This is Athens. There are five capitals of Athenian Greece; Athens is the greatest. The others are Heraklion, Ioannina, Komotini, and Patras. Tonight, there'll be a summit of the Five Elected Kings of Athenian Greece.
One of these royals is Queen Madonna. She bears the likeness of a pop singer named Madonna who will rise to fame in several centuries. Other than that, she looks Greek.
It's a toga party, of course. But then, it seems there are a lot of those in Athenian Greece these days... There's lots of Greek wine, and appetizers cooked in olive oil. And yes, there are martinis, too. The vodka is moonshine imported from the Slavic stateless societies of the North and East.
But of course, if they're stateless societies, then ALL of their vodka is moonshine, isn't it?
Dion's here. He's paid for his fare here with money earned from his new job at Gamma Koppa. And yes, he's in a toga. Too bad this isn't video; I'm sure a lot of ladies would LOVE to see Justin Timberlake in a toga...
A lot of people want to talk to him, once they learn that he works for Gamma Koppa. Gradually throughout the night, the female crowd that surrounds Dion gets bigger and bigger. And the bulk of this female crowd gets drunker and drunker, as stores of wine and vodka get shallower and shallower.
There's also a line in front of the ladies' cesspit. The bouncers patrol up and down the line, prodding any girl who almost faints while in it. These drunk Greek girls are a lot like Jesse's sheep in ancient Israel; they fall over a lot.
As usual, Kalyca MUST make her grand entrance. She does it atop an elevated dais. First, there's an explosion of red light. From it, clouds of Bloodforce magic spew from the hole in reality that it's made. When the explosion sounds, the crowd screams in shock. As the magic spews, the gape in awe.
Thunder and a cleared portal surrounded by a thicker cloud of red Bloodforce magic later, and the blood witch Kalyca emerges...in a burgundy toga, and carrying a bronze cobra staff...similar to the one that Jafar wielded in Disney's Aladdin. All around the dais, her admirers go wild. She grins, with garnet-red lips, snaps her fingers, and vanishes the portal behind her. She conjures a drink of burgundy wine into her hand, and makes her way down the steps.
"Wow," Dion mutters. "I'm almost shocked she didn't come as Cruella de Vil." He looks around. "At least then, she could've smoked...and brought a cat."
Into her smoking hand, Kalyca conjures up an iconic cigarette of Cruella de Vil. Behind her, another portal opens...releasing a white tiger into the ballroom.
Dion arches his brows. "I stand corrected."
Moments later, Queen Madonna seizes the dance floor, and puts on a number of her own. The number is called "Isaac." It's very reminiscent of the same song that 1980s Madonna will perform in several centuries.
All around her, others dance. Some of them might be Semitic. Hell, Queen Madonna might have some Semite in her. After all, why not? She inherited her promiscuity from her mother...who wasn't all-Greek herself.
Dion only shakes his head. "All these years... And her Electoral Majesty STILL dances like a seraph."
Andromeda, Dion's sister, has since joined the party. She stands near her brother, and looks on. "In a few years," she mutters, "she'll likely JOIN the seraphs..."
"Which ones?" Dion nods. "Israel's, or ours?"
Soon, Queen Madonna begins a new number. This one's called "4 Minutes." For it, she ropes Dion into helping her perform it. Dion's not sure, initially...but once a crowd cheers him on, he takes the stage alongside his Queen...or rather, A Queen. He's neither confirming nor denying his loyalty to her...
Throughout the number, Kalyca stands on the front row...blowing her smoke, twirling her red hair, and stroking her white tiger behind the ears. As she does, she bleeds both envy and burgundy clouds of Bloodforce magic. Alas, it's unclear as to whether she's envying Queen Madonna or Dion.
But then, few can blame her. Both are now in VERY enviable places. Them and Count Timba, a Somali bard who bears the likeness of Timbaland...
The music ends. Many applaud. Queen Madonna, after all, invented applause. (Or, was that Lady Gaga?)
Kalyca takes a while...but she vanishes her cigarette, and applauds, too...if not more slowly. For some reason, she seems disturbed...
Dion comes down from the dais. He scurries between pillars to take a breather. As fun as that was, it was also exhausting. Even so, the Mindless Ones made him forget how good it can feel, to dance on stage in front of a crowd...and not to mention duet with one of the Five Elected Kings...
Back here, Kalyca teleports into view, via a portal rimmed with a red cloudy hoop of Bloodforce magic. Slowly from there, she creeps up behind him.
"Rather impressed with you," she blows a smoke ring, "her Electoral Majesty was."
Dion turns, acknowledges her, and sighs. "No shit. I'd be lying if I said I expected that. Before her, I would've thought everybody hated me for retiring from the Mindless Ones."
She scoffs. "You'd be surprised how many more now love you because you applied for work at Gamma Koppa." She looks around. "Except, it all seems a bit strange. First of all, Gamma Koppa wasn't that famous when you first applied to work there. Second of all, that seems like a big career leap, going from a navy sailor to a collector of men's art...in the amount of time that it takes for a captain to become a commodore."
Dion shrugs. "Good luck is a thing, you know. I'd expect you to know. You're a witch. Hell, I'd be shocked if probability control wasn't in your blood magic's portfolio."
"It is. I just," she blows smoke into his face, "don't recall casting such a spell on you before Gamma Koppa happened to you. Hell, I didn't know about Gamma Koppa, before they hired you."
He scoffs. "No surprise." He surveys her. "As fashionable as you are, I doubt that your wares would sell much at a Gamma Koppa vendor."
"Really?" She flaps her red hair. "Funny; I thought red was man's favorite color."
"Maybe. But blood-red sure isn't...or at least, not in THAT quantity."
She sneers, and hisses...briefly conjuring, and baring vamp fangs in the process.
"Look, I'm sorry I haven't been calling upon you lately. It's just that...my job's a big deal, now that I work there. Also, from what I've heard, at least two of the Five Elected Kings want to invest in it now. So as you can imagine, I've got my hands full."
"You know... I am a witch. Over down Southeast, there's a nation called the Hindi. They believe in a bunch of gods that have anywhere from six to dozens of arms; hell, I'd wager there's even a god with sixty dozen arms. If you wanted me to, I could," she drags her finger down Dion's arm, "turn you into a Hindu god..."
Dion studies her. "You're despicable."
She shrugs. "Nobody ever accused Bloodforce magic of being conventional. I'm just playing the part."
"Really? Are you sure the part's not playing you?"
Back in the atrium, Queen Madonna summons Dion. Dion happily leaves Kalyca, and takes the stage with her...again. Except this time, she's not preparing to perform...which is a half-relief for Dion.
Soon, before Dion knows it, his Queen has announced it. She intends to anoint Dion to become her heir-in-the-hole. (In this elective monarchy, an heir-in-the-hole is someone who temporarily succeeds an elected monarch if the latter dies or becomes incapacitated.)
Naturally, society greets this with optimism...and applause. In the meantime, Dion doesn't know how he feels about this...
Kalyca doesn't, either. She's STILL trying to figure out how he found his job at Gamma Koppa...or better yet, his new place to live. She's known him for a long time; and hence, she knows that his history of finding jobs and places to live on his own is... Well, absent. He had help. Kalyca knows this. But who were they, and how did they know? And why hasn't Kalyca heard of them?