Glass Dolls

All About Atlantis! - 2

"In the beginning there was nothing. Then the childish creator wrote a perfect world into being. Its people, borne from Disaster."

From Leonne Anima Velvette, A Documentary.

Level of Refraction: -189 degrees. 

 Glittering waters stretch out into the horizon. The mayor of the beach town (read: corporation) recently invested unspeakable amounts of tender to develop a technology that shifts the color of the water ever so slightly. While this system may do little more than drain copious amounts of natural resources to alter the ocean's chemical composition a little bit every hour, it cannot be argued that the resulting effect is utterly gorgeous.

The waves ripple and shimmer, washing up onto the beach in a gentle dance. The water has a slight pink tint, then a splash of green, then a hint of lavender. Mold looks transfixedly at the seagulls above, their white coats reflecting the prismatic sea.

"This sucks." Ego moans. "Just the worst."

"Why?" Mold asks, genuinely perplexed.

"All of... this." He lifts his arms, gesturing vaguely around them. "I guess this place is known for its beach parties, rather than the beach itself."

As her attention is called to it, Mold finally notices the hordes of other beachgoers around them. The clamor of their voices drowns out nearly all natural sound, garbage litters the sand, and there's hardly an inch of space to oneself.

"Oh. Yeah, I guess it's not that pleasant."

"Did you- hey, watch it!" Ego raises a tense finger towards the man that jostled him, but then thinks twice about it, breathing a deep sigh instead. "Did you seriously not notice?"

"Do you notice the ants swarming underfoot?" Mold shrugs her shoulders. "You forget that I'm a proper god. A human with power is still just a human."

The Author would normally bite back at the remark, but to be honest he is far too preoccupied with keeping himself from screaming in pain to care; "Mhm. Yeah. Hey, how long do you want to stay here?"

"Always in a rush, aren't you? I don't know, but I'm going to poke around for a bit. You were right the first time, this place is pretty cool."

"Great, just super. Listen, I'm going to go... away from these freaks. When you're ready to leave just pop open your eye so I can come find you, got it?"

"Whatever."

"Or you can just keep it open. It suits you."

Mold ignores him and makes herself disappear into the crowd. The sand underfoot is artificially warmed to compensate for this realm's dying star, but the drifter Jötunn takes no notice as her bare feet sink into it. She swerves into and out of the pulsating crowd, a fine dance to avoid the blithe masses.

She finally finds her way to the edge of the beach. Water splashes up against her ankles as she gazes out at the horizon. Mold isn't quite sure what she's looking for in the boundless ocean. The beach partiers don't seem too keen on getting near to the actual sea for the most part, so Mold has a more relaxing walk as she continues down the winding shore.

A walking daydream, she thinks of the things that used to be. The things from days past. The things from when she was reborn. The things from a bygone age.

"Loki?"

And then the bygone age catches up with her.

Not welcomely.

Mold spins around, razor sharp nails darting out to where the woman's voice had come from. Before they can reach her neck, however, her hand is jerked down. Mold looks down at the bundle of seaweed that has jumped out of the water at her, then at the woman looking at her with soft, hazel eyes.