Owner	Pose
Jonathan Sims	The Tower gives out an alert that there's a guest, and it's not one of the guests that's a friend of a Titan coming to hang out, nor a potential Titan spending more time at the Tower, nor a family member of a Titan coming to visit. Technically speaking, the Titan that this guest has visited most often never existed, but he's still in the system all the same. He's one of the heads of another superhero team, but it's not really in the nature of an official visit.     Jonathan Sims makes his way through the twists and turns of the corridors around the Main Room, once coming out in the actual Main Room and blinking in surprise. He turns around, goes back, and focuses on /Troia/ instead of the room he'd been to before. Finally he finds his way to the throne room of New Kronos, a place he didn't really pay much attention to last time he came. After all, /that/ time people were popping through a portal to Wonderland right when he showed up, and after there was the business of 'so the Jabberwock wants to eat me.' Distracting, both of those facts.     He's wearing a green cardigan and black jeans, Converse sneakers and a gray t-shirt, bearing two boxes of donuts because he recalls there being several people at Titans Tower who might like donuts. Why donuts? Well, why /not/ donuts? Look, he's coming as a guest, he figures he may as well bring an offering. And anyway, maybe Troia's never had the joy of a glazed donut with sprinkles.
Sarah Rainmaker	Sarah Rainmaker still hasn't quite figured out her way around everything in the tower on a normal day. This is one of numerous times she's ended up in a zone where she didn't quite expect to be. So she can only sort of rub at her temples over while she's figuring out exactly where she is, and then remembering that it wasn't where she was going. A timid wave is given over towards Jonathan as she would cross her arms.     She's hopeful that things on at least one crisis are over. But she doesn't know. She doesn't know what this one is leading to. Just that it's something that suits her ill. The Apache woman looks a litlte tired, even as seh's rubbing a bruise on an arm.
Irie West	Irie has spent the past hour trying to get into New Kronos the hard way. Sure she could just walk out the door of the Tower's main room, and then back in until she gets to the dimension, but a thought had occurred to her last night as she was trying to sleep and she thought that she'd give it a try once she got home from school.     So for the past hour she's been standing in the middle of the room, vibrating her body at different molecular frequencies to see if she can match the quantum resonance of New Kronos to pop her through. You know. The hard way.     So far she's been unsuccessful, but there's something about the clarion call of donuts that distracts her enough to somehow hit the right vibrational frequencies to send her over.     Standing there she blinks as she sees Jon again, with his precious cargo, and she throws her hands up in victory, "I DID IT!"
Madison Evans	Madison had accompanied Irie home from school - and while Irie tried to 'vibrate herself into another reality' (I mean, sure - why not?) she laid stretched out on the couch, working on a math assignment. "Okay, so I found the area of the quadralateral, but now I need to- Irie?" She cranes her neck, looking around. "Irie?" Huh. Did she actually do it?     The Jedi pops to her feet, running out of the main room, and then back in and- almost directly into Jonathan Sims. "Ooo! Are those donuts? Do you have a chocolate coconut one? Or maybe chocolate peanut! OH HEY! Irie! Did you do it?!"
Donna Troy	"I had wondered if you would be back, Troia's voice can be heard saying when Jon enters the room. She fades into visibility on her seat on the curved row of stone thrones that take the place of the sofa in the room Irie and Madison have just come from. "I grant you the customary welcome, but warn you that if you plan to represent the Pesedjet by your presence, the answer is no. New Kronos will take no further part in affairs."     It's remarkable that Irie can spend an hour trying to vibrate her way in, yet for Madison it's as easy as stepping out of the room and back in again. There may be a reason for that. Troia watches the two arriving with some hint of amusement in her expression while nodding a greeting to Sarah. "Hello again Sarah Rainmaker," she says, her voice losing that odd resonance. "And hello Irie and Madison. Have you all come to make another attempt on Wonderland? I can re-open the juncture if you wish. But I do not see the Wonderlander amongst you. It's probably not a good idea for you to attempt the place without a native guide, it can be very confusing."
Jonathan Sims	Jon grins brightly at the two teens, at Irie's enthusiasm and Maddie's questions. "Chocolate coconut? Peanut? No. Just glazed and chocolate and a maple bar or two." He opens the top box, offering the donuts up for consumption, nodding to Sarah as well. "Hello, Rainmaker. It's been a while."     Troia, though, gets the majority of his attention. There's a brief flare of teal glow over his eyes as she speaks in her resonant voice, and his response is, unconsciously, given in the voice of Ma'at, the afterimage of wings and a circlet bearing a feather flaring into view, just briefly. "I do not come for the Ennead, nor the Ogdoad. I represent neither Heliopolis nor Hermopolis nor Alexandria, today. I come as Archivist, to hear your story, if you are willing."     Jon blinks and shakes his head. "Ahh... I mean... I'm not here for Wonderland, either. I'm here to speak to you, Troia, if that's alright. I said I'd be back to get your statement."
Sarah Rainmaker	Sarah Rainmaker would nod at Jonathan, "Hello Jonathan. I hope that things go well with you and your's." She would offer politely, hand still going up to rub at her shoulder over for a few moments ,then going to nod at the rest. As Jonathan would go to speak she would look over blanktly, then move to gingerly shrug at her shoulders.     Looking at Troia and then going to speak up, "Is this of the affairs of the gods then? Even in another realm entirely there's still those little games going on and such things?" She would inquire thoughtfully.
