GoldApple Halloween Party 2000 began Oct 27 and end Nov 1, 2000 Hey all! Party time: The doorbell chimed Beethoven's Fifth as Ceryndip opened it to find a haggard looking Hermes. He vaguely waved a scroll in her direction. "What's this?" She took the black parchment gingerly, one should always be careful about black scrolls. "Party invite, I've got tons of them to deliver and I'm late already, see ya." "Yeah, bye, and thanks," Ceryndip called as he flew off on his winged sandals. "What was that all about?" Bwell asked from her position sprawled on the sofa after a trying week at the day job. Ceryndip held up the scroll between finger and thumb, "A special delivery party invitation if Hermes is to be believed. They were practically falling out of his pack so I'd say everyone's going to be getting them." "Let's see," She snatched the scroll and pulled the string holding it closed. "Careful, it looks dangerous. Well, what's it say?" Bwell squinted at the fine silver ink, "Interesting, it's interesting. We've been invited to a Halloween Party....at Ares Temple." Ceryndip sank down to the sofa beside her, "What do you make of that?" "Payback for making him go slow on the train?" "Probably." Ceryndip sighed reading the scroll herself, "I suppose with Halloween costumes we can make ourselves harder to spot?" "Come on, this'll be fun, he likes us, I know he does. He had a ball on that train." *** The chariot pulled up to the front gate of the dark, imposing temple and the two costumed list moms stepped out, "Thanks Hades." "No problem ladies, I'll just go park this and be right in." "How recognizable do you think we are as Abbotess and Costellicus?" Bwell shrugged, "Too late to change now." They could see others milling around in the mist outside the temple and through the gloom the obvious firelight inside. The flickering flames against the ancient stone giving the whole place an eerie feel. They slowly walked toward the open doors. Black and orange crete paper and cobwebs hung from the ceiling and chandeliers. Cauldrons of bubbling liquid belched steam and smoke into the air for additional atmosphere. the aroma coming from the kitchen smelled decidedly evil. Ceryndip wrinkled her nose, "I smell that Falafel's already here. I suppose that suits Ares, he doesn't have to eat." Bwell pointed at a figure disappearing down a hall, "That must be him, he's dressed as the Swedish Chef from the muppets. Look at that foam rubber nose." Some of the other party guests were recognizable in their costumes as well; Iolaus2 and Nautica (both with legs for the evening) were a matched set as Robin Hood and Maid Marion, Salmoneus appeared to be Plato spouting the philosophy of the quick dinar, Niobi looked spectacular as Cleopatra but Orestes looked mighty uncomfortable as Marc Antony. He kept pulling at his skirt. Ceryndip nearly choked at the sight of Nebula carrying a shepard's staff, dressed as Mary looking for her little lamb. "Wonder where Iolaus is?" "Well, Herc's over there in the centaur costume. You don't suppose he's the horse's a**, do you?" Ceryndip laughed, "I wouldn't doubt it but I bet it won't last. Look, there's 'Dite and Hephaestus as Marie Antoinette and Henry the 8th." "There's Iphicles pretending to be Hercules, that works. Do you see Autolycus?" Ceryndip glanced around, "You know, last I heard he'd made off with the Shield of Invisibility, we may not see him at all, literally." "Invisible man, that's a good costume," Bwell agreed. They passed Jason and Alcmene in a romantic embrace, looking very appropriate in their Romeo and Juliet costumes, "Herc'll love walking up on that." The two friends entered the main hall to find it already full of list pals just as Ares arrived on the scene. He looked splended in his skin tight, white, rinestoned Elvis outfit. "ooooooh, I wonder if he knows "Hound Dog"? "Wonder if he knows about his alternate, the God of Love?" "Where do you think he got that costume." Let the games begin. Love Ceryndip --------------------------------- Owlharp hesitated nervously at the foot of the stairs to Ares' temple. "Ya know, " she said aloud to no one in particular, "I'm beginning to think that attending this party may not be such a good idea". True, she had been invited, via an elegant black scroll delivered by a sweating Hermes who had flown off muttering about cracking open a case of Rolling Rock when he got off duty. On the other hand, there WAS that unfortunate incident at the last Iolausian party at Sal's Amusement Park. The incident where Owlharp had accidentally - well, ALMOST accidentally - unleashed the entire payload of her 6-liter raspberry-Koolaid-filled Enormo-Gigundo-Megawatt-Supersoaker at the God of War. Down his pants. That part HAD been accidental. Or so Owlharp reminded herself. She'd been shooting from a lofty vantage point and Ares had been standing right below her and he had momentarily leaned forward, creating had been just the tiniest gap between the back of his exquisitely tailored black leather breeches and his even more exquisitely muscular back, and the temptation had been overwhelming and her aim had been flawless.... The resulting roar had temporarily drowned out the fireworks. "Surely he's forgotten about that by now..." she told herself. She swallowed hard and fidgeted with her costume. Maybe it wasn't such a great idea to come as Elizabeth Bathory, the Vampire Countess. It was tough to run in a farthingale and corset, and her fake fangs were no protection against anything. With a deep breath she plucked up her courage and began to ascend the stairs. From within came the sound of people laughing and talking. That sounded promising. After all - Ares wasn't one to hold a grudge. Right? [Owlharp sure hopes so! Love to ya!] ------------------------------ Kat walked up to the door. She was just a wee bit nervous about this party. Last time she had gotten together with her fellow Amazons, some of the others were a little bit upset about her use of her favorite Hoolie weapon. She paused to straighten her costume one last time before she knocked on the door. The young Amazon had a feeling no one would know who she was, but she decided to just enjoy herself. She adjusted the blond wig and took a tentative step forward. The lifts in her shoes were helpful for this costume, but they still didn't get her near the six foot five inch height of her alter ego. She rang the door bell. Ding Dong! Ding