The Righteous Wandolier Contradicts Hades

The Expedition

After a couple of hours or so, the boot heel of Italy was in sight (MySims' boats travel un-humanly fast). After docking the boat, August suggested that they split up and wander around so that they could get a good idea of the peoples' desires. After a week, they would meet back at the dock and discuss the peoples' complaints and then, they would try to help them out. Amy and Buddy nodded in agreement and they all set out on their individual expeditions.

The sun's oppressive heat rays penetrated in August's pale skin. Crap, August thought as he trudged down the beige-brick streets of Salento, i'm gonna be baked alive if i don't get some sunscreen fast. Urgently, August looked about for a friendly face to direct him to the nearest department store. He pushed and propelled through the overpowering crowd of men and women, most of who looked stony-faced and preoccupied with their busy lives--no one August would dare try to stop and question. Finally, around the corner was a much more vacant area that mostly consisted of small shops and stands. In front of a coffee shop, stood a sociable looking girl that seemed to be in her late teens or early twenties. August while rubbing his irritated arm, approached the girl, relieved that his search was successful.

"Excuse me?," August said trying to get the girl's attention, "Do you know the nearest place i can buy sunscreen at?"

Facing him, the girl tilted her head slightly, a puzzled and somewhat freaked out expression on her face. Worried that something gross had randomly dripped down his nose, August barely refrained from wiping it off.

The girl continued her gaze at him and then finally replied, "Che cosa ha detto?"

Nervous and not fully aware of what the girl had just said, he repeated himself, but more diffidently. The girl's puzzled expression grew as she answered.

"Mi dispiace, non puoi capire. Non parlo inglese."

August just stared at her baffled for a moment before the realization of him being in Italy occurred to him. Figures why she couldn't understand him, he was speaking English while she only knew Italian."Oh never mind," he muttered as he walked away. Double crap, he thought, he obviously should've asked Amy, who was Italian and fluent in it, to come with him.

"Ugh!" he groaned, as pain slowly crept up his scorched arm. No matter what, he had to find sunscreen fast! How was he going to help people when he could barely touch himself? August stalked to the nearest store and searched the isles for any kind of sunscreen at all. His efforts failed and after fifteen minutes of rechecking, he decided to settle for Vaseline and a long sleeved shirt. August left the store, sat under a patio umbrella, and started applying the Vaseline to all of his now, red, exposed skin. As he was at work, he felt two sets of eyes upon him. From his peripheral vision he could see the girl he had just spoke with accompanied with another girl who looked about her age. Probably a friend of hers, August thought to himself as they exploded into giggles. Curious about what was so amusing, he listened in on their conversation.

"...Ragazzo... capelli castano scuro... testa quadrata... grandi occhi..." were words he made out of their exchange--only because of the basic Italian words he had acquired from Amy.

Trying to recall his previous knowledge, he translated them to "...boy... dark brown hair... square head... huge eyes..." A boy with dark brown hair? Hey! Were they talking about me? He took a quick glance over at their direction, and sure enough, they were both gawking at him. August's face flushed a bright pink. They had noticed his "unusual" MySim structure, no wonder the girl was freaked out! Even some nearby people as well as passerby's were whispering and pointing towards his direction. He had hoped them MySims would fit in with the humans unnoticed, but unfortunately they hadn't.The head had probably given it away, he glumly thought sighing.I just hope they get used to it. Trying his best to ignore the rude comments, he covered himself the best he could, and headed back to the streets, determined to start his mission by listening to people's conversations. However, the excessive sweat pouring down his face after an hour made it difficult for him to concentrate on what they were saying. The black long-sleeved shirt wasn't making his situation any better either. Neither was the fact that the streets were crowded with people, which intensified the already intense vehemence of the weather. Worn-out and extremely agitated, August just decided to book a hotel (with air-conditioning) and chill out for the rest of the day. He would definitely continue his mission tomorrow, but well rested and energized.

****************************

A brilliant stream of light pierced into the cracks of August's eyes. That did it, August thought as he forced himself to stay awake this time, his eyes finally adjusting to the foreign room before him. Stretching, he noticed tiny bumps dispersed all over his arms, and he shivered in response. A day ago, he would have given anything for this kind of temperature, but now as he got up from the bed sheets he realized that it was actually freezing in here. What was wrong with Mother Nature's Italy department? It was either devilishly hot or bone-chillingly cold, has she ever heard of a comfortable temperature? Dragging, he brushed his teeth, threw on some clothes, and head straight out onto the streets... after checking out the free breakfast Hotel De Picasso offered, of course. As tired as he was though, he could admit he was much more revitalized than he was the day before, and was actually pumped to pick back up his undertaking.

"I will change the world!" he told himself as he swung the hotel doors open, and it was right then and there, that he realized that something was wrong...terribly wrong.

"What the-" August breathed as he peered into the white-coated streets. Shimmery concoctions of frost drizzled down from the sky above, and the crunching sound of people's footsteps were audible through the ruthless swirls of air. Contrary to yesterday's tank tops and shades, today's crowd was bundled up in furry coats and mittens, and August couldn't help but stare in disbelief at the absurdity before him. He whipped out his phone to check the date. Yep, it indeed was September, and usually by this time of year in MySims Kingdom, the trees' leaves started to fall and the weather got a tad bit cooler. Key word- TAD bit, meaning not too hot and not too cold. So what was up with the random snow-storm when yesterday had been more than a hundred degrees? Did they not have a mid-season between summer and winter? After wandering around a bit, August soon discovered that he wasn't the only person complaining about the sudden change of weather, soon the whole world around him was mumbling and grumbling about the issue.

"Great, at least i found a huge favor i could do for the humans here."

But August was pretty certain that the Earth's tilted axis was a topic the Wandolier Handbook did not touch on, and even if it did, purchasing a personal NASA rocket to retrieve the necessary essences was going to take a lot of work. So August just decided to wait, and discuss the matter with Amy and Buddy at the dock. Throughout the week, he noticed that the weather didn't get any better which confirmed that the snow wasn't just a freak of nature. So day after day, he continued to eavesdrop and ponder about plans until the week came to an end, and the day had finally come for him to reunite with his sidekicks.