Irie West	Irie is already into the donuts as her eyes go wide as Jon channels Ma'at. "Ooooooh! That was neat!" Her eyes screws tight as she rifles through her knowledge of ancient Egypt. "The Ennead are the Egyptian gods, right? Who are the Ogdoad?" She stuffs what's left of the glazed donut into her mouth, "Oh! I'm Irie! I haven't seen you before but since the Tower let you in I suppose you're a friend and that I probably shouldn't try to beat you up. Who're you?"
Caitlin Fairchild	Caitlin emerges from the south hallway. Which is notable because there isn't normally a hallway in that direction. They're still trying to map all the connections and routes that New Kronos has imposed on the Titan's Tower. Thursdays are still a bit weird, everything tends to lead to the storage closet on the floor below this one. But they've got the beginnings of a road map in place. At least, one that they only have to revise hourly or so. The redhead's in grey, calf-length yoga pants, electric blue thin-soled trainers, and a sports top in white worn under a heavily faded pink hoodie that once said 'Columbia' in white vinyl lettering. "I see you found your way up," she tells Jon with a wry smile. "Sorry about any confusion. We still haven't figured out which tune you need to be humming to take the stairwell and not end up on the roof every time."
Madison Evans	"I find your lack of nuts disturbing," Madison grumbles, as she claims for herself one of the chocolate donuts. She does hasten to adds, "Thank you for the donut, Grand Moff Sims!" At the brief flash of wings, the girl can't quite help but reach up to try to touch them - her smile broadening as she touches the soft feathers. She barely resists the urge to pluck one. "Whoa! Neat trick! Teach me how to do the voice thing?"     She then moves to sit on the great stone 'couch' legs swinging idly as she takes a bite, and eyes the portal. "I mean. I'd definitely be interested in going back through but- I'm not sure if it's a good idea right now? How close is the thing that attacked us? Does 'closeness' even matter with Wonderland?"     "He's an Imperial, Irie. You can tell because of the accent. Right, Grand Moff Sims?" Madison asks blithely.
Kaida Connolly	"Doo doo da doo doo doo, dee da doo da dee." A tiny voice sorta hum sings what sounds like a song out of Naruto. The tiny voice doesn't even pay attention to everyone around her as she sorta just casuals her way toward a cabinet and pulls it open. She hops inside and then comes out a moment later under a bowl which hops up on to the counter. Then She leaps over to a shelf and tilts a box over and pulls out a microwaveable popcorn bag. A leap, a kick, and the microwave opens, as she then opens the bag and then tosses the bag inside and then kicks it shut. A moment after that, some beeping follows and then the humming of the microwave. Still humming, Kaida sits on the edge of the counter, her tail flicking about, ears flicking about along with her tail as she waits for popcorn to finish. Once it finishes, she pours it into the bowl, takes said bowl and leaves the room. A moment later the smell of popcorn wafts into the room as she enters into the other realm with a bowl of popcorn, plops down and simply begins to eat while watching.
Donna Troy	Troia stares at Jon a while, her face expressionless, before turning away to stare out of the great window at the bright starry sky. "Ever was Kemet obsessed with measuring and recording. I do not really have a story to tell. At least not one that is best remembered. I am the last of the Titans, a footnote to a story that has ended."     She tears her eyes from the window, and gives Sarah a shake of her head. "Apparently not. Such 'games' as you call them are as much the obsession of the gods as they are mortals. More so, perhaps. New Kronos is something of a loose end in such affairs, and there will be those who wish to try to involve it in their games. It will not happen."     "They are also gods of Kemet," Troia tells Irie. "Their gods are rather..." she glances Jon's way for a moment. "Disparate and disorganized. Many of them have claimed ascendency, but they prefer not to contest with each other so much as inhabit their own... focuses of power. I suppose that is a way to describe it. There is more than one Ennead indeed, though I spoke of the Great Ennead, who perhaps have the most... meaningful ascendency. But it depends on who you are, where you are, and when you are. The Ogdoad though... they are a little different. It's complicated."     Troia watches Maddie take a seat on the 'bench' with a slightly uncomfortable expression, but says nothing about it. She seems to be coming to an accommodation with the idea of people sitting there. These mortals are just so /casual/.     She tears her eyes away to greet the other newcomers. "Hello again, Caitlin Fairchild. And yet another of you I have not met yet." The arrival of the mouse does not escape her notice, though perhaps the aroma of popcorn helps draw attention to the latest arrival. "Welcome, small one," she says to Kaida. "I grant you the customary welcome too. Your food smells pleasant."
