Falias, Finias Chapter Twelve
Suggested Theme:
Main Theme- Barbarella (Extended Main Title) by Bob Crewe and Charles Fox
In the summer, Krystella never wakes before noon. She blocked out the sun years ago with thick, black curtains, so she only arises of her own will. Or from the blare of her Scanner at one o'clock.
She wipes the dried drool off her face with the hem of her oversized shirt and then goes to shut the alarm off with a vicious poke. She heads to her shared bathroom and washes the rest of sleep away. She then heads downstairs for a bowl of Strudel Bites and almond milk.
She eats alone.
After breakfast, she goes back upstairs to change for Perim. She dresses in a black sweater, skinny jeans, and black heels. She then strolls to her vanity and makes herself beautiful:
Concealer to hide the dark bags and oily pimples, eyeshadow to paint over her veiny eyelids, eyeliner to make her dull eyes pop, and cherry-red lipstick to cover her pale lips.
She lets her hair be free to run wild down her backside, but she irons out the frizz and adds sheen from shea butter and coconut.
She ports to Chaotic where she takes the nearest table by the transport discs. She orders a diet soda and watches matches for an hour. Her Scanner beeps just as Takinom is about to finish off Intress. She picks it up and sees the coordinates that he finally sent her.
She gets up and heads to the transport discs. She toggles until she finds Kiru City and looks up for a moment to see a bot watching her. She sneers at it and then ports out.
The Blue Juniper is not the first Creature bar that Krystella has been to. But if it's free of sand and leering lizards, then it'll be the finest bar in Perim. As she enters, she hears the chiming of bells and the jingling of a tambourine, sounds that belonged to the 60s.
I don't remember Creatures advancing beyond the lyre. Her maroon eyes hone in on the source, coming from the brightly lit stage: a Scanner resting against a lyre resembling an electric guitar. She sees the album cover of a scantily-clad blonde with a metal laser gun. Behind her is an army of leather-clad men with whips and alien worlds. She nearly shakes her head and looks over the crowd of dancing, drunk OverWorlders for Kazdan.
"It's a wonder,
Wonder woman.
You're so wild
And wonderful!"
She knows that has to be Kazdan singing because this voice isn't as smooth and loud as the one from the Scanner. Softer, breathier, and filled with awe. His singing…..she decides she likes it better than his talking.
"'Cause it seems whenever
We're together,
The planets all stand still!"
She finds him at a round table, forgotten by the lights, sitting across two Creatures. One Creature looks like a young Maxxor going through a punk phase; the other has ears and a bushy tail of a fox, but a blue, humanoid face. The punk is knocking back a shot of blue something, while the fox is watching Kazdan with something a mix of admiration and scientific curiosity.
Visually, Kazdan belongs in the same universe as the sci-fi blonde, but he ended up on a planet ruled by women. He made a shirt and pants from a green basilisk and sewed stolen emeralds into them; both articles have slits on their sides that act as ladders to patches of pale skin. His fiery hair has been pushed back to make for the silver, leafy circlet. He twirls a clear shot of a green drink with a glittery hand.
He looks like Moon Horn at the beginning of "Star Quest," but he isn't reclining at the foot of the Dark Empress's throne. And he isn't a unicorn-humanoid. And his eyes aren't voids challenging you too gaze too deeply; they're just as brown as dirt and slightly unfocused.
Tipsy.
Trusting.
Careful now.
"You realize you only have fourteen hours to save the Earth." Kazdan's eyes come into focus and his face breaks into a childish grin.
"Oh, you should've been here when Accato broke his voice on the song!" The punk, Accato, grumbles under his breath that he underestimated the human range.
"He warned you that Freddie Mercury was the master of his craft, but you just had to challenge the master!" The fox teases with a flash of her canines, while Kazdan giggles like he's on pixie dust.
"I'm just doing exactly what you do, Paltanin." She shoots him a dirty look.
"I don't challenge Hune Marquard; we just have scholarly debates."
"Yes, and your debates can be overheard by half the city!"
