video; un:pleasechooseanusername (posted before the event)

[queenofkur]

[ When the feed begins, there is a shadowy figure standing in a dark room, filled with smoke and fog. Said shadowy figures raises an arm, speaking in a solemn and serious tone. ]

Greetings, mortals. I am Ereshkigal, Goddess of the Underworld and Keeper of Death. [The shadowy figure stepped forward, revealing the goddess in all of her glory(?). She looked uncharacteristically stern and severe, her voice deeper than usual.] I am come to this world to assist you in preventing the end of everything. [She frowned before crossing her arms.] Let us work together, so that we may protect our worlds from utter devastation.

[ The feed goes on silently for a little while longer, but then Ereshkigal breaks character and goes off-screen to turn the light on. ]

There's too much smoke... Open the window please! [Ereshkigal didn't sound deep, solemn or serious at all any more. Concerned, if anything. A flying half-skeleton dressed up with a top hat and christmas decorations flies by and briefly comes into view, opening a window. In the meantime, Ereshkigal can be heard blowing on candles. A lot of candles. At least fifty by the sound of it. When she's done, she coughs and comes back in view.] Phew... That was pretty good, don't you think? [She steps closer, grabbing the phone that was broadcasting the current scene.] Maybe a bit too scary... I should light up less candles next time.

[ She went to lay down on her bed, still holding the phone. A baby deer can be seen sleeping on the bed when it happens, absolutely unconcerned by what Ereshkigal is doing. ]

Aaah, it's so much better than practicing before a mirror...! [While holding the phone, she picked a booklet and flipped through its pages.] Alright, let's see... "Press the red square symbol to stop recording." [She then looked back at the phone, seriously so before looking very confused.] What red square?

[ She sighed and looked down for a moment, before putting the phone on her bed to focus on the booklet. It's still broadcasting, though the only thing that can be seen is the sleeping baby deer. ]

Human technology is so complicated... But I can do it! I need to perfect my introduction before going live on that AOL thing.

[ Of course she has no clue everyone saw everything, and so she hums as she reads the instructions, the feed continuing like this for a while. ]

Comments

voice | un: octavinelle

[dottedline]

[....eh, he's bored and this was amusing. He'll clue her in.]

You were live, I'm afraid.

[queenofkur]

... ... ... ...?

[ A voice? Is that coming from this device? She picks it back up and stares at it with surprise. So that's how that AOL thing works, huh? ]

Hello? [And then it dawned upon her. She was... live? Surprise turned to sheer horror.] W-Wait... Live? But-but I followed every instructions to record myself so I could review my practice sessions! Why am I live?

Video : Un; Caster

[colchismagecraft]

[Well...this person gave Caster all of the mixed feelings. One one hand, she looked strangely like Tohsaka, and seeing her fail with technology almost as badly as she usually did, really made her want to tease her.

On the other hand, she was a God and that worried her- the Gods deserved respect, and she never could shake the idea they could ruin her life with a thought if they willed it. What to do...]

...Well now, that was a rather atmospheric performance, I must admit. And you can never have too many candles.

[Okay yes she couldn't resist the urge to tease her just a little bit.]

[queenofkur]

[ Oh no! More than one person had caught this broadcast...? Well, so long as they were only two, she could handle it. And at least now she could see how a video feed looked like.

And... Was that woman mocking her? No, maybe not. Jumping to conclusions wouldn't help. But she needed to regain her composure. ]

The-the candles were only because I cannot use my powers here. [She sounded a tad defensive. Well... A lot more than just a "tad."] This is nothing compared to what I am usually capable of.

[ Not that she was used to introductions considering the exceedingly infrequent rates at which people visited the underworld. ]

video; un: jean

[rustyhonesty]

I think you missed that window of opportunity already.

[queenofkur]

[ ... A third person. Okay, okay. At least it was still a small number. ]

I-I realize that now... But I dare hope it was still an impressive divine display...!

video; un: moonbunny

[starshaper]

[WOW! Usagi looks soooooooo excited!!]

Oh my gosh that was amazing and you're so beautiful, cute, pretty and adorable! Yes, let's team up to save all the worlds together!

[queenofkur]

[ ... That's. That's a fourth person, is it? Well, at least she... She didn't broadcast this to the entire island, right? Right? And wait, had those been compliments? When was the last time someone had called her "beautiful, cute, pretty and adorable" and not "terrifying, scary, horrible and wicked?" Probably never. ]

... ... ... ... [Yep, she's red. What the heck is she supposed to say?] T-Thank you... [wait no, she was a goddess, gods can't thank humans for complimenting them!] I mean, um... Yes, let's work together...!