Jonathan Sims	"I suppose, technically speaking, anything I do these days is the 'affairs of the gods.' I mean, if two gods--or avatars thereof--meet in a room, even just for donuts and coffee, that sort of makes it the donuts and coffee of the gods, then, yes?" Jon glances to Sarah as he goes around offering donuts to anyone that wants them. "I am an Avatar of Ma'at now. Still getting used to the idea that I walk into a room and represent a goddess." He shakes his head.     "The Ogdoad are /also/ Egyptian gods," he replies to Irie, quite seriously. "Technically the goddess I serve--well, the goddess I /am/, sort of--isn't part of either group. Ennead means a group of nine and Ogdoad means a group of eight." He looks at Madison and says, more lightly, "As for the voice thing, I do /not/ recommend dying and merging with a deity of any sort. That's how I got the voice. Ma'at speaking through me. And if you call me an Imperial again, Ms. Evans, you can't have any more donuts. I had my offer to join the Dark Side and turned them down quite firmly." He's smiling, though. Maybe he's kidding. Maybe.     "It's no trouble, Caitlin!" Donuts having been offered, Jon goes to find a spot to stand in, since the chairs seem to be thrones more than anything. "I had to focus on /Troia/ rather than the main room, but maybe that's me. As noted, I'm not... /quite/ human anymore."     Finally, they focus back on Troia, smiling wryly. "You give no offense. The gods of a civilization that lasted three millenia and bore multiple invasions and breaking apart and re-constituting are bound to be a scattered, confused lot. 'Complicated' hardly begins to cover the matter. But I am really, /really/ not here for Kemet in any way. Kemet is a land that died two millenia gone, and my ancestors have never been back on a permanent basis since. I was born far north of Egypt, and I have chosen to make my home in New York. I am here for friendship, and curiosity. Donna Troy was a great help during the 'games' Rainmaker speaks of, and I tend to consider pretty much any story worth telling. Maybe knowing what you've been through, the differences between your... potentiality-state and ours, can help us untangle the knot that's been made of our... I don't know what you'd call it. Probability spaces?"
Sarah Rainmaker	At the passing response from Troia, Sarah Rainmaker would sigh, "That sounds like an unfortunate.. Commonality." The way things worked was to the Apache gen-active confusing. But gods and pettiness for the sake of pettiness seemed a consistent. "Then the only way to win is to refuse to play at all." A quote from a movie half remembered, but that she would deny ever having seen if one were to press the matter.     As Jonathan and Troia would go on, she would shake her head, "That sounds rather.. Banal." Finally catching sight of Fairchild, Sarah Rainmaker would look timid, then try to float over in the direction of her. Presuming that in doing sos he didn't end up in a portal appearing somewhere else.
Irie West	Already on her second donut, Irie nods, eyes wide. "Oooooooh." She'll have to look this all up later. She wanders over to Maddie, and stands next to her. "Maddie," she says, sounding disappointed. "Not everybody with a British accent is an Imperial. That's.... country-ist."
Caitlin Fairchild	Caitlin flashes a smile at Troia. It's reflexive and friendly, and all the more awkward with the beat that passes when Caitlin reminds herself that this -isn't Donna-. For the umpteenth time. She tends to wear her heart on her sleeve and it makes the transition from affection to embarassed civility difficult to ignore. "Hello ...Troia." The beat to address the woman properly is barely noticeable. Sarah's approach gives her an excuse to break contact, sharing a quick hug with the dark-haired girl before turning her attention to the conversation around Troia again. Irie's quiet reprimand for Madison is backed up by Caitlin laying a gentle fingertip on Madison's shoulder and giving her a steady, pointed glance that drips with well-honed Catholic disapproval. Even if Jon *does* sound like a bad guy from Game of Thrones.
Madison Evans	"Look. If he's going to quote Star Wars at me, //and// speak in an English accent, then of //course// he's an Imperial!" She pauses for a moment before relenting, "Though I suppose we could assume he's from the Old Republic era, since he does have donuts. I don't think Imperials feed Jedi donuts." She takes another bite of her chocolate donut, looking between Troia and Jon before adding, "I have no idea what they're talking about."     That doesn't stop her from adding, "You should try one of the donuts, ma'am! They're really fresh!"     She then turns her attention up towards Caitlin as she adds, "Whaaaaat? We're just having fun. I mean - he called me //too short// for a Jedi! But that's ridiculous because- Yoda. Duh."
Kaida Connolly	Casually, she flips up a popcorn kernal and catches it in her mouth only to consume it with alacrity. She finishes it off and shakes the bowl a little at Troia. "Movie Theater style Butter popcorn!" She nods her head, "Orville Redenbacher. The king of popcorn." She nods her head and gestures to it, "You can try some." She then pops another as she casually listens to what is happening around her, looking this way and that only a little, her main source of paying attention are those large ears, twisting like satelites toward the sources of speaking. For Jon, she snickers. "Jon's a goddess." She giggles a little more and then pops another kernel of popcorn before looking to Maddie and Irie before she looks forward and shakes her head. "Ha, too short." She grins and flips another piece of popcorn into her mouth. "I knew this would be good entertainment though I really don't need a welcome." She looks over at Troia again, "I mean, you're still kinda sorta in our house even if this is all kinds of timey wimey spacey wacey stuff." And another piece of popcorn gone.
