Ok, another short chapter, just for the clothing bit. Then the real fun begins!
(Update: to make it an easier read, I've tried to space create a new paragraph almost everytime someone new speaks. Hope it's not quite so confusing now!)
Zeus led the new goddesses to a small room that did have a ceiling. Hanging from it were thick sheets arranged like shower stalls. "You will change here. Everything you need is in these areas." The girls were quite curious, especially after Lauren noticed that each stall had a person's name on it. Everyone quickly thanked Zeus and ran into their stall, excited and nervous to see what clothing was chosen for them.
The sounds of "Cool!" "Wow!" and such were heard. Of course Megan tainted the moment by stating. "How do they know what we like to wear?"
"SHUT UP MEGAN!!!" came the reply.
Everyone handled the clothes with a little more care now. All was silent until Aubrey let out a yell. "Hey! Look at me y'all!" Everyone stuck their head out to see Aubrey prancing around in a white towel.
"Ummmm great sheet Aubrey." Lindsay said uncertainly.
Aubrey rolled her eyes. "Not the sheet dumbass! My hair." Everyone looked closer. In Aubrey's now waist-length hair, (funny how no one noticed it growing) were diamonds. They looked like the Velcro ones, only they were real.
"Looks like Aubrey's got bling-bling" Lauren joked.
Aubrey whipped around and glared at Lauren. "No Lauren. It is Ice. Repeat after me. Ice." Lauren just rolled her eyes.
"What ever." She sighed, and went back to dressing.
Once again, everything was silent, until Megan got excited. She had lifted up her outfit and found the treasure of her dreams under it. "COOL! I GET A CATTLEPROD! AND A BRANDING IRON!!!!!!" Everyone stuck their heads out again to stair in her direction, but she didn't seem to notice. A random victory song was heard from her stall, and the curtain moved as if she was dancing.
Megan you're an idiot Colleen called.
Hush child. I am being happy. came the response.
Just then a loud gong sounded. Ares appeared in the doorway, hand over his eyes in a mocking manner. "Excuse me ladies, but if you would please hurry, the ceremony is about to start." The girls exchanged glances.
"Ceremony? What ceremony?"
Ares grinned. "You'll see." He said as he ducked out of the room.
The girls shrugged and went back into their stalls. One by one, they finished dressing. Suddenly the room spun around and around, sending them all to the floor with dizziness. Finally the spinning stopped. Everyone cautiously got up.
Did we just travel back in time again? whispered Nicole.
We had better not have. said Aubrey I wanted to get to know Hermes.
Lindsay turned around in her stall, eyes wide.
Uh guys? I don't think we have to worry about that.
Each girl turned around and gasped. They were still in individual areas surrounded by curtains, but the backs of the curtains had disappeared. They all stood facing the grand hall of Mount Olympus again. This time it looked even more elegant than before, if that were possible. Hanging on the walls were different colored banners, nine of them. Under each stood a god or goddess, anxiously sitting on purple satin thrones. Looks like they heeded your advice o wise one. Liz muttered to Katie.
Before Katie could respond, the sound of trumpets blaring was heard. All the girls sat down quickly on the random chairs put in their stalls. Ares came out to face them all, his black toga glittering like mad, and a red bow tie around his neck. Liz sighed and shook her head.
I swear, he's gay. she thought.
"He'd better not be." Lauren mumbled to herself, arms folded stubbornly in front of her.
The curtains were then lifted, but the girls didn't look at each other, feeling hypnotized by the fireworks on the war god's outfit. Ares smiled and walked down to where the new goddesses were situated, his toga glittering blindly. He then turned to face the other gods and goddesses, his butt just inches away from where Megan was sitting. She gave a disgusted sigh, but let him talk. "My fellow gods and goddesses. Today we are joined by nine new children, nine new goddesses that will aid in our future. So let us-OW!" Ares jumped forward, rubbing his backside and scowling ferociously. Megan grinned maniacally, the still smoking branding iron in her hand.
"I almost forgot about this!" she said gleefully.
Ares now had a "Guys Suck" burnt into the back of his toga, and possibly into his rear end as well.