Dong!! Elvis/Ares answered the door. He had looked around, expecting Kitt to get the door, but he didn't see the Amazon. "Hi Kat, nice of you to make it, uh huh," the BBGOW said in his best Elvis voice. "Could you turn off the light?" Kat asked. "Sure," Ares replied perplexed. Once he switched the outside light off, the Amazon entered the door. She moved closer to the War God, leaning close to him. Ares gave a start when she started nibbling on his costume. "Kat, what's going on with you?" "Oh look candles," the tall, green eyed blond said. She stood very close to the candles and almost appeared mesmerized. Her hands were next to her head and she was waving them almost like wings. Ares rolled his eyes. He was getting quite frustrated with the game the Amazon was playing, and he didn't recognize who she was supposed to be. "Who are you, and what's going on?" he growled. Kat ------------------------------------- Margui opened the black envelope with trepidation. Last time she saw one of those black envelopes, she was the bearer, and it only meant bad tidings for her former employer. So she really appreciate receiving an black invitation, even if Hermes did promise it was going to be a b*tchin' party. Having been laid up in bed with the latest strain of the "Waterloo Flu", or as they like to say in New Greeceland, the "Corinthian Crud", Margui really didn't have much time to make up a costume. She began to dig around in her bag full of costume goodies and pulled out various masks and creepy paraphernalia. Skulls, rats, bats and warts were quickly discarded. "What's this doing in here?" Margui asked as she pulled out a headband with reindeer antlers with bells hanging on the end. She put them on her head. "Oh what the heck, I think I'll just go stag," she said as she tried to hide her red sore nose with makeup before she left. It didn't disguise it and she swore she'd hit anyone who called her Rudolphus or asked why she wasn't playing any reindeer games. After she finished dressing, her piece de resistance was a little fake blood over a fake trap. Attached to the trap was a broken clog. At the party she could introduce herself as a "stag in drag". It was already dark when Margui arrived at Ares temple. She made a mistake and took a short cut through the woods. Not a good idea during hunting season. She had to avoid 3 hunters pits, two nasty looking traps and was shot at once. She could have sworn she heard someone ask somebody or other if they had "bagged the stag". Hurrying to Ares temple, Margui flew in the door and almost bumped into someone...or something....she wasn't sure because nothing was there. Turning around she looked to she if anyone had noticed her strange and awkward entrance into the temple. When she turned, she could have sworn she had been pinched. Rubbing the back of her behind, Margui headed over to the punch table. She hoped the bad puns would stop there. She had a feeling they wouldn't. Margui ----------------------- Quiet Wolf looked at the black parchment in her hands, still trying to convince herself that it was real. When Hermes had shown up to deliver her invitation to Ares' Halloween party, she was at first shocked, then excited. Eagerly she had gotten her costume together and left for the god of war's temple. She could hear the sounds of the festivities inside as she arrived, but she lingered in front of the imposing structure. "I really should be at the zoo right now, decorating for Halloween. After all, Boo At the Zoo is only four days away. And I really do need to finish that Halloween story I've been working on." Briefly, she thought about turning around and going home, but instead she made herself climb the stairs to the temple. Cautiously, she opened the door and slipped inside. Quiet Wolf made her way through the room, edging along the wall, hardly believing that she was actually at an Iolausian party. "Great costume, Medusa." The voice beside her cause Quiet Wolf to jump. She turned around and found herself face to face with Jason, legendary Argonaut and former king of Corinth, and Alcmene, mother to the great Hercules. Utterly speechless, her mouth dropped open, causing the plastic fangs she was wearing to fall out onto the floor. "You might want to hang onto those," Jason advised wryly, looking down at the teeth at his feet as Quiet Wolf turned a new shade of scarlet previously unknown to mortal form. "They'll come in handy later during Bobbing-for-Pomegranates." "Don't tease the poor girl," Alcmene said warmly as Quiet Wolf hastily scooped up her fangs. "I don't think we've ever seen you before." "This is my first time," Quiet Wolf admitted. "I'm really very shy when I don't have a piece of fan fiction to hide behind, and I was too chicken to go to the last party. But it sounded like so much fun, I decided I had to come to this one." "Well, you can't spend it hiding here in the corner," Alcmene scolded lightly. "Come along with us, and we'll introduce you to everyone." Quiet Wolf hastily stuck her fangs into a pocket in her costume, deciding to go the rest of the night without them. She definitely did not want a repeat of that incident in front of anyone else, especially a certain blond hunter that she was hoping to meet. Quickly, she smoothed out her costume and adjusted her wig, trying to arrange it so that the rubber snakes entwined with the hair were not dangling in her face. Heaving a sigh and hoping that the party would hold no further humiliations, she allowed Alcmene and Jason to lead her out to mingle with the other guests Quiet Wolf ---------------------------------- Bwell wandered around the castle taking in the creepiness of it all. "Ugh, count on Ares to put up skeletons all over the place!" she said as she shivered. She laughed as she shook off the creepy feeling by taking the grey bowler off her head and placing it on a skeleton. "Oh yeah, definitely not creepy now." Bwell took the hat back off, and practiced her routine in her mind when Ceryndip called out. "Hey, BWELL! Come on, Iolaus has joined Ares in 'Hunka Hunka Burning Love' and he's really gettin' into it." "Oooo, I'm down with that friend. Let's go," she said hurrying down the hall. So immersed in the image of gyrating Iolaus AND Ares, she never saw it...never noticed... One skeleton slowly turned its head, and as its eyes glowed red, the macabre eternal smile seemed to get wider. Bwell ----------------------------------- Pompeii