Donna Troy	The pause in Caitlin's greeting may be barely noticeable, but judging by the momentary frown that crosses Troia's features, she did notice it. She gives Caitlin a slow nod, settling back in her chair to get comfortable, and tearing her eyes slowly from Caitlin to return them to Jon, she gives him a small nod too. "I understand. Your friend is missing, and I look like her. I understand that this is hard on you. I will do what I can to help you find her again. But..."     She gives a slight shake of her head. "There is not much to tell. I was born. I have lived a very short number of years, by the standards of the Titans. My birth was a source of contention between Olympus and New Kronos. Now I am the last Titan, and I live alone in marble halls that once meant much, but now are no more than a memorial for the Titans who are gone, who died because of me. It is not a pleasant story to tell."     Troia seems to retreat into her seat and pensive silence for a few moments. Without looking up again, she says "You are wrong, Madison. You forget that Old Ben spoke in the same accent. Perhaps he too is a Jedi, rather than an Imperial." Oh Maddie, what have you wrought.     She does however lean forwards again to take some of the proffered popcorn. It would be rude to refuse. "Just a few kernels then," she says. "I wouldn't want you to go hungry." There's probably more popcorn than mouse, by volume. "However you are quite wrong. You are in my house, not the other way around. You may have arrived here from yours, but a short look out the window should make it clear that you are no longer in your own home. I am quite sure your home is rather a long way from Alpha Draconis."
Jonathan Sims	"I'd like to help you, as well, if possible, Troia. Even if it isn't..." Jon hesitates. "Well. Even if it's probably nice to have the company, if you live alone, perhaps your being here means something for you as well as us, hmm?" A pause, and then, "Perhaps... tell me of your home, here? What's it like, out beyond the windows?" There's a subtle pressure in his words he may not be entirely cognizant of putting there, a compulsion to go ahead and tell /something/.     They glance away, then, to regard Madison with a grin. "See, Madison? She's /quite/ right. I /could/ be a Jedi, hmm?" And then, just because they can, they focus for a moment and levitate a donut out of the box and into their mouth. They take a bite and chew and swallow with relish. Could an Imperial do /that/? Well, maybe a Sith. "Anyway, I was just quoting Luke Skywalker, that's all."     A glance aside to Kaida and a frown. "Yes, I am the avatar of a goddess. Why is that funny?" A shrug, and then they take another bite of the donut.
Sarah Rainmaker	A quick hug is given from Sarah Rainmaker to Fairchild, adn an appreciative look as she goes to speak quietly, "You all right, Caitlin?" Her attention back over on the back and forth as she would go away to track the other discussions going on with Donna and over with Jonathan.     Finally she would go on, "So why then as a.. Titan are you so obligated? That you must perform such things and such duties even when there is no need for them? You said you were the.. Last of the Titans, I believe, in your realm. Did you continue with them as you had to do so out of a sense of duty or as there was nothing else to do?"     Sarah is floating, and one might almost call her flighty at the moment, even as she would take a few steps back in the air to observe things.
Irie West	Irie bites her lower lip when she notices Caitlin's hesitation, and Troia's response. She /shouldn't/ say anything. It would be bad to say anything. "Donnasnotgone," she blurts out all at once. "I mean..." she looks pained as she waves a hand at Troia. "That's /her/." She turns to Troia and says, softly, "That's you." Louder she turns back to Cait, "They look the same because they /are/ the same. Just.... trust me." she shakes her head rapidly. "She's not gone."     Damage done, she steps back to stand by Madison. "I hate that I just can't tell them what to do next," she says to her, folding her arms to hug herself. "It's not fair."
Caitlin Fairchild	Caitlin gives Kaida's mousey giggles a quick, scolding glance. Whatever the mouseketter finds hilarious, Caitlin's look seems to suggest finding a better avenue for human that mocking Jon and their deities. Sarah's inquiry is met with a momentary expression of exhausted resignation-- but she covers it up well, putting on a stif upper lip for the benefit of the newer Titans. "I'm ok," she tells Sarah, and almost makes it sound sincere. But Irie's frustrated outburst gets Caitlin's full focus, and she address it by giving the speedster's upper arm a (very) gentle squeeze meant to be reassuring. "Irie, I know Donna better than anyone," she tells her in the most conciliatory tone she can muster. "This-- Troia," she amends, "she's a lot *like* our Donna. But she doesn't have the memories Donna does. The memories of growing up. A life here with the Titans. All the things we did and fought and lost. Without those memories..." she looks at Troia, with a wistful and apologetic expression all at once. "I don't know," she admits. "This level of philosophy is way beyond what I'm able to wrap my brain aroud."
Madison Evans	Madison levels a finger at Jon. "You were quoting PRINCESS LEIA!" Ah ha! Gotcha! "To Luke Skywalker."     She then crosses her arms to look at Kaida as she remarks, "Well. Some people get caught up on the gender thing, but one of me and Irie's bestest friends is trans and gender's really kind of nonsense anyways - just a societal construct mostly meant to keep women under the thumb of men, while similarly limiting men's behavior in harmful ways." Well. Someone's poked the Woke bear, apparently.     She then turns and- well, gapes at her friend. "Oh. OH! OF course! You already know- so- but- ...you can't tell us if it's all going to be alright either, can you? Maaaaan. That has got to //suck//!"