As the laughter subsided, Lindsay glanced around. Someone was missing. "Where's Liz?" she asked. Suddenly the room went dark. An eerie glow-in-the- dark mist began to fill the hall. A figure slowly emerged, seeming to come up from the floor. The figure wore a dark blue dress that hung down to the floor. Draped mystically over her shoulders and arms was a sheer blue cape, with bright gold stars embroidered on. When she moved, the stars glittered faintly, giving one the impression of looking at the ever shifting universe. Slowly a hand emerged from the shadows, holding a staff. Oh so slowly the staff was brought into the light. All eight girls gasped as they saw the top of the staff. Atop the deep brown mahogany wood, twisted elegantly with age, sat, in all it's glory and splendor. . . a rubber ducky. The voice within the shrouded mists came booming forth. "Greetings fool mortals."
"No Liz, we're goddesses too." Came the immediate respond from the other teens.
The figure sagged visibly. "Oh. Damn." Suddenly the lights turned back on. The mist disappeared. Standing in the middle of the hall was Liz. Her now gold hair was done in spikes, and she wore a dark blue dress, dark blue shiny cape, and was holding her duck staff for dear life. She cleared her throat, and addressed everyone. "I am Liz, the goddess of random and weird pranks on mortals!" she shouted. Everyone cheered. Suddenly there was a huge thunderclap that sent everyone to the ground in panic. "Holy shit!" Liz yelled, and ran back to her seat. As the noise faded, everyone looked over at a rather red Zeus. "It was an accident." He squeaked, before sliding deep down into his chair. Liz gave a small "hmph.", got up, and went to stand next to an excited Hermes under the dark blue banner. Hermes kept trying to sneak her staff away from her. Finally Liz just bit him on the hand as he reached out to squeak Mister Ducky. That stopped anymore grabbing on the god's part.
Ares looked over at the rest of the teens and pointed to Lauren. "Would you like to be next?" he inquired smoothly. Lauren blushed slightly and let herself be helped by the war god. She shivered pleasantly as he lifted her and walked with her a few steps, hand on her back. Suddenly something made her shriek softly. All the new goddesses jumped in surprise, then they cringed at Lauren's excited mental explosions. Omygod! He pinched my ass! HE PINCHED MY ASS! she squealed excitedly. Nice for you Shut up Lauren and Congrats were all heard at the same time.
Ares walked Lauren over to the middle of the hall, then clapped his hands. Suddenly the Song "It's Raining Men" came blaring out of now where, and Lauren started dancing on cue. "Now here we have the beautiful goddess, Lauren." Ares announced, obviously having fun being the announcer. "Here we see her wearing a lovely, knee-length dress of sea blue. Notice the translucent ruffle at the bottom." There were some Oooo's and Aaaaaaah's. "Notice her gorgeous straight, luxurious blonde hair embedded with sapphires. Notice how sparkly her dress is."
As Ares finished saying this, there was a small bolt of lightning, revealing a tenth girl standing next to Lauren. She gave a sniff to a surprised Ares. "It's shot with stardust!" she exclaimed, then she was gone. Nicole blinked.
Was that Marjorie? she asked.
I think so Lauren said, confused.
Ares started up again to fill in the silence. "Her beautiful dress seems to be shot with startdust, but it no where near rivals her own beauty. Lauren would you please address the crowd?"
Lauren took a deep breath.
"I am Lauren, goddess of dateless girls and HOT guys." She exclaimed, looking straight at Ares. Everyone cheered as Lauren went to stand next to Aphrodite under a bright blue banner "shot with stardust."
As soon as she sat down, Katie popped up and walked confidently to the center of the room. She wore a white toga that was a little see- through. In fact it was a little TOO see-through. The moment she stopped walking, a voice (unmistakably Megan's) called out "Katie, your underwear is showing!" It was true. Katie's blue and green tie-dyed underwear were clearly visible through her sheer outfit. Everyone gasped in horror, except for Zeus, who just stared until Hera smacked him over the head.
Katie looked down, shrugged, and snapped her fingers. Her white toga was suddenly transformed in a flash of light. In it's place was a light gray dress that hung to her feet, exposing elegant sapphire galoshes with goldfish on them. A gold lighting bolt circled her waist as a belt, and her long, perfectly curled hair had crystal rain drops intertwined in it. Everyone clapped as rain clouds moved in. Soon it was raining, hard sheets of water, but no thunder or lightning. All the new goddesses started to yell, but then they realized that they weren't getting wet. As Katie started skipping joyfully around in puddles, the theme song from "Singing in the Rain" was heard. Katie rolled her eyes, but continued to dance.
God, what a corny song she murmured.