gave a sigh of relief and sent a prayer of Thanksgiving to whatever diety was responsible for having her college roommate out of the dorm when Hermes' dropped by to deliver her invitation. Pompeii grinned slightly as she recalled the first party she had gone to with the mailing list people -- no danger of being drenched with a Supersoaker THIS time! She looked forward to seeing how Ares' got his revenge on Kat. At the party, Orestes waved at Pompeii. "Friend, Roman, and countryman," he greeted her. "Or should that be countrywoman?" Pompeii laughed and shrugged. The short and rather revealing toga that made up her costume had made her a little self-conscious but she was starting to relax into the party atmosphere. "Hey, has Ares seen Kat yet?" Niobe, who was standing nearby, grinned. "Not yet. A few of us have a bet going. Twenty dinars says he spots her within the hour and goes into a major hissy fit." Pompeii ------------------------------- Margui walked to the table with the punch and picked up a bone ladle and dipped out a cup of the simmering brew. As she dipped the ladle into the punch, a hand creeped up from the brew and grabbed her wrist. Margui tried to jerk her hand away, spilling the green beverage upon Iolaus as he walked by. "Hey. Watch it, will ya?" Iolaus smiled as he wiped the liquid from his costume. "Interesting costume," he commented. "Stag Rags." Iolaus wandered off to mingle with the other guests. "Abra, abra, cadabra. I wanna reach out ang grab ya," Falafel said as he rose from the back of the table and released Margui's wrist. She took a sip from the cup and regarded the would be chef. "You like my new brew? I call it a grasshopper. I convinced Ares to let me try it out on you E-o-lausians." Margui did a spit take this time just as Ares walked by. "Why you..." Ares growled. He looked down to the green liquid spray all over his rhinestone studded costume. "Ummmm...oh....aaaa...got to go..." Margui said as she handed Ares her cup and bolted out of his aim. "Ooooh, yuck. I think I've just been slimed," the God of War mused as he wandered off in search of someone to torment, now that the bumbling Margui was out of his reach. He hadn't seen Bwell or Kat in a while. Margui ---------------------------------------------- Bev arrived at Ares Temple and the festivities were well underway. The place certainly had an air of spookiness to it and the black cat running across her path proved it's effectiveness by the way she nearly jumped out of her skin. And making her way up the walk she realized that her skin is about all she would have been coming out of considering her choice of costumes. She found herself wishing she hadn't listened to her friend's advice about that choice. She was already so self consious that she wanted to just hide somewhere. What in the world ever made Bev think she could pull off Elvira anyhow? The ample bosom wasn't the problem. But the overly exposed ample bosom was! And it was chilly tonight too! 'God, I hope this glue holds this costume in place. Too bad for me and my pride if it doesn't!' She pulled the long wig over both shoulders for comfort and braced herself as she walked through the door. Well, the creaking door was a good touch as were all the other decorations. Ares had gone all out! The skeletons were a cool touch and all the lit candles were casting shadows in all the right places. She was on her way to joining the festivites and to say hellos when Iolaus came over to her. "Bev, it's good to SEE you! Hey, Great costume! We missed you at Sal's Amusement Park celebration last summer. Where were you?" "Thanks, Iolaus! I missed being there! But the back problem that kept me away then is way better now and I wasn't about to miss Ares' party" Was it her self-consiousness over reacting or were Iolaus' eyes transfixed slightly lower than necessary? Man! It was going to be a long night! "So how's the party so far?", she asked. "Oh, um, it's off to a great start. Come on! Let's see what mischief we can find". This was also going to be fun night but just as she took a step to follow Iolaus she thought sure she felt a distinctive draft across her chest and then on the nape of her neck. WOW! Those were some effects Ares has rigged up she thought. But she couldn't help eyeing over her shoulder as she went. It was too creepy how she felt like she was being watched. Now how does he do *that*?! The costumes were wonderful and full of color and the air was a mixture of frivolity and suspense. Everyone seemed to be waiting for something to happen....... We're off to a great start guys! Hugs Bev ----------------------------------- Kat remained standing next to the candles until the doorbell chimed again and Ares went to greet his next guest. She headed towards the tables and chairs located on a landing that was 3 steps up. She grabbed a pitcher and poured herself a glass. She looked around, recognizing many of the costumed guests. Kat wondered if anyone would be able to figure out who she was dressed as. She looked down at her outfit-- khakis, a green button down shirt, work boots with lifts to get her closer to 6'5" as well as the blond wig. The green eyed Amazon grabbed her drink and decided to mingle with the other guests. Kat --------------------------------------------- The party was going wonderfully. In the wide main hall with its flickering torches a skeletal dance band was playing tunes, and so far Owlharp had danced "Black Nag" with Orestes, "Hole in the Wall" with Hades (who had protested that he didn't know anything about dancing and had two left feet but turned out to be graceful and enthusiastic once he caught on), and "Sellenger's Round" with Iolaus. That final dance left her a bit breathless - that corset was tight!. "I think I'll sit this next one out, " she told the Golden Hunter. Iolaus' grin flashed in the torchlight. "OK, " he replied, conducting her to the sidelines. "Then if you'll excuse me, I'm going to go find Jane. I asked the band to play "Cotton-eyed Joe", so we can dance it together". He disappeared into the crowd. Owlharp sighed in delight as a cool breeze wafted through the casement window. Then she became aware of an oddly familiar sound. Frowning, she held her breath and listened. Yes... there was no doubt about it. Those were harpstrings sounding. Wait a minute.... she looked back at the dance band who were playing a vigorous rendition of "Gathering