Kaida Connolly	Smiling at the offered popcorn, Kaida smirks at Troia before shaking her head, "I'm a mouse. Whereever I am, I'm home." She states and then shrugs, "I suppose I'm not homeless anymore but that was also a thing so yeah, I'm used to just adopting places." Kaida nods and looks around, "This is a good a place as any till I'm done eating." She grins before blinking in surprise at both Madison and Caitlin. Kaida returns Caitlin's look, standing up and putting her hands on her hips before looking at Madison with a wide eyed stare. She blinks and huffs before waggling a finger. "What in the world are you talking about?! I get all that. Just Jon dressed up like an Egyptian goddess, being carried around on a litter by subjects, while waving and allowing them to look upon the glory of the goddess Jon is kind of amusing based on what I have seen. If I misread Jon and Jon wishes to be an Egyptian goddess strutting about and being looked upon for the glory that Jon is, then I apologize, Jon. Live your truth." Kaida nods and then shakes her head as she collects her bowl of popcorn. "Sorry all. I did not mean to cause problems but I wanted to see what the fuss was about. Seems like we lose a Donna or a Caitlin or a Terry every month or so so I wanted to see what the latest was. I get it's serious but so is every other thing ever." She shrugs, "At this point, I half expect Bart to vanish or maybe Irie. Heck! I could be someone else right now and not even realize it." She then starts to walk off back to the 'exit' of this realm.
Donna Troy	"Look for yourself," Troia answers Jon, a hand waving in the direction of the aforementioned window. "That's what it is like. Why ask me?" She seems to be getting tense. "Perhaps when you look, you'll see the place that was. A refuge, and a celebration. A place built for the Titans. A place where they could /be/ Titans. That's what New Kronos was. That's not what I see though. All I see is the mausoleum. The potential, gone. A place that used to /mean/ something. That could have been a... a beacon of hope. An advertisement of our presence to the universe.... and a home. A family I couldn't protect, who... died because of me. Instead of these empty halls I walk alone."     She stares at Jon a few moments, her expression challenging, before she breaks eye contact and looks away, slumping back down into her seat. She takes a deep, slow breath and tilts her head up to look at Irie, but for once she doesn't instantly leap to clarify that she is not Donna. It's only when Caitlin speaks up that she comments on what Irie had said. "She's... I suspect the reason why this has happened is because there was a... some kind of resonance between myself and your Donna. The universe shapes its inhabitants, but is also shaped by them. As any being moves through their life, the form that life takes becomes a part of the greater whole. For what has happened to have happened, for this kind of entanglement to take place... I suspect that the shape that I and your friend Donna make in the universe must be very similar. Perhaps if there is a hole in the universe shaped by one of us, then that makes it easier for reality to be manipulated in such a way as the other can occupy that space through the kind of infolding we are witnessing. Reality is inherently conservative. It makes sense."     Troia shuts her eyes and rubs the bridge of her nose. To Caitlin at least it's just such a /Donna/ thing. "I'm trying to figure this out. But it's not easy. This isn't... It isn't me who should be trying to figure out something like this. I need... I can't replace them. I can't be all the Titans. "     She takes a deep breath and gathers herself. "I think you're rather more than just a mouse," she tells Kaida. "But if you will take my advice -- you adopted a better home already. Stick to the one you have that's full of your friends. And try not to lose any of them. It's not something I recommend."
Jonathan Sims	At Irie's statement, Jon turns and focuses on Troia, for a moment, in what might be a slightly disconcerting manner. The /whole/ of their focus, and another glimmer of teal, and another flare of wings and circlet, as Jon Looks at Troia. Really, /really/ Looks, in the sense of staring at her magical aura and her telepathic aura, without distractions.     "Hunh," they say. "Actually... Irie's right. Mostly right. The aura looks... /mostly/ the same, except for the parts where she has the energy of a deity, but that could have been... hidden, before. I mean, I suppose I would have looked different in much the same manner, three months ago. Her mind and emotions are much the same... even her body language is the same. I'd been assuming that's because of this whole... overlay business, but..."     He waves a hand, idly, toward Caitlin and Madison and Kaida. "It's fine," he says. "I'm not offended in the slightest, and there's no need to be defensive, Madison. I am an avatar of the goddess Ma'at. I use he and they pronouns. I actually /have/ paraded through Duat, on a barque, while others looked upon the glory of my divinity, but that was as Ra. You /may/ address me as 'His Royal Godliness' if you like, however." He's definitely joking; there's a smirk hovering around his lips. "But, yes, I merged with a goddess to come back from the dead and I am now her avatar. Which is probably the reason I am trans-neutral more than trans-feminine. She sort of... balances that out."     He frowns, ever-so-briefly, as Kaida leaves, then looks back to Troia and the others. "What do /you/ want?" He says, abruptly, bluntly. "Do you want to be left alone? Do you want things to continue as they are? Do you want to provide aid and comfort to people? It is not your fault that Donna Troy isn't here--or that you don't remember being her--so I can't tell her she was right. That I forgave Michael, that I... /hugged/ Michael." Wonder of wonders. "That he died, and if she's going to be his friend he has a new face now. I... wanted to avoid telling you that as a surrogate. I suspect the others do, too. But if you really are not Donna Troy you are such an exact duplicate that the difference is like splitting hairs. An awareness of being a Titan, maybe? I don't..."     He turns away, rubbing at his temples. "Sorry," he murmurs. "Told myself I wasn't going to do that."
Irie West	"Yeah," Irie admits, rubbing the back of her head. "It's kind of hard watching everybody circle the truth but never quite touching it and let things play out." Her eyes dart over to Cait and Troia, "Especially when it's hard for them to deal with what's going on." She frowns when Troia gets a little bit melancholic. "old on..."     She zips over to the titan and engulfs her in an enormous Irie sized hug. "You're not alone," is all she says, and gives her a squeeze before zipping back to Maddie. "Yeah. So. Like that."     She sizes up Jon, eyeing him up and down. "You don't /look/ like a His Royal Godliness," she says doubtfully grabbing another donut. "But since you're the one who brought the donuts...."