Don't worry- it fits your goddessness everyone reassured her. Katie smiled and continued dancing. She danced for two hours straight. Meanwhile the rain poured down, and some of the god's resistance's was fading. This resulted in a damp Aphrodite, Athena's curls becoming wet dreadlocks, and a soaked Ares, who was beginning to get pissed off.
AGH!!! SOMEONE STOP IT!!! Aubrey wailed after the twenty seventh time the song ran around. Katie was also getting tired. Finally, she slipped in a now huge puddle and lay down, breathing heavily.
"It.wasn't.wasn't supposed to be that long." Katie panted. "I couldn't stop."
Suddenly laughter was heard from where Hermes and Liz were seated. Actually, it WAS Hermes and Liz. They were laughing so hard, Liz fell over, her spiked hair punching a hole in the velvety throne. "First job completed!" yelled Hermes through peals of laughter. "You're well on your way to becoming a great goddess Liz."
Katie just stared at them, open mouthed. "Liz? You. YOU USED YOUR GODDESS POWERS AGAINST ME?!!" Liz nodded happily, not noticing the dangerous glint in the blonde's eyes. Suddenly the sky darkened again, threatening even more rain. Everyone cowered in fear, expecting a down fall, but it never happened. Except for on Liz. The rest of the sky became clear once again, but it rained turrets on the mischievous goddess. Then, as if on their own, her feet started to move. First they tapped lightly, but soon they were doing whole Irish jigs.
"Katie!" Liz wailed, as her feet began doing the can-can.
Katie just shrugged. "That's what you get for pranking another goddess." She said evilly. Then she addressed the rest of the audience. "I am Katie, goddess of dancing in the rain and corny jokes!" Then she sat down under a gray banner next to Dionysus and a slightly frightened looking Hermes who kept trying to help Liz, but was smacked by Katie when he did.
Aside from Liz, who danced for another half hour because Katie was feeling nice, order was once again restored. Ares shook out his toga, and looked over at the remaining goddesses left to present. "Hmm. I see someone missing." He said slyly. On cue, a gigantic fluff ball came barreling into the room. It stopped in the middle of the room, and stood up. "And here we have Sonomi!" Ares yelled. It was true. There was Sonomi, in a costume that resembled a Teddy bear, prancing around the room like she was a fashion model. "Notice the beautiful fabric -faux fur folks, faux fur- that was used in this delightful ensemble. Yes siree, the lovely gal reeks of 'AWWWW' from her fluffy ears, down to her little tail." With that Sonomi grinned, turned, and slapped her butt for emphasis. It would have been one thing to see her do that in normal clothing. But to see the female equivalent of Winnie-the-Pooh smack her ass was too much. Sonomi just stood and frowned as order was corrupted by peals and peals of laughter.
It wasn't that funny she whined.
Yes Sonomi, it really was the rest of them managed to gasp in between giggles.
Finally the chuckles were suppressed to random snickers, with the exception of Liz, who was still dancing at this time. Only she wasn't laughing. But that's beside the point. Sonomi glared at everyone, then cleared her throat. "I'm Sonomi So-no-mi. Goddess of stuffed animals, especially teddy bears!" Then she skipped over to sit next to Athena under a yellow banner. Just as she sat down, the fuzzy pompom jumped back up. "Oh! I almost forgot!" she squealed excitedly. Fishing around in a random pocket, she brought forth.a pen. "Not just any pen!" she yelled to the astounded audience. "This one has a Pooh bear on top." Indeed it did have a Pooh bear for a clicker "And it can turn into a staff too". And indeed it could.
Lindsay let out an ear piercing scream and hurled herself towards Sonomi. "I WANT THAT! OH MY GOD I WANT THAT!" she screamed. A slightly frightened Sonomi gripped the Pooh spear and sent the tip jabbing into Lindsay's stomach, sending her to the floor with an "oof".
Ares shook his head to get his brain working again. "Umm, redhead on the floor, would you like to go next?"
Lindsay popped up off the ground and snapped her fingers. Suddenly the lights went out again, and lightning streaked the sky. A dark figure loomed in from of everyone. As they cowered in terror, it spoke. "Greetings fool beings. I am the goddess of all Darkness. You're fate is to be sealed with me. Say goodbye to all those you love. YOU WILL NEVER SEE THEM AGAIN!" The figure laughed maniacally as the goddesses screamed.
"Haha, only kidding ya, I'm not the goddess of Darkness."