[ Yeah, she didn't have the heart (or courage) to do the mean goddess act. ]

voice; un: prismpink

[prismatically]

[ this girl.... is incredibly cute???!??!??!??! ]

Ohhhh my God, that ruled! So spooky! Do you do performances like that all the time?!

[queenofkur]

[ And... That's definitely a fifth person, huh? By now Ereshkigal is hugging the baby deer to herself with one hand in an effort to cover up as much of herself as humanly possible. Throwing that human contraption away would probably solve the problem, but she was a goddess, she couldn't just run away when faced with dangerous situations! ]

A-all the time! I am the goddess of the underworld, after all. [Her voice was a bit muffled due to the baby deer hiding her mouth, but her eyes still peeked at the phone right over it.] ... Do-do you really think it was any good?

text; un: manslayer

[hitokiri]

haha nice one u tryhard

[queenofkur]

[ Wait, was that text...? Text typing was easier than showing her face. It just took an ungodly amount of time for her to type her reply. ]

Tryhard? Is there anything wrong with "trying hard?" I believe it to be an honorable thing for gods and humans alike to try their hardest at anything they do.

Video | UN: koko1010

[scriptwriter]

Hey, Pokégoddess!!

[For a moment, Kotarou's face is looking like this before he even registers her video. It looked no different from a yakuza trying to shakedown some money from an innocent citizen. Whenever he saw her face, Kotarou couldn't help and be filled with emotions! Why did she hug him? Why did she break that ball?! Why did she run off without him getting an explanation what that curse was?! He wanted to get some answers, dammit!]

I got a bone to pick with-- [There's a notable pause as his face turns a shade of blue.] Wait, wait, wait... Why is there a ghost skeleton in your room?!

[queenofkur]

[ Oh god, a seventh person! And it was that human from last time who had seen her at her lowest ever...! Kotarou, right? Things couldn't get any worse. A bone to pick with...? What? She looked worried and concerned until he spoke of the skeleton.

Thankfully, his mentioning of her familiar helped calm her down. She was a lot better at speaking of things she was familiar with. It was night and day, really. ]

You mean the Gallû Spirit? [She tilted her head.] He is my familiar. In the Underworld, Gallû Spirits are my servants. I guess that's why he bonded with me and became my familiar.

[ Thank god he has never seen her spooky form. ]

text | un: maruchan

[fujimaru]

[ Ritsuka is currently out and about, getting a ridiculous coffee drink and taking a break from her own volunteer efforts; she might not be much good in a fight, but she is at least experienced enough in field medicine to be helping at healer stations where and when she can.

But right now she's on break, and she catches the broadcast and winces. Oh no. Ere-chan, no. ]

Pssssst
I'm sure people have told you already but

[ ...but... oh no. She's trying so hard. She's trying so hard! Good luck, Ereshkigal, Master is cheering you on! ]

You probably wanna mention about your familiar first
People get weird about seeing spirits like that just floating around in the living world, you know?

[queenofkur]

I think everyone saw this recording.

[ She's stopped counting how many people are replying to her by now. At least text messaging is really so much better than voice and video calls... Ritsuka doesn't have to see how panicked and distressed she actually is behind the screen! Because right now she's hugging that baby deer and wondering just how she'll ever climb out of that pit of despair induced by her accidental broadcast. ]

Thank you. I will mention it posthaste to the people messaging me.

[ Maybe the overly formal wording of her message betrays the absolute panic she actually feels. Another message comes shortly after: ]

Would you mind teaching me how this device functions later on? I was hoping to do it on my own, but this "instruction manual" appears to be assuming the reader got rudimentary knowledge of human technology beforehand.

voice; un: rokumon

[garyoutensei]

[ This was a death goddess? Baiken had to wonder, really, if this was the kind of person that was waiting for her in hell... she wasn't sure she could take something like that. ]

Gotta say, you seem a little disorganized to be a keeper of the dead...

[queenofkur]

I-I do pride myself in being very organized, efficient and dedicated when it comes to my duties as keeper of the dead...!

[ She had her pride and would not let anyone question her when it came to her duties. She did them better than anyone would, even if nobody ever praised her for it. ]

Social interactions however are outside my area of expertise.

[ Not that she didn't talk to the souls of the dead, but well. They couldn't really reply, and if they did she couldn't understand what they tried saying. One-sided conversations with the dead for tens of thousands of years will make you a social disaster. ]

video | un: nleclair

[localdeliveryboy]

[ He's going to do her a solid, and - not ignore her attempt at intimidation or a regal entrance and just go straight to the introductions. ]

Greetings, miss goddess Ereshkigal, I hope I said that right. I didn't quite catch, your titles, sorry. The cat was being a bit naughty.