Caitlin Fairchild	Caitlin scrubs her palms against her face, a sign of deep and wearying emotional exhaustion. The answers seem painfully, elusively close at hand-- and yet Caitlin can't seem to wrangle up a single idea about where to *start*. "Donna..." She frets her lip, trying to chain together some thoughts that are so close at her fingertips. "Donna was adopted," she says, finally, and looks up at Jon and Troia. "She came to Themyscira as an infant and Queen Hippolyta adopted her as Diana's younger sister. She grew up with the Amazons and came to America as Diana's ward. That's when she and I met," she explains to the others. "But she's always been an Amazon, through and through. She can fly, she's almost as strong as me, she's brilliant with swords and she can use that golden lasso. So--" she presses her lips into a contemplative pout and holds her hands out, palms up and joined, as if waiting for an answer to be delivered into them. "So where did you two go differnt from each other? How can you be so alike but also be so dissimilar?"
Madison Evans	Madison is bouncing to her feet - even as Irie is darting towards Troia. So as one hug ends - a second one begins. Tag-team hugging! "Gosh. When was the last time you were hugged?" she asks sympathetically, befoe letting go. "You know. Me and Irie can stop by every day if you like. We're good huggers." She gives a solemn nod to that, before returning to her seat. She pulls her feet up - then glances at Troia, and puts her feet back down. Oopsy.     "Yeah but - does he look like a Their Royal Godliness, Grand Moff Sims?" Madison counters, flashing her friend a broad smile, before her gaze flicks after Kaida.     "...do you think I made her upset? Only I didn't mean to."     Her attention shifts once more, looking to Caitlin as she tries to puzzle things out - but she didn't know Donna well enough to contribute.
Donna Troy	"What do I want? Nothing. What's left to want?" Troia replies. "It's too late for what I want. I want things that cannot be undone, undone. You think you are seeing New Kronos, but you are not. You see only stone walls. It is the people who make a place what it is, not the walls. Those people are gone."     "I want to have done things differently. To have not let the Titans down and let all the people I loved -- let my /family/ die, because I... because of me. I want to not descend those stairs from my bedroom every morning to empty halls that echo only with my memories of the people who made this place what it is. "     Caitlin, in her search for insight, might have highlighted exactly the answer to her own question. Donna is an Amazon through and through. Troia does not wear the bracers Donna is never without, and has no lasso at her hip. She did not even greet Diana as her sister when Diana had been brought to the tower to see what had happened to Donna, and that, perhaps above all, is most unheard of. Ever since Caitlin has known her, long before Caitlin had even met Diana, Donna had very obviously absolutely adored her big sister.     But if Troia was going to address that point, the moment is lost when Troia is hit with not one, but two enthusiastic hugs. At first, when Irie moves in for that initial hug Troia seems to freeze, but she thaws soon enough, to give first Irie and then Maddie a comforting squeeze. It may have been the opposite of their intent, but it seems that at least as far as Troia is concerned, they are the ones who need comforting.     "Don't blame yourself for her leaving," she tells Madison finally. "But perhaps another day you should try talking to her to see the person behind the mouse. She is not as she seems."
Jonathan Sims	Jon regards Troia quietly, for a long moment. "I wish you would tell me of them," he says quietly. "So their memory could live on, even after you are gone. But perhaps you're right. Perhaps I am too concerned with measuring and recording. It doesn't bring them back." He plucks a donut out of the box, chocolate with rainbow sprinkles, and walks over to offer it out to Troia. "For what it's worth... I know how you feel. I once lost nearly everyone I loved, and it was very definitely because of me. All I can really offer is condolences, and sympathy, and... well... prayers that you won't be alone forever."     He glances aside to Irie. "I wish I could be more help. I know the answer, or the solution, is somewhere in Wonderland. I'm willing to help how I can. But I'm not a Titan. I can only do so much, here in your home."     A frown, and then he says slowly, "If Donna was adopted, then everything about her being an /Amazon/ would be from that adopting. Troia here is a goddess, Caitlin. Or at least carries the power of divinity. You can hear it in her voice, sometimes. And this place," he waves his hand, "it feels... well, it feels like Duat, more /real/ than our world, but I that doesn't mean it's the lands of the dead so much as a realm of the gods. I just mean... wouldn't that mean..." A pause. "Flying, strength, all the rest... well.. divinity, right? Could it have... /always/ been that...? That's what Terry told me, that Donna was a Titan of Myth and didn't know it."
Caitlin Fairchild	"Not-- no, not divinity," Caitlin protests, shaking her head. "I mean I've hung out with Thor a bunch," she clarifies. "I've been to Asgard, Duat, I've met the Theoi of Olympus-- she reminds me of them," Caitlin concedes, and gestures at Troia. "And this whole place makes my teeth buzz like being in Tartarus did. Even I can feel the magic. Like when Raven's in a bad mood and the dishes start acting haunted." "But I never felt that, uh... godliness, with Donna," she explains. "Like she's from another world. I mean for gosh sake, it was years before I realized she was an Amazon. Or that she's not Diana's biological sister. I never got a hint of this sort of, uh, energy," she says, and nods at Troia again.