Then the lights came back on. Everyone gave a sigh of relief, including Zeus, who was standing over a rather mysterious puddle on the floor. In the middle of the room stood Lindsay. Her already beautiful red hair had been done up into a braided half bun that left soft curls hanging down at her shoulders. She wore a toga/dress of rich green that was fastened at the shoulders with vines made of emerald. She wore a long cape of darker green that had no pattern on it. In her hand was a gold staff with "I'm a hermit, Go away" written in gold on the top, on her wrist was a gold charm bracelet that looked like the stuff you would see on a Swiss Army knife, and a vine arm cuff. She smiled at the glaring goddesses, and addressed her adoring audience.(Author note: Alliteration!) "I am Lindsay, Goddess of Hermits!" As everyone clapped, she went to sit next to a STILL silent and solemn (Author note: Another one!) Demeter under a green banner.
At this point, Liz had stopped dancing. She breathed a sigh of relief, and looked around. "Umm... Aubrey, why are you still wearing a sheet?" she asked. It was true. Aubrey, who was now standing in the middle of the room, still wore a pink tinted sheet, her hair glittering furiously. The ensemble goddess smiled and pointed to Ares. "You may begin now." She said haughtily.
Ares twirled his microphone, and began. "Here we have this simple yet elegant ensemble presented by who else? The goddess of ensembles herself. Notice how the beautiful pinkish fabric drapes elegantly along her body, highlighted perfectly by the diamonds set into her hair. A beautiful ensemble for those nights when you just need to get some sleep. But that's not all folks, no where near it." With this, Aubrey snapped her fingers, changing her sheet to a dress that resembled that of a Miss America contestant. It was yellow, and had an orange sash that draped over her shoulder. As she flounced around, perfecting that model walk, Ares went more in-depth about the clothes. "Rise and shine! That's what this little outfit says. Like the bright morning sun, this gets you ready for a bright and cheerful day. Notice how her hair is sensibly draped to her shoulder in an elegant, but functional loose ponytail." Everyone gave a few Ooo's and Aaah's as Aubrey strutted here and there, showing off the little golden slippers that came with the outfit. Then she yawned and snapped her fingers again.
Aries took the cue and started in on the next outfit Aubrey was sporting. " Here we have a satin emerald dress, perfect for life's daily routine. Notice the glittery, emerald cape ahem shot with emerald stardust." Aubrey swept around into a dramatic pose, her cape elegantly draped onto the front of her dress, staying on by gold weights at the ends of the cape that hung down to her waist. Her still waist-length hair was now adorned with emeralds as well as diamonds, and hung loosely at her back, a slight curl at the bottom. As she twirled around again, the entire ensemble changed. Now she sported a lilac colored skirt under a deep royal purple cape, and held a staff with a flower on top, which held a bright, huge diamond in it's devilish petals. The cape folded around her, lacing up in front, hinting at ahem things and such, but revealing little. The hood of the cape rose up above her head to a point, giving Aubrey the look of a sinister and evil being. Which she was. "This dangerous little piece just screams evening sophistication." Ares said, growing a little hoarse. " Dark and mysterious, the perfect thing for dates. Well, almost perfect." Aubrey then snapped her fingers, changing into her last and most dramatic ensemble.
As the glared died down, there was Aubrey- wrapped in a thick white ribbon from head to toe. Well it didn't exactly cover her head to toe, just the necessities, leaving her stomach bared, revealing a perfectly cut sapphire nestled into her bellybutton. Her legs and arms were bare, save for the two opal bracelets. Woa!! CENSORED!!!!! shouted Lindsay, Megan and Colleen at the same time. Agh! Cut the mental chord was their next response. Too bad the chord had gotten so thick that they could hear each others thoughts anyway. Aubrey gave a little sniff in their direction. You fools. Hush now. Ares went on describing the ribbon, wiping the drool of his face from time to time.
Hey! That's not fair! HE'S MINE! screamed Lauren.
Aubrey gave an audible cry of pain as Ares went on. "White, the color of purity. Just the perfect ensemble for meditation."
She's gonna meditate with us in THAT?! Megan wailed, obviously distressed.
Shut up all of you! You're ruining my moment screamed Aubrey.
Ares continued. "Of course, what's a night with out a fun filled date, and that's exactly what this ensemble is for."
Damn she looks good
All the goddesses whirled around. Who the hell was that?! they all said at the same time.
I think it was Hermes Liz called from where she was sitting.
You mean they can read our thoughts too?! balked Nicole.