I'm Noah LeClair, feel free to call me Noah. Its a relief that you're comin' to help us mortal folks out.

[queenofkur]

[ Wow, could it be that one among the dozens of people who had seen this, had somehow missed all the pathetic bits in that broadcast? Thank goodness for the cat!

... Though it was more likely he was being kind and normally she wouldn't want someone to lie just to be kind. But right now? Her self-esteem was low enough that she accepted it. ]

I... [She cleared her throat. Trying to sound solemn now!] Y-Yes, of course! I may be a Goddess of Death, but I have no desire to see mortals die needless death.

[ Not to mention the absolute mess she'd have on her hands if suddenly every soul in the world was sent to the underworld. ]

You are free to call me simply "Ereshkigal." A goddess I may be, but in this fight we are all equal.

[Video; UN: DemonsandSugar]

[cultivatingsin]

Is that a little deer? [Nothing else matters. Hi, cute fawn!] Can they sleep through everything?

[queenofkur]

[ How tragic is that when the most interesting thing about her is her pet? She's still hugging the baby deer though. She didn't know if they all could sleep that well. Honestly she didn't think so. ]

I-I think he's just used to being around me so that doesn't bother him any more...

voice; un: mithrarin

[mithrarin]

You didn't choose a username.

[Look, someone like this practically needs to be picked on a little. Just a little. (Can he help it if one of his souls is a teenaged boy?)]

[queenofkur]

An user name? What do you mean?

[ Yeah, someone is completely clueless here. Or maybe she's subconsciously being clueless on purpose because yet another person calling her out on her failures, that sucks! ]

video; un: thanatos

[inevitablerest]

['Goddess of the Underworld and Keeper of Death', is it?

She doesn't look terribly impressive to him, but then... it takes a good deal to impress Thanatos. The fact she flubs her 'practice' at least gives her enough character for him to be curious about her. Enough that he ventures to introduce himself.]

Goddess Ereshkigal. [Polite. She is not the only god here, and he treats them all with a measure of respect (until they show they are unworthy of it, as has happened on occasion...] I am Thanatos, the God of Death of my own world.

[queenofkur]

[ A-another god of death? Oh goodness, oh no. And he sounded so confident even speaking through that human contraption! Now she was going to be compared to him all the time, wasn't she? It was bad enough to try and look like what people expected from the goddess of the underworld when your social skills were next to non-existent, but that would be even worse if people had a measuring stick to judge her worth.

Thanatos...? She wasn't familiar with his pantheon, but she could say he definitely belonged to the same culture than Gorgon if only due to his name sharing the same language. Not that it really helped. No matter. She stopped hugging the baby deer she had started hugging after everyone had called her out, and cleared her throat. ]

T-Thanatos, God of Death. [Okay, a deep breath. She sounded confident enough, speaking politely and solemnly. She just needed to hide the anxiety and all would be good.] It is a pleasure meeting another deity who presides over death. [Well she presided over the dead, but Nergal had given her his authority over diseases so that didn't make much of a difference... Unfortunately. And she felt the need to add:] I am deeply sorry you had to witness such an unsightly display from one of your peers. I had hoped to formally introduce myself after having mastered the workings of this human device.

video; un: redsaber

[umuperor]

[ saber's initial thought is that this might be rin. it's uncanny, honestly. even the blonde hair doesn't throw her off, given what the girl apparently looks like outside of the moon cell. but the demeanor is entirely off, and... honestly, adorable? she's a goddess, or claims to be, but...

saber cracks a smile, laughing quietly into her hand. ]

Excuse me. [ a quick apology, before: ] It is an honor, Ereshkigal! I am... a simple Saber-class Servant, nothing more. T'would be my pleasure to work alongside you to protect all Human History. You're newly arrived?

[queenofkur]

[ Had she... laughed? And she was still smiling! Nero was exceptionally lucky that after a dozen conversation that had drained her of what little social skills she had, Ereshkigal was unable to retort something to that offense!

... Or maybe it was just an excuse. Ereshkigal was half-wrapped under a blanket and the baby deer was covering her face as she replied. ]

I-I am newly arrived, yes. [Her eyes peeked above the baby deer to at least see who she was talking to. Mhm...? Hadn't she seen that face before in Avalon? Had to be her imagination.] I hope we will see this calamity averted as quickly as possible.