Madison Evans	"It's okay to need a hug," Madison tells Troia seriously. "I think maybe even Gods. Yeah?" She looks towards Jon. "You need hugs too, right?" she asks him.     The comment about Kaida leaves her looking a little embarrassed however. "I mean. I try to talk to everyone. I certainly don't mean to hurt anyone's feelings, or drive them off, or anything like that- well. Maybe I just need to invite her to play a board game with me?" she muses.
Donna Troy	"That might be a good idea. Inviting her to play a game together," Troia says to Madison. She sits back in her seat again after the hugs, but her arms are crossed and her shoulders hunched forwards. There's something increasingly defensive and uncomfortable about her posture.     "Diana of Themyscira's sister?" she asks, frowning. "But adopted. Di... Diana is Zeus' daughter. If your friend wasn't adopted -- well that could explain part of the resonance. That would make her a cousin. " She's no longer making eye contact with anyone. "That kind of familial bond, with all the other synchronicities, that could certainly make this kind of infolding of the potentialities easier to achieve. But if she is just an adopted sister, then that doesn't..."     Troia drifts into an introspective silence, blinking slowly. She rolls her head one way, then the other, then suddenly gets to her feet and strides across the room to the window, leaning against the stone balustrades and staring out over the shattered moon. "But she can fly, you say. Your friend."
Jonathan Sims	"It could have been hidden," Jon points out to Caitlin, frowning thoughtfully. "If her very existence caused a war, then... adopted by Amazons, somehow hidden to avoid that war...? I mean... /trust/ me, hugely divine energy can be hidden. I had no idea Chas Chandler was hosting an angel, let alone an /archangel/, let alone the most /powerful/ archangel, until it all came to light. And Donna couldn't have told you something she herself didn't know."     He frowns down at the donut and sighs, putting it back in the box. "You don't resonate like a bl--blinking /cousin/, Troia. I am a /telepath/. I am telling you that your mind and hers are remarkably similar, moreso than a cousin or a sibling. You resonate like... look, if I hadn't been told in no uncertain terms that you are not from another timeline, I would believe that you are Donna Troy from another timeline. Everything /fits/. A single change--adopted by the Amazons or not--sends off two different universes. In one, 'Troia' comes to America, meets Caitlin and her other friends, founds the Titans. In another, she stays with her birth family, lives on New Kronos, and there's a war."     They shake their head, sighs. "But I've been told it isn't that, and Irie insists you're /her/, and..." He huffs out a breath. "Why... why is this upsetting? I didn't mean to upset you, but don't you want the /truth/?" A pause, and they frown. "...Not everyone's obsessed with truth, Jon," they grumble.     A glance to Maddie as they pull out the donut meant for Troia. "I need hugs too, yes. I have... a very select list of people I'm okay being touched by, but I get hugs from them fairly regularly." Then they go to eat the donut, looking sad.
Irie West	Irie watches as people go in circles around the truth behind what is happening, and she sees Troia's distress over it. She looks over at Jon and bites her lower lip again. "Sometimes.... the truth isn't as clear cut as you think. Or two things that are true can contradict each other. Just like...." she waves a hand in the air, "/Time/ can be wibbly, and space can be bent in on itself. It's all a matter of perspective."     Also, seeing as nobody else is eating donuts, Irie goes in for her fourth. "Thank you for the donuts, Your Royal Godliness, Grand Moff Sims."
Caitlin Fairchild	Caitlin faces away from the group too. The uncertainty is overwhelming; trying to assign familial and close friendships to someone who looks like Donna, /sounds/ like Donna, /is/ Donna in her own way-- but is very obviously, very much *not* Caitlin's Donna. It's stressful enough that she looks at the doughnuts Madison is passing around, and declines to accept one. "We know so little about alternate universes," she remarks to no one in particular. "We've been to a couple and barely scratched the surface. We think there are infinite universes-- well, N minus 1 universes," she amends. "A certain number of them collapse into each other just because their resonance patterns falling into sync. We don't know if they mutually annihilate or just... merge." "But some of the things I've read in Asgard, and some other books, suggests that free will has as much or more impact." She brushes a little moisture away from her cheek, makes sure her face is composed, and turns back to the others. "So it's not just which strings are vibrating which way. It's when you choose to go left versus right. Sleep in or go to work. Some decisions are absolutely inconsequential. Others are momentous. So if Donna was ... meant to be part of the Titanomachy..." she trails off, looking stricken at this new turn of thought.
Madison Evans	Madison studies Jon, and uncertain look on her face. "You don't want me to hug you, then?" she asks. "Only - I hugged you before, and you look like you need a hug, and I'd be more than happy to give you a hug if you want a hug." Wait. Is she- asking for consent?     "Irie," Maddie stage whispers, leaning in while waiting for Jon's response. "What if you whisper the answer in my ear and I just promise to never ever tell anyone honest I swear?" she asks her friend - beaming at her broadly. She just wants to knooooow that's going on! Is that so much to asks?     ...yeah. Probably.     "I mean. Somewhere there's a multiverse where Irie decided to tell me..." she ways in a wheedling tone. "Is it this one?!"
