Takua
| The God of Exploration, the Moon, & Storms |
| The Lunar Palace - North Wing|
There was a brief pause before Takua let out a soft chuckle as Elias found himself frustrated at Mavis' attention and Adena's wishes for bacon. Killing a few birds with one stone, the God of the Moon glanced over at his friends and motioned for them to join him at the kitchen counter.
"You can go ahead and have a piece or two of bacon if you help out with the eggs, Adena. Some scrambled, some over medium. Elias, I'd appreciate your help with the rice. The bag is already on the counter next to the cooker. As for who's invited, it's typically just Adena and I. Lately more people have been showing up, usually Nebby and Auriel. Michiko shows up on occasion, too, among others." Once that was said and done and the deity expertly transferred some of the cooked steak tips into a ceramic serving bowl in the oven where they were being kept warm until the remainder of the guests arrived before moving to the cutting board and taking a large knife to begin preparing the last large piece of steak that he needed to have ready for the meal, moving the gently cut pieces into the skillet as soon as they were of the appropriate size.
"Mavis, leave him be. While he may be the best heat lamp in existence, I don't think he appreciates you rubbing against him." Mavis, being rather intelligent like all of the Moon Cats, stuck her tail upwards before letting out a slightly indignant huff and trotting out of the room towards the sitting area. Tycho, on the other hand, gave Adena's nose a gentle bunt and a bap before gently trodding over her head and making a single leap to the top of the fridge, where a soft cat bed awaited him as he curled up to watch the proceedings.
Takua's Lunar Palace, built in the same general architectural style as the Shrine of the Seeking Storm, was primarily divided into five major sections. The first was the grand courtyard at the front of the palace with small storage buildings and shrines of thanks dedicated to the spirits and gods that Takua oversaw. Within the courtyard itself, there was a grand garden to host and entertain guests of a more formal nature as they came through a gateway that was the opening of the portal onto the moon from his shrine as well as a more informal, relaxing tea garden that he hadn't used much since the discovery of coffee. The Hall of the Dragon King was next and constituted the centermost section of the palace, elevated above the courtyard though a far more tolerable set of steps that opened into the court itself. The largest room of the Hall was, of course, the Hall Proper, a great hall where most of the formal meetings had been held in the days gone by and where the rare occasions wherein Takua convenes a proper court with the deities and spirits that fell under his domains. There was a private audience chamber in a decently-sized room on the floor above and two larger meeting rooms where spirits and dragons could converse on either side of the private audience chamber, with the rest of the floor enshrining ancient artifacts and tapestries telling legends of all the gods and great heroes, with a small chamber erected in memory of the mortal heroes that Takua had served as the patron of, carving their names and deeds into the eternal memorial. Above that was a great feasting hall with a kitchen erected in its rear, meant to signify closeness to the Divine Realm and the Creator.
The remaining three sections of the chamber were divided into the North Wing, the East Wing, and the West Wing. Takua's private quarters constituted the North Wing, which was primarily subdivided into a large sitting room, a decently sized kitchen, his master suite, two guest suites, a formal dining room, a study, and laundry room divided across two stories, with the third story of the North Wing designed to mimic Earth's ancient observatories. It stood mostly exposed to the lunar sky and had many keystones that Takua could use to directly call upon and visit his many draconic children as well as many of his most trusted friends and servants. In the age of heroes, he would give such a keystone to a mortal hero to use in their moment of deepest despair, and the God of Storms would come to their aid. It was at this level he often hosted Adena whenever they held their near-daily training within his domain, with enchanted cabinets by the stairway holding a myriad of training equipment as terracotta warriors lay dormant as they flanked either side of each of the three cabinets.
The West Wing housed the spirits and deities that took up a residence, secondary or otherwise, in the Lunar Palace with the East Wing was mostly reserved to house guests, treasures, and as a place to conduct formal business. While there were also other ancillary buildings to the palace, they were rarely used in the current age except by the lunar spirits and the occasional pilgrim soul of the dead that was on some spiritual trek, usually a spirit of a monk or some cleric or a mortal that had some issues accepting their death. These souls often made interesting guests at his table, and Takua could usually found in some of his more ancient regalias when hosting them so that he appeared more in-line with their expectations.
The master suite that the two goddesses found themselves in was spacious and consisted of an admirable bathroom with a large, sunken bath that mimicked a hot spring as well as a separate shower stall that was sectioned off by an opaque sliding glass door and a toilet that somewhat sectioned off by a small projection of a wall. The sinks were opposite the bath, with a small linen closet nearby that contained various towels, bedding, cleaning supplies, and some spare soaps. The stone was a light shade of grey, with the occasional rich crimson outlining a feature or covering the occasional countertop.
The bedroom itself, however, looked like it had been fairly unchanged since the day it was first created, with even the modern furniture taking a somewhat rustic guise. The bed, definitely larger than a king in size to account for all the Moon Cats that all but insisted on sleeping around Takua half of the time, was centered on the back wall with two decently sized bedside tables flanking it on either side. The table on the right side, the one Takua typically favored, had some nearly organized notepads, an alarm clock, and a scrying orb resting on a small iron pedestal. The right side was also the side farther from the entryway to the bath suite, with a large window taking the place of the door as a small sitting area comprised of two chairs, a decently sized fireplace, and a small table between them rested on the dedicated rug for that section of the room. A small, walk-in closet was on the left of the bathroom door that had a dresser on its other side, with many of Takua's older outfits, shoes, and hanging clothes neatly stored away as opposed to the suit of armor holding a gave that rested to the side of the azure double-doors opposite a small bookshelf and desk where the deity could do any late-night work, a desktop and a somewhat organized array of notes covering its wooden face.
As the small dragon soon vanished with the box of sweets carried carefully in his little talons as if it was an elixir of immortality (not that it would matter to him, personally, since Jali was already immortal for the most part), he met some of the caretaker spirits and larger brothers and expressed his concern about the Underworld Goddess and the mess she had sought to clean. Two of the kindly caretaker spirits immediately disappeared, reappearing elsewhere to clean up the mess quickly before a green dragon, named Zhikarin, who was about one-and-a-half times larger than Jali, began zooming in the search for the scythe-wielding deity that was somewhere in the palace. Jali, however, went straight for the kitchen after stopping briefly in the dining room to set down the box of sweets and make his way into the kitchen, moving to where the three deities could see and hear him clearly.
"Father, you have three more guests; the goddesses Michiko, Moria, and Auriel have arrived. Zhikarin has gone to guide Lady Moira to the North Wing from where she found herself in the East Wing, and Ladies Auriel and Michiko are cleaning off in one of the suites after an incident." "I see," was Takua's immediate answer. After a brief pause, he spoke up again.
"Go offer them your help and assist them if they need it, Jali. Then you can go take a great rest with your twin once he finishes the errands I've sent him on." The dragon nodded, hovering as he slithered in the air before speaking up.
"Yes, Father! I'll report to you later. Good morning Lady Adena, Lord Elias." And, with that, the dragon was off to seek the goddesses and do as he was bidden. Takua, after that, glanced over at Adena and spoke up.
"The bacon is on a tray in the oven and keeping warm, by the way."