Peascods". OK - fiddles, drums, flutes (she idly wondered how a skeleton could play a flute, with no lungs to blow with, but doubtless Ares had worked some godly magic somehow), even a concertina - but no harp. Now she was intrigued. She followed the sounds out of the wide hall and into a little open courtyard at the heart of the temple. There in the center, on a gleaming black stone pedestal stood a harp. It was the most beautiful harp that Owlharp had ever seen. Its polished dark wood gleamed in the flicker of the torches; carvings ran up its pillar and the soundboard was covered in painted designs; the soundbox was deep and wide. "Hmm... didn't know that Ares was into harp music" she muttered to herself. She just HAD to try it out. A harp like that needed to be played, right? With trepidation she approached the instrument and touched the strings. At her touch the harp sounded - a perfect, full, mellow arpeggio filled the courtyard. This was bliss. It sounded great. She stood before the instrument, fingering the strings, trying to decide what to play when a deep voice rang out suddenly ... "GOTCHA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" In one heartbeat, the harp vanished into thin air, and in the very next heartbeat an icy scarlet stream of raspberry Koolaid shot down from the ceiling - straight into Owlharp's decolletage! "AAAAAAARREEEEEEESS!" she shrieked. He appeared in a burst of flame on a balcony above her, holding a black-leather-covered, silver studded Super-soaker and wearing an expression of most ungodly boyish glee. "Paybacks are Tartarus, my dear!" he said and vanished. [Oh dear! How is Owlharp ever going to get that raspberry Koolaid out of her bodice?] ---------------------------------- Pythia paused to look up at the looming shape of Ares temple and sighed. 'Looks like the party's well under way,' she muttered, making her way across the courtyard with cautious steps. not only had running that errand for Artemis made her late, but the goddess had insisted on helping her out with her costume. Which was, she decided, an *excellent* disguise, but hardly what she'd had in mind. 'It's okay,' she assured herself. 'I've got until midnight. I'm sure I can get a kiss from *somebody* by then ...' Because , if she didn't, she was going to stay this way for the whole of the coming year! 'Oh, my paws and whiskers. I *am* late,' she decided, hearing the soft sounds of harp music drifting through the air. 'That sounds like Owlharp's work. Time to join the party.' The main door was still ajar, wide enough to admit the small black cat that padded up the steps and into the temple, her whisker's quivering and her tail flicking slightly from side to side. The place had a decidedly spooky feel - Ares must be *real* good at adding atmosphere, Pythia decided - but the sound of music and laughter drew her in. Inside the main hall, all she could immediately see were feet. *Lots* of feet. Dancing ones mostly. She'd started to weave her way towards the food tables, hoping that - if she climbed on one - she might get high enough to get someone to notice her, when a hand reached down and scooped her off the ground. "Hello, kitty," Hercules grinned, tucking her into the curve of his arm and stroking her ears. "Where did you come from? Here to bring us all luck, hmm?" "Oh, thank Olympus," Pythia said, relieved to be away from all the feet. Hercules gave her an astonished look. "Pythia? Boy - that's a *good* costume." "Yeah. It was your sister's idea. Umm - " She was about to launch into a full explanation - how Artemis had said she could regain her normal form if she managed to get a kiss from a hero before the night was out - when she realised two things. One, that it really *was* a good costume for the party, and two - that it was really, really nice to have a demi-god scratching you between your ears ... "I shall have to have words with Artemis," Hercules announced, just as a loud and indignant shriek spilt the air. "Owlharp!" he exclaimed. 'I *knew* Ares was up to something. Here - " he grabbed hold of the nearest passing dancer and thrust the cat into the startled man's arms. "Take care of the lady, Orestes. I've some business to attend too." "Uh - sure," the bemused King of Attica replied, absently petting the animal as the son of Zeus hurtled off into the shadows. 'Well, I guess I don't *need* to change back immediately,' Pythia decided, finding that her 'costume' came complete with a deep throated purr. 'Just so long as I manage it before the food starts flying around here ...' Pythia -------------------------------------------- Out of one door into the courtyard came a small burst of gold while out of the opposite door came a larger darker blur. They reached the center of the courtyard together and resolved into Iolaus and Hercules. "What happened? What's the matter?" demanded the two of them simultaneously. "Are you all right?" asked Iolaus in horror, staring at the vivid red stains that splashed Owlharp's bodice and bosom. "Is that blood?" asked Hercules, more calmly, noting that Owlharp seemed more furious than injured. "NO! It's raspberry Koolaid! Your rat-fink brother - " "HALF-brother!" " - nailed me with supersoaker! Just because I - well, never mind! Just look at this gown - my best cut-velvet bodice ruined! I don't care if he IS the God of War - he's TOAST!!!!!" With a flounce of her Koolaid sodden skirts, Owlharp dashed into the hall, shrieking "Ares! Show yourself!" Hercules and Iolaus exchanged rueful grins and began to snicker. " We better get back in the hall. I think things are going to get wild!" [Will Owlharp nail Ares with a Boston Cream pie? Will Nebula find her sheep? Just what costume IS Iolaus wearing? Will this party degenerate into a proper hoolie? Stay tuned!] Owlharp ------------------------------------------- Ceryndip took her plate and after filling her cup with punch, wandered over to a quieter, darker corner of the room to let her hearing recover from all the music. She leaned against the stone wall and gingerly picked at a pastry to see how edible it was. Something moved to her right but when she looked there was nothing there. Did that chair just move all by itself? She squinted at it but it remained the inanimate object it should be. Suddenly, something she couldn't see yelped in pain and fell into her. A loud click sounded and they both fell, landing in a heap at the bottom of a small