"Debates over what if I may inquire?" Krystella asks while quietly taking the last seat at the table.
"Everything–" Paltanin then silences Accato with a warning glare.
"Not everything! Mostly, Mugics. Marquard believes he can create a Mugic that would make anyone invincible." Hmm, that sounds really promising, but I sincerely doubt that the "invincibility" doesn't have a steep price. However, she does make a mental note to get a scan of Hune Marquard and schedule some time in the Beta Drome.
"It would be a boon for the Tribe, but I doubt he can create such a Mugic. He's better at writing theories than putting them into practice…" She pauses like she was going to say something more, but then sits up and her ears stand at attention.
"How rude of me, what is your name, human?" Human lacks the huff of annoyance or pure malice that usually comes from Creatures using the term, but she keeps her guard up in case this Paltanin turns out to be another Kolmo.
"Krystella."
"Krystella." Paltanin ponders for a moment before continuing. "Kazdan and Krystella both start with K. Are you part of the same family?"
Krystella raises an eyebrow, while Kazdan shakes his head.
"Not all humans are related, Paltanin." Accato snorts derisively. Paltanin's tail bristles with annoyance.
"They could be related with ties between their villages." Krystella and Kazdan exchange looks.
"I'm from a hamlet cheerfully called Cinderella's Village in Virginia." Lord, that's an even worse name than San Cajetan! She nearly gags at the name, but he does that for her by wrinkling his nose.
"I'm from California." She then turns her head toward Paltanin. "We live on opposite ends of our….Tribe's territory."
"Huh, I pegged you for a sophisticated Newarker!" He's never heard of a Valley Girl? Because mommy dearest was one and passed it on like her cheekbones. She chortles.
"I hate the cold." She pauses for a moment, wondering if she should give his nerdy side another treat. "You'll never find me east of Nevada."
He pouts, clearly expecting a treat, but she knows not to spoil a child.
"Such diverse names! How many Locations does your Tribe hold?"
"About fifty. But there are thousands of cities within those Locations." Paltanin and Accato share the same wide-eyed expression.
"And with that many humans running about, our Tribe barely gets along. If our people weren't so lazy and terrified of the other Tribes, we would have another Civil War." She flashes her pearly white teeth at the OverWorlders' saddening expressions.
"Oh, so that's why you come here…." Accato trails off, and Paltanin's left ear folds forward.
"I thought it was for their game." Ah, there's that special brand of disdain Creatures reserve for us! Took about ten minutes. She would roll her eyes, but she doesn't want to provoke the fox into attacking her.
"Maybe for most players, but I haven't played the game since I got here." Kazdan protests quietly.
And his battle record shows that almost all of his losses are due to him forfeiting before the match. The only match he actually played was his first one with Klayotic. He could've won the match if he thought more like an UnderWorlder, but, really, he's too much like an OverWorlder.
"Then, what do you do here?" Kazdan shifts in his seat uncomfortably at Krystella's questions, and she briefly entertains the idea that he's a burlesque singer in some tawdry establishment in the OverWorld boonies.
"Well, I…caretake." Paltanin raises an eyebrow ridge.
"Like Garv for Lake Morn?" He shakes his head and takes a moment to think about how much he should reveal.
"Um, no, I take care of a baby—er, toddler now—not a Location." Krystella's red eyes widen while her red lips wrinkle like faux leather.
"Cothica, you mustn't be allowed to leave the house, or else the OverWorld would be buzzing about this like a Hive Mind!" Accato, in his unique way, expresses Krystella's shock.
"…..That would be a problem if the toddler was an OverWorlder." Krystella does something she hasn't done since watching her mom's community theater debut: gape.
"Who! Who!?" Accato demands excitedly like a child wanting more sweets.
"An UnderWorld nobleman." He replies quickly.
"What's a nobleman?" Palatine wrinkles her nose like she can smell him lying.
"W–What I meant that the UnderWorlder is a rich…..male."
