, t-there is a motel in what looks like... (squint) S-Second west plaza. This place is r-rather big." She told the young girl as Finn ran around her barking for her attention. She smiled down at her puppy and then the girl, "It looks like Finn has taken a liking in you," She gently placed the tablet in her basket hoping it wouldn't smush the goodies in there. "Well, let's go to second west p-plaza." She was about to scoop Finn up but she wanted Susan to pick him up instead, with a nod she walked to the second west plaza with her face buried in the tablet navigation map.