pit. The door above scraped shut silently behind them. The space was round and lit by a single flickering torch. Ceryndip climbed to her feet and looked around for another way out. She didn't see anything apparent right off. A moan from the floor caught her attention. "Who is it? Who's there?" "Oh my head..." "Auto!" Ceryndip ------------------------------------------------------ "Falalfel, do we have any cream?" Orestes carefully put the small black cat down on the table while he asked the question, still absently stroking the animal. "Whipped cream, clotted cream, or ice-cream?" the cook queried, frowning at Pythia, who was torn between arching into the attentive hand and paying attention to the bowl of King prawns she'd been put next too. "Just - cream?" the blue eyed King requested, pausing to smile at Quiet Wolf as she arrived for a refill of punch. "Hi - nice snakes." "Uh - thanks," Quiet Wolf replied, looking a little flustered. "Nice cat." "Oh - she's not mine. Hercules just asked me to look after her." Falafel had dived under the table. He reappeared with an armful of metal canisters and a grin plastered all over his amenable face. "I got - *canned* cream," he announced. "You just press this button and - whoosh!" "Clever," Orestes noted, taking one of the cans. He carefully pressed the nozzle and sprayed a little pile of cream into the palm of his hand. "Here you go puss," he offered. This was too good to resist. Pythia left the plate of prawns and came over to lick at the proffered bounty. "You want one?" Falafel asked Quiet Wolf, who took a can gingerly. He passed a few out to other on-lookers, Nebula, Bev, Pompeii, and Young Iolaus were among them. The young hunter gave his nozzle a tentative press and then grinned. "I wonder what range these things have?" he asked. Just then Owlharp flounced into the hall, drenched in Koolaid and yelling for Ares. "You think he'll answer that?" Nebula wondered. Orestes grinned, hefting his can of cream. "Well," he said. "If he's responsible for that stain, I don't see how he could stay away. Gloating's his favourite sport. And when he *does* ..." "We'll be ready for him," Young Iolaus capped, his eyes gleaming with mischief. 'Oh boy,' Pythia thought, licking her lips and perching at the edge of the table to watch the fun. '*This* is going to be good ...' Pythia ------------------------------------- Ziggy considered herself fortunate. She'd ended up late to Ares' big Halloween bash, mainly because Hermes had given her invitation to Chaos the ferret, who had promptly hidden it under the dresser. Ziggy had thanked Fortune for giving her the idea to give the ferret room a proper cleaning this weekend and, thus, had found the invite, even if it meant she would be a little late for the event. She quickly pulled out her old ferret costume, put it on, then dressed her furry companion in a Teddy bear T-shirt. She had to admit, Chaos looked cute in the shirt, that boldy proclaimed "I (heart) humans," even if the ferret wasn't too thrilled by the outfit. "Hey," Ziggy told him, "be glad I didn't dress you in the hippie outfit I had on your brother yesterday!" Ziggy had come to the party armed with marshmallow ghosts tucked into the pouch around her waist. She just knew when gods, heroes and Iolausians mixed, a hoolie always managed to break out. She had mingled with the other guests, getting the biggest fascination with the costumes everybody had on. When Owlharp came racing into the room, yelling for Ares, Ziggy knew that the fun was really going to get started now. She could see Falafel passing out cans of whipped cream and smiled when Young Iolaus sprayed some of the stuff into Young Herc's face. Suddenly, Chaos raced up to Ziggy. The ferret was dragging the leg bone of a human skeleton. "Ah, geez, Chaos! Ares will never invite us anywhere!" she scolded as she picked up the prop. Closer examination revealed the 'prop' to be a *real* bone. "Geez, Ares, you've gone all out, haven't you?!" She shrugged, then decided the femur could come in handy for batting marshmallows from a safe distance. Ziggy decided to retreat into a nice, safe niche when she bumped into something. "What the--?" she whirled around, only to hear a scuffling noise, then suddenly Ceryndip disappeared into the floor. "Oh, no, bobby traps!" she muttered. "Leave it to Ares to really liven things up!" "Ziggy!" Iolaus came bounding up, wearing what appeared to be the back half of a centaur's costume. After a quick hug, she laughed. "Iolaus, just because Auto once said you're a centaur's @$$, didn't mean you had to dress up as one!" Iolaus grinned. "I'd ask you to dance, but I don't think we'll get the chance." Just then, Ares appeared in a flash, dressed as Elvis and carrying a Super Soaker. The war god had no longer materialized when he was bombarded with air-thrown whipped cream from all angles. Ziggy batted a few marshmallows the god's way with the femur bone. "All right! No more Mr. Nice Guy!" Ares promised, twisting around and spraying randomly with the Soaker. Guests screamed as everybody raced to take cover. Everybody, that is, but Owlharp, who was grinning maniacly. "Ares!" she screamed. "You're MINE!" Ziggy ---------------------------------- Kat wandered over to where Bwell and Margui were standing. "How are you?" she asked Margui. "How do I look like I am?" Margui replied. "Have you seen Young Iolaus?" queried the tall blond. "What's his costume?" Countered the antlered lady. Kat had a sheepish look on her face, and was about to turn away when there was a loud commotion. "What was that?" "What?" Margui said. "What's going on over there?" "Where?" "Do you see Young Iolaus?" "No, I don't," Margui replied. She turned and walked off and Bwell took her place. "So who are you?" Bwell asked. "Don't you know?" Kat replied. "Does it look like I know?" Bwell asked. "Don't you recognize me?" Queried the green eyed Amazon. Bwell's reply was drowned out by Owlharp's shout of "Ares, you're mine." Kat ------------------------------ "Ares, you're mine!" Owlharp shrieked, and Pompeii knew enough to run while her toga was only covered in whipped cream and water. Besides, white toga + lots of water = major embarassment. So far she had only been mingling around, really too shy to talk to anyone. But she had noticed the eerily real-looking decorations. *Bet he got Hades to chip in with the trimmings* Pompeii thought. Then, *ohmygod, who's body is that?