Well, that narrows it down by 50%. I don't think Agitos or Ulmar would ever have children, and Van Bloot can be put in that category too since his kid would totally backstab him. And Chaor could also be put in that category for similar reasons. Krekk? I don't think any self-respecting UnderWorld female would hook up with that coward. Rothar? I could see him dangling a couple of calves from his horns. But is he rich? I'll investigate this later, probably after I get a scan of Palatine. And Accato.
"And there's no way you can tell us without said UnderWorlder skinning you alive?" Accato figures out before the rest of them.
"More like burning me alive." He laughs quietly and nervously, while everyone else nods.
"So that's what I do six days out of the week, and now my Sundays are dedicated to the band." No fucking way! She stops the words from her mind and turning into noises resembling a witch's cackle and secondhand embarrassment.
"Not much of a band with just two singers and a kooky lyre." She comments with her ears twitching with repressed laughter.
"We'll get more members!" Accato's yellow eyes focus on Krystella like a dog wanting a bone; she smiles and throws him a stick.
"I can't sing, dance, or play an instrument." Or have stage presence. "All attitude, but no presence." Mommy dearest always said when I was in those stupid pageants, but I didn't chicken out of them like Jycella.
"Let's hope that the Message Boards yield something…" Kazdan mutters with a look full of passive pessimism.
"We got time!" Accato assures him with an easy grin that would make anyone believe him, and Kazdan smiles back.
"Since you've got the time, I would really love to know how you formed this band." She looks at Kazdan, and his smile widens.
"Well, it started with disappointing the barkeep…"
Author's Comments- Here are the links:
Here is the link to the song that Krystella hears while walking into the bar. I have a feeling most of you probably haven't seen Barbarella, which isn't abnormal because I get this feeling that parents wouldn't have shown their kids this film. By 1968 standards, it is rated PG, but there's enough nudity and sexual imagery for it to be a soft-core porn with high production values. The movie is based on Jean-Claude Forest's comic of the same name and centers on the titular character. I have a feeling that George Lucas took some influence from the movie, and even Venture Bros. pointed out their similarities: a href=" watch?v=WyhcLFtee4o"Link/a
Here is an image of Hune Paltanin. She's an OverWorld Caretaker and her flavor text reads: She is rarely seen outside the Library, but Maxxor needs all the help he can get. Her Wisdom is 110, Courage is 85, while her Power is a measly 15 and her Speed is 10. From what I gather from this version of her card, she's more of a scholar than an actual fighter; she's healing a Creature while M'Arrillians are blasting other OverWorlders. Also, I'm starting to believe that Hune is like a title, kind of like a duke or countess. But having to do with Wisdom and publishing lots of scholarly articles: a href=" . /chaotic/images/f/f2/Hune_ /revision/latest?cb=20180127022136"Link/a
Kazdan's costume is based on Barbarella's green costume, except with far more clothing. I only chose this outfit because I think the green would match with his pale coloring and fiery hair: a href=" . "Link/a
Before this story, I never had an interest in writing Krystella. In the show, she was two-dimensionally evil; Hell, she and Klay were willing to fuck up the timeline just for some scans! But we know more about her (aside from her screenname) personal life than Klay's. But after some years stewing about and imagining futures for the series, I thought why not try my hand at characterizing her beyond that cookie cutter evil we get in the cartoon. I also get inspired by David Lynch's use of femme fatales. I even dressed her after Laura Palmer's jeans and sweater outfit during her last night alive from Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me. I'm easing myself in writing her because I've never even wrote a one-shot for her; I'm more comfortable writing Skithia than her.
Cinderella's Village and San Cajetan are both fictional cities; the former some may remember from a certain discontinued story of mine, while the latter is the first time I used it. Also, San Cajetan has been incorporated into Las Vegas because I developed some affection for Vegas thanks to Twin Peaks: The Return. And the Cajetan part is inspired by Saint Cajetan who was the Saint of Gamblers and Unemployed.
Next chapter will have Kazdan dealing with some consequences and learning about UnderWorld music.