So, heavy! Sirona sighed as she hauled on the pack she was carrying, damn thing weighed… well, it was a lot, that much she knew. She had something in mind but she only knew of one person that might be able to help her with this project. Hefting the heavy bag over her shoulder again Sirona continued her climb up to Antikythera. Oh she would have preferred to fly instead of heading up the Path of Lightning but between the path’s name sake most likely knocking her from the skies, with the weight of the bag’s contents plus the heavy winds the angel didn’t think she’d get very high anyway before lightning clipped her wings.

Add in the fact that Sirona was carrying around more weight in the added rain that was soaking her through her armour’s gaps(and pooling in her boots which was truly annoying), flying was just not going to happen. So she was traipsing up the pathway instead the mundane way, hoping that she idea would work out and her time not wasted, she was a somewhat grumpy angel at the moment. Looking up to Antikythera ahead of her Sirona figured she was a little more than halfway there. Sirona looked to one of the white pillars she had seen dotted on the way up and decided to take a break for a moment to get at least some of the water from her boots.

Getting close to the pillar Sirona set her burden down for a moment. She went to place her hand on the white pillar to prop herself up while she used her other hand to reach down to take a boot off. Until she felt the pillar give way and she started to fall into it. It took a second for Sirona to register that this was happening as she fell into the pillar. ”Wait wait wait!” Sirona yelped as she reached for her bag but it was out of her reach and she was gone.

Sirona grunted when her butt landed on the stairs and she just managed to catch herself before she fell down them. Steadying herself Sirona blinked and then looked around to see she was at the top of Antikythera and near a large door with her bag probably where she had lost it. Taking a page from her older sister Uriel Sirona sighed. ”Shit.”

Getting to her feet with boots still full of water the angel eyed the door and looked back down the stairs. She could go back down for her bag, or, she could hope that the Goddess would have a faster and easier way to get it. Going with that Sirona read the sign near the door and then stepped forward watching as the door opened itself for her.

Stepping inside Sirona took in the place, looking back at the door for a moment as it closed behind her. Brightly lit and with little decoration, with statues of armoured warriors here and there with various weapons. Walking slowly along she came to the pedestal at the far end of the hall with the metal slate in it. Eyeing it for a moment Sirona reached out and ran her hand across it, doing so she accidently pressed down on the hidden button.

“WELCOME TO ANTIKYTHERA! WOULD YOU LIKE A GUIDED TOUR?” A voice asked seemingly out of nowhere.

Sirona blinked and looked around, where had that come from? ”Uh, not really, I was hoping to speak with the Goddess. I have a request, one I hope she can assist with if possible.” Sirona replied and looked around, looking back see sighed, her boots had left water along the hallway. Oh she could have her living armour shifted enough to get the water out, but she didn’t want to leave a puddle on the floor. Her large white feathered wings(with a few black feathers here and there) were still dripping water and were heavy as well, her raven black hair mattered to her tattoo covered face. Sirona really wanted to shake the water out from them, but again, she didn’t want to make a mess of the place.

She waited to see what the reaction to her request would be like.

It was a calm, peaceful day in the Machinarium. Which wasn't anything new, as almost every day was. Ignoring the perpetually awful weather outside it was rather comfortable in Antikythera. Shiloh was busy drawing up new plans for another pet project, this time it was some sort of contraption which consisted of a rotating drum one could fill with water to allow clothes to wash unattended. It would have to be mechanically powered, as there were too many issues with making it hand-cranked. The cheapest method at the moment involved retrofitting the commonly seen horse-powered mill to keep the drum turning. Somebody had pressed the button in the Entrance Hall, but when a message from the attendants was relayed stating her presence was asked for, Shiloh reluctantly put her graphite stylus down. Tapping into the various surveillance points throughout the Machinarium, she squinted her eyes until she found the guest–and an unexpected familiar face. Pressing a button on her desk in Serenitas, she spoke to the automatons on the receiving side: "I'll be heading down in a moment, send the rotating fan over to dry them