* The skeleton was missing a femur, she noticed, and as a marshmallow hit her in the forehead, she discovered where that missing bone was. Backing away from the white, gooshy missiles, the floor suddenly disappeared from beneath her feet. *Whomp!* Pompeii landed on top of another body. Hurriedly, she scrambled off her human cushion. "Who did I land on?" "Me," came the wheezy answer. "Ceryndip." "And me," added a male voice. "Autolycus." "Oh," Pompeii replied. "And . . . we are where?" "In the middle of some twisted plot," Auto answered grimly. Pompeii ----------------------- On Sun, 29 Oct 2000 15:59:04 -0600 Ziggy writes: > "All right! No more Mr. Nice Guy!" Ares promised, twisting around > and> spraying randomly with the Soaker. Guests screamed as everybody > raced to> take cover. Everybody, that is, but Owlharp, who was grinning > maniacly. > > "Ares!" she screamed. "You're MINE!" Everyone in the room froze. Owlharp raised her deadliest weapon - one of Falafel's Secret Recipe Boston Cream Pies. "You may be the God of War" the quasi-suicidal bard shrieked, "but the velvet for this gown cost thirty bucks a yard!" With that, she launched her pie and her aim was unerring - it went straight into Ares' face. A roar of divine rage shook the Temple, but Owlharp was beyond caring. As Ares waved a hand, and the pudding, chocolate sauce and whipped cream that adorned his face suddenly vanished, she wound up to throw another pie. "You ruined my gown!" she howled "You started it!" bellowed the god. "Did not!" "Did TOO! Who shot the supersoakerfull of Koolaid down my britches!" Owlharp stopped in mid-throw. Her conscience assailed her. Annoying as the fact was, Ares WAS right. Abashed, she lowered her pie. "Well," she admitted in the sudden shocked silence. "That's true. I did do that. But - " her head came up suddenly - "as the Good of War you should appreciate the fact that I took advantage of a tactical target." "A tactical target???? You shot me in the butt!" Ares cocked his supersoaker and prepared to fire. "Well ... yes. It was such a tempting target. With you leaning forward and all...." Owlharp, her battle-rage somewhat cooled, was wondering if he was going to stop at supersoakers or maybe go on to fireballs. In which case, she was frantically hoping that sodden velvet gown might be some protection. But Ares shocked her by suddenly setting down his weapon and grinning hugely. "You think it's tempting, huh?" "Yeah. Really. Ask any of the ladies in the room. They'll say the same..." There was a chorus of feminine murmurs in assent, and Iolaus leaned over to Hercules and whispered, "I think I'm going to HURL!" But this seemed to satisfy the God of War. He twisted around and looked down at the back of his breeches. "You don't think the white pants make it look big?" With a finely honed sense of self-preservation, Owlharp answered swiftly, "No. Not at all!" "Oh. Well ... good. I think I'll go get a drink. Wanna come try some new stuff from the Hebrides? 'Single-malt' I think they call it. " Ares held out his arm, and Owlharp - who had decided a short time ago that she had clearly been caught in one of her fellow fan-fic author's fantasies - took it. [OK. That resolves ONE of the plot lines! NOW - I wanna know what Ceryndip and Autolycus have been doing in the cellar ... and did Pythia drink up all the cream in the kitchen ... and exactly WHAT did Chaos the Ferret manage to steal during the party.... and why Iolaus agreed to come as a centaur's @#$]. Owlharp -------------------------------- Ziggy lowered her femur-bat as Owlie took Ares by the arm and they walked towards the bar. Well, so much for that! But, geez! Fake fur was awfully heavy when it got wet! "Ugh!" she frowned, trying to squeeze koolaid out of her tail. "Leave me alone, you weasel!" Ziggy looked around, then down. Chaos had a black kitten between his front paws and was happily licking chocolate sauce off its fur. But... Ziggy looked twice, it was the cat that was talking! "Chaos, release!" the bard ordered, reaching down to drag the ferret off the feline. The cat whapped Chaos across the nose for good measure. "Take that!" "Pythia?!" Ziggy asked. "Hey, kewl costume! Sorry about Chaos." "There you are!" Orestes came racing up and snatched the beraggled feline from Ziggy. He rubbed the cat's fur, then smiled his thanks at Ziggy. "Cute knees, Your Majesty!" Ziggy whistled apprecatively. "Uh, thanks." Orestes, clearly embarrassed, quickly made his way back through the crowd. Ziggy smiled, then reached down to snag Chaos before the ferret could get into any more trouble. "Oh, no!" The ferret was gone! Before she could search the immediate area, Ziggy suddenly got the strangest feeling. Looking around, she saw most of the guests were also stopping what they were doing and seemed puzzled. Then, suddenly, from a huge balcony overlooking the main hall, hundreds of M&M's came raining down. Ziggy ------------------------------------- Quiet Wolf looked down at her costume, which was covered in various amounts of food items. She shook her head slightly, and M&Ms rained down out of her snake- encrusted wig. "Guess there's no such thing as being an 'innocent bystander' here," she chuckled to herself. "I'd say you've just been initiated," came a seductive voice in her ear. She turned towards the god of war and smiled nervously. "Ares, great party. But I really have to be going now." "And why is that?" the god asked, twining his fingers through the rubber snakes of her wig. "Well, you see," Quiet Wolf stammered. "I have to go build this dwarf mine for Boo At The Zoo, and I really do need to finish my Halloween story." "A Halloween story?" Ares arched an eyebrow at her and smiled slyly. "Am I in it?" "Um, yeah, but I really can't talk about it yet." "You can't leave now," the god informed her, wrapping an arm around her shoulder. "Things are just getting interesting. Just post however much of the story you have finished, and put the rest up later. But for now, have a little fun." A large pie, towering with whipped cream, materialized in the god's hands. He carefully passed it off to Quiet Wolf. "Go on," he coaxed. "You know you want to." "Oh, I don't know," she protested. "I'm not sure I'm ready for this." "Come on," Ares enticed her. "Everyone's doing it. I promise you, you'll enjoy it." "Well..." "If you really wanted to be an Iolausian, you'd do it." "Ok," Quiet Wolf said at last, weakening to the god's smoldering gaze. "That'a girl," Ares whispered with a wicked grin as she moved off to find a victim. Quiet Wolf --------------------------------- uhhhh Bev sucked air so hard it hurt. "REALLY! Quietwolf, how did I get to be your next target"? The M&M's down her front were bad enough but mixed with the cream and now the pie was too much. "Oh Bev, I'm sorry! But Ares made me do it!" "Ares'? Where is he? I don't want to get anywhere near him. I hear he's pretty wicked when it comes to these food fights" A flash of bright light and there he stood eyeing Bev with a look that said it all. "Did I hear my name mentioned'? "You know Bev, you've been awfully quiet tonight and with that get-up on I don;t know how I missed you. Come on! I think it's time I gave you the same lesson in how to have fun." He slid his arm around her shoulder the same way he had done Quietwolf and whispered the same inticing encouragements. Then Bev took aim! Hey, this was going to be fun! Quietwolf never knew what hit her! Bev ------------------------------- Quiet Wolf tried to scrape the cream pie out of her eyes and blinked hazily at Bev. "I don't understand," she whimpered. "Ares said I was special. He told me I was the only one he'd ever supply with pie." "That's Ares for you," Bev tried to console the girl. "Once you've lost your pie-innocence, he loses interest and is off to find somebody else." "That rat," Quiet Wolf fumed. "Just wait and see what I'm going to do to him in my Halloween story!! Does anybody have a pen handy?" "Oh, I think he deserves a more fitting revenge than that," Bev said deviously, trying to delicately dab whipped cream out of her Elvira cleavage. "Just what did you have in mind?" Quiet Wolf asked eagerly. Quiet Wolf ---------------------------------- "I love a good food fight," Margui said as she watched the hoolie in front of her. "Never participated in any however," she said to the melee in general, but no one in particular. She watched as several sprayed each other with whipped cream, and then promptly slid on the remnents that didn't make it on their cloths. It reminded her of a mud wrestling tournament, but looked much more fun. Iolaii, gods and demigods as well as list members alike were rolling around in the white caloric goo. "Why don't you join them?" Falafel asked as he handed Margui another of the cans. "Oh no. I couldn't...." she said with a wicked gleam in her eye. Margui ------------------------------- Orestes ducked for the safety of the nearest table as the hail of M&Ms descended from the ceiling. There were a number of people already sheltering there, including Iolaus II, who'd received a broadside from Ares' supersoaker and was therefore currently Robin Hood from the waist up and merman from the tail down. 'Umm - fish,' Pythia thought, licking her lips and wriggling out of the King's arms. 'Nice.' She padded across to join him, weaving her way through Salmoneous' arms and knees and tickling his nose with her tail as she passed. He sneezed. Explosively. The table quivered ominously. "Bless you!" everyone under the table chorused, then gasped with horror and alarm. The table had gone on quivering - and then risen abruptly, tipped over and slid violently across the floor! "Wasn't me!" Salmoneous squeaked, shaking with terror. Pythia had dived for the safety of the nearest pair of arms - which happened to be clad in Renaissance velvet. "No, it wasn't," Jason frowned, getting to his feet and passing the cat to Alcmene, who cuddled it gently. "I don't think," he added, glancing around for the nearest Olympian and finding none of them in sight, "it was Ares either. Now - nobody panic, but - I think there's a poltergeist at the party ..." "A poultry-geist?" Iolaus II echoed, having managed to dry his legs sufficiently to stand up. "What a fowl thing to happen. How do we make it fly the coop?" He was immediately pelted with a hail of profiteroles, which he dodged with good humour. He then had to dodge with a vengeance as the invisible spirit started throwing pomegranates at him as well. "Hey," he protested. "Those hurt!" "Kitty," Alcmeme whispered worriedly, "I thought I saw Charon lurking near the band earlier on. Go find him. We're going to need him to deal with this. And hurry!" Pythia leapt from Alcmene's arms and hastily raced across the M&M strewn floor, weaving her way in and out of the few brave souls who'd carried on dancing despite the deluge. She dodged the Widow Twankey (who'd come to the party as Mary Poppins and had had her umbrella to protect her), zig-zagged around Nebula, who'd just managed to hook Iolaus with her crook, and hurtled towards the band, hoping her quarry would be easy to spot. She wasn't sure he would be. What *did* the ferryman of the dead wear when he came to a Halloween party? Pythia -------------------------------------- On Mon, 30 Oct 2000 22:48 +0000 (GMT Standard Time) philla@cix.co.uk writes: > She wasn't sure he would be. What *did* the ferryman of the > dead wear when he came to a Halloween party? I'll bet that HE's the one masquerading as Fabio! Love to ya! Owlie -------------------------------- Okay, Allie had just enough time to make a brief appearance at the Halloween party. She threw on her old stand-by witch outfit (So why do you need a costume? husband asked. Allie turned him into a frog) and flew off to Ares' temple on her trusty old broomstick. Up the stairs and through the door just in time to bag a face full of whipped cream. The temple floor was a scene straight from Tartarus or a school cafeteria on Friday afternoon. Food was flying in every direction. "Well, it looks like the Iolausians are out in force tonight." Allie muttered cheerfully as she ran for the buffet to get something to eat before it all got thrown at someone. Her fixation with food proved to be her undoing. She lost her footing on the floor slippery with cream and littered with M&Ms and skidded out of control only to collide with, knock down and land on top of.....a centaur? Half a centaur? The back half of a centaur? "Allie!" "Iolaus?" Feeling like she just won the jackpot with her very first quarter, Allie looked at the golden hunter with a goofy grin on her face. Lost in a reverie of the past summer's kiss at Sal's amusement park, she nearly jumped out of her skin when a passing Iolausian smacked her in the face with a cream pie. "Mmm." said Iolaus. "Chocolate. My favorite." And he licked a little dollop off her cheek. Allie figured she must done something very, very good to get so lucky. Allie ---------------------------- "Just what is this fascination the Iolausians have with seeing me covered in whipped cream?" Hercules asked naively. "You need to get out more," Salmoneus replied as he attempted to bypass unscathed the more exuberant food flingers. The demigod gazed around the room as he tried to towel the sticky, white cream off of his broad chest. He realized that his mother and Jason were not among the partiers, and he became concerned. "I know they're probably around here somewhere," he mused to himself. "But this IS Ares' temple, after all." He decided to look for them, just to make sure that they were all right. And oh boy, were they all right. Jason had been amused, and Alcmene had been miffed when the demigod had accidentally barged in on them during a moment of passion. Of course, it hadn't helped matters any that he had yelled at them, accusing them of acting like a couple of teenagers in the balcony of a Greek tragedy. No matter how long they had been married, Alcmene was still his mother, and he could not bear to think of her in any romantic situation. Sulking because he had given Jason yet another opportunity to throw the word "pechulant" in his face, Hercules stormed out and slammed the door behind him. In his haste, he had run into Bev and Quiet Wolf who were rushing out of the room across the hall. "What are you two up to?" he asked suspiciously, noticing the guilty look they exchanged. "Nothing," Quiet Wolf said too quickly. "We have to get back to the party. See you later." Hercules watched them tear off down the hall and then opened the door to the room that they had just vacated. He couldn't hold back a grin of disbelief as he took in the sight of Ares. The god was absolutely slathered in honey from head to toe, and was not finding the situation the least bit amusing. "They. Are. So. Dead." He spat out furiously. A small, fuzzy blur raced into the room, and Hercules exited, shutting the door behind him as Chaos began to lick the golden droplets from the enraged God of War. "You'd think they would have learned something from Owlharp," Hercules sighed, shaking his head reproachfully. Quiet Wolf ---------------------------- Quiet Wolf and Bev slid on the whipped cream and pie around a pillar hugging and laughing. "Oh my God, I cannot believe we just did that", said Quiet Wolf. "Gods, neither can I", replied Bev. "But you know we're on his hit list now. Look what happened to Owlie". 'Yeah but pay back has it's rewards too', Quiet Wolf said grinning. "Guess we'll be looking over our shoulders for the rest of the night now. That is, unless you wanna go back and give Chaos a hand, or tongue as the case may be, in cleaning up the mess", Bev winked and gave Quiet Wolf a deviously wicked look. The look she got in return was one of disbelief then 'oh what the hell'. The two friends dissolved into a fit of giggles and took off to see what, if any new mischief they could stir up. They passed by Ziggy calling to Chaos. "Um, we know where he was last seen but you take your life into your own hands if you go there" Bev explained. The two cohorts told Ziggy what they had been up to and the three were off. Owlie was in search of Cerydip and said too that everyone was wondering why Autolycus had never made an appearance. Was it possible that he really had the sheild of invisibilty keeping his presence hidden. Bev remembered the curious draft she'd had when she first arrived and remembered Margui commenting on the same feeling when she too had arrived to the party. Gods, was it possible that *that* had been Auto? It certainly would have been just like him to play such a trick on an unsuspecting woman. Now the three girls were really in a pickle. Did they go clean up the mess of honey or go in search of an invisible man???? Decisions! Decisions! Bev --------------------------------- Pompeii, Ceryndip and Autolycus sat on the floor. Auto was still invisible though he had allowed Ceryndip to check the lump on his head where she fell on him. As soon as she had pronounced him fit, he promptly vanished again. "Ok, be that way, stay invisible, but if you find a way out, let us know before you go, ok?" "Yeah, yeah," but he didn't find any other way out. There they sat listening to the sounds of the party going on without them. After what seemed like an eternity, it became very quiet upstairs. "They've forgotten about us. No one noticed we were missing." "They will eventually. Do you know how annoying it is to have to speak to someone who's not there?" Suddenly, they heard a scraping from above and more light filtered in as the door opened. At last! Ares in his now multicolored costume peered into the gloom, "There you are, wondered where you two had got off to. Come here, I'll pull you out." Ares looked around, "Who were you talking to." "The invisible man.." The God of War effortlessly pulled the two ladies out with a single arm, "Maybe it's a good thing you missed the hoolie. Though it was one of our better, whipped cream and honey everywhere." He handed Ceryndip over to a worried Bwell, "I think you've gone mad down there. That's ok," he grinned at her, "I'll get you next party. Well, nice to see you but I've got a few more guests to kick out." There weren't many guests left, Ceryndip looked down to see a cat rubbing figure eights between her legs, "Who's cat?" "Oh, I'll take care of that," Iolaus hollared, scooping up the feline. "gotta remind Herc, to have a chat with Artemis about what is and isn't appropriate for a halloween costume. Though I don't think Pythia minded much." The Hero snuggled the cat close and between pets, lovingly kissed the top of her head. The next thing Iolaus knew he was flat on the floor with a very human Pythia sitting on top of him. "My hero!" Iolaus rolled to his side, "At your service. You ok?" She nodded, "You?" "Yep, come on, I'll see you home, those animal transformations can make you wobbly for awhile. Ceryn? You or Bwell see Autolycus anywhere? He was supposed to be here." "I saw him briefly but then he just disappeared," Ceryndip answered innocently. Wondering how long it would be before Ares discovered he had one more guest left down the hole to deal with. End Good job everybody! Great party! Love Ceryndip --------------------------------------------------------