Colleen let out a huff Well that explains the well timed poking on Ares's part she murmured.
Aubrey switched ensembles, took off her shoe, and hurled at the other goddesses. Then she faced the crowd. "I am Aubrey. The goddess of ensembles. And gansta lingo. Fo sho." Then she went to sit down next to Athena and Sonomi under a rainbow banner. "Holy shit!" she yelled when she saw it. "I am NOT gay. Just no. This will have to change." So the banner was now white, and Aubrey sat under it with content. The three remaining goddesses shook their heads. Actually it was the two remaining- there was one missing yet again. Suddenly, out of no where bubbles came streaming out. Not just innocent cute little bubbles, some of these were huge, evil sinister bubbles that would engulf you if you didn't pop them first. As everyone ran for cover, a high-pitched giggle was heard, reverberating in the minds of all.
Sounds like a possessed doll. Lindsay called from her hiding spot.
The giggling stopped for a moment, only to give way to a sinister voice. "Hello everyone. Welcome to MY world." This struck fear into everyone's heart. Even more so than Lindsay's entrance, or Liz's. Megan began crying. Make it stop! she screamed, while clutching Colleen for dear life, as the giggling resumed. Finally, a figure in pink emerged and all forms of insane laughter ceased.
It was Nicole. Megan gave another shriek and fainted dead away. Nicole gave her the best glare she could, which resulted in a lot of laughter from everyone else. The brunette sighed and walked a few steps, spewing more bubbles with each drop of the foot. She wore a long pink spaghetti strap dress, shot with even more stardust. In her ears were, of course, big hoop earrings, and on her wrists were bubble bangles. Set atop her wavy, waist-length brown hair, shot with some MORE stardust, was a gold tiara, embedded with a smiley face in it. She pointed to Megan, who immediately became conscious with a shriek and started to dance. You evil child! Megan yelled.
Nicole giggled again. "Don't worry, it was only to wake you up." Then she turned to the crowd, more specifically to a winking Apollo. "I am Nicole, goddess of insane crazy dancing to invisible music, and extreme happiness!" Then she sat down next to Apollo under a pink banner, blushing slightly at the cheers she received. Of course the stroking of her hair by Apollo didn't decrease the pinkness from her cheeks either.
As soon as she stopped dancing, Megan leaped out of her seat and walked up to the center of the room. Ares gave out a small wail of fright, causing the goddess to grin more. She wore her regular clothes, but had a red toga draped around her . Her hair was in a ponytail, with red rubies decorating the top, and of course, she held a cattle prod in one hand, and a self- heating branding iron that said "Guys Suck" in the other hand.
"I am Megan, goddess of punishing stupid guys." She said proudly. Then she turned to a smirking Apollo. "You look rather stupid." She said grinning evilly. Apollo paled and Nicole screamed as the ominous creature descended upon them.
After a few minutes of "Let's chase Apollo around the room", the sun god had been shocked, but not branded, Nicole's voice had gone hoarse from screaming, and Megan strutted over to sit next to a laughing Hera and Artemis under a red banner, extremely pleased with herself. Colleen sighed and walked up to the center of the room to finish up the ceremony. Ares looked at her hungrily.
"Don't you dare."
She warned, giving him an extremely evil glare. Ares shuddered. "All right fine." He huffed, irked that he couldn't poke her some more.
Colleen struck a pose in the middle of the room. She wore a black floor length dress with red roses embroidered onto it. Her shoulder length hair had a slight wave in it, and atop her head sat a glittering crown with "Eep" written in shining letters. She glared at Ares once more, then faced the everyone else, blushing slightly as Dionysus gave her a small wink. "I am Colleen, goddess of the tortured sounds, Eep, Mneih, and Grrness. EEP!" As Ares laughed at her reaction, she gave a small wail and went to sit under a black banner, taking an annoyed Ares's seat.
Once all was silent, Zeus went to the center of the room. Just as he was about to speak, the air next to him sizzled and popped, growing suddenly brighter. As the glare died down, there stood Marjorie again. This time she was wearing an orange toga, with puff balls on it. "I am Marjorie, Goddess of random interjections!" she exclaimed. Then she was gone once again. Zeus let out a scream of frustration and fell to the floor, sobbing softly. Everyone looked at each other.
I guess this is the end of the ceremony Sonomi whispered.
ok wow, a LOT long than I expected. Oh well. The next chapters go by character, a day in the life of each basically. Some of the days overlap too. Just a warning.