Donna Troy	"Simply being a cousin wouldn't be sufficient, no," Troia says, nodding her head in reply to Jon, though her face remains turned away. "But along with the other synchronicities... the name, the look, the... the fact your friend, that you people even /call/ yourselves Titans. It's... that could be enough."     "Of course a parallel, an alternative time-stream, two similar universes -- of course that would make sense. When I started to understand the similarities between myself and this friend of yours, that was the first possibility that occurred. It would be far easier to create a labyrinth of potentiality between two universes at the very point of divergence between them. Under the right circumstances, it can be hard to /avoid/ that happening. Yet... can't you sense it, Archivist? Wouldn't you taste the difference? You all come from my universe. I'm sure of it."     She turns to face into the room again, leaning back with her hands resting on the balustrades, breathing slow and shallow breaths, her face a mask of inscrutability, the effort to keep it that way clear to all. She watches Caitlin a few moments before breaking eye contact. "I... I can't. I need more time to think. Irie, Madison... be careful in here. This room is not as empty as it looks and there are things that could be very dangerous. If anything appears that was not here before, leave it alone."     She reaches a hand out behind her to touch the open space of the window, which is suddenly filled with glass -- and then she vanishes.
Jonathan Sims	Jon watches Troia go, frowning. "What is she /avoiding/?" he mutters, frown deepening. He glances toward the portal to Wonderland, then sighs.     He turns to regard Irie with a smile, evidently amused by being called 'Your Royal Godliness.' "I wish you could tell us whatever it is you know. For your own sake, if nothing else. I know how hard it is to watch people struggle and dance around what seems painfully obvious to you--I'm a therapist. That was, until a few months ago, pretty much my job." His eyes sparkle a bit. "I tend to think... everyone has their own personal truth, and then there's the /real/ Truth, somewhere in between all the rest. Usually both simpler and more complex than we think."     He looks over at Caitlin. "Without Donna Troy, I would probably be dead right now. And so would you. Without Donna Troy, the universe doesn't get saved. She has meant a great deal to a great many people, and what is more important than that? So I do not believe that the Donna we knew was somehow 'meant' to be something else than she was. It's just..." He glances at Irie again. "Everything's gone a bit wibbly, yes."     They reach up to rub at the back of their neck, looking at the spot where Troia went with a muted pain in their expression. "You meant well, when you hugged me before, Madison. And I generally like hugs. But I went through some things... I barely shake hands, anymore." A pause. "It is usually better to ask, if you don't know someone. But I know you meant well, like I said." They sigh. "Donna hugged me too, when I came back. I think she noticed, that it made me freeze up."
Irie West	"Maddie." Irie says, all seriousness. "I love you like I love my brother, but you can /not/ keep a secret to save your life." She shakes her head. "Jon gets it. It's hard but.... I know how it ends." She puts on a brave smile. "It'll all turn out okay. You'll see."
Madison Evans	"I- I can keep a secret!" Madison protests. "...can't I?" She suddenly looks like she doubts it herself, looking from Irie, to where Troia had been, and then over to Jon. She deflates a little, and lets out a sigh. "I really could," she insists.     Her gaze rests on Jon for a few moments before adding, "I know to ask I just- sometimes I forgot to //do// it. I'm sorry. You're, ummmm - you're sure you don't want a hug right now?" She pauses a moment. "What if I said //I// needed a hug? Would that help?"
Jonathan Sims	Jon smiles at Irie. "Thank you. Truly. I've been... it's been hard. Not nearly so hard as it is for everyone here, I know, but it's just happened to hit right when... well... I died and came back, we finished saving the universe, my best friend's an angel now, my girlfriend's traumatized, another friend got kidnapped..." The smile shifts to a pained frown. "The thought that Donna had been... blipped out of existence somehow, it..."     They look to where Troia left, again, and then to where Caitlin did. "I'll do all I can to help. I owe her, and I know how much she means to all of you. And maybe, since I'm not so close to it, since it doesn't hurt so much... I can keep a clearer head, hmm?"     He eyes Maddie for a moment. Then he sighs, and goes ahead and opens his arms. "Oh, alright. But a quick one, young Padawan. Don't you know not to form attachments?"
Irie West	"Yeah, attachments like /this!/" Irie cries out and GLOMPS Madison when she's done hugging Jon. "I'M ATTACHED! YOU CAN'T GET RID OF ME!"
Madison Evans	"Ha! I knew it," Madison says eager, darting over to Jon to give them a tight, warm hug. She only lingers a few seconds, before letting him go, and stepping back. "It'll also be okay - somehow. We might not see it in the moment. Sometimes it seems like the whole world is coming apart - but it'll be okay," she says firmly. "If you just keep going. That part's ke- eeeey!"     She's been glomped from behind! By a speedster!     "Irie!" she 'protests' before breaking into laughter.
Jonathan Sims	Jon laughs, and holds out the second box of donuts to Madison. "See this gets to the Main Room proper, would you? I came by to check on Troia, and... I did. And you're right. Just keep moving, and things will be alright. It's always darkest before the dawn. Etcetera."     This, admittedly, is a big part of why he likes to spend time around young superheroes. They're so cheerfully optimistic, much of the time. Hugs are involved, yes, but being hugged isn't /quite/ so bad when it's short and he can brace himself. But it's not anything he's going to be doing regularly.
Irie West	"NOW YOU ARE DOOMED TO THE DARK SIDE," Irie manages to say between peals of laughter, as they topple over onto the floor. "Eheeheehee." It takes her a while to calm down, though but when she does she looks up at Jon. "Thank you for coming by and it was good to meet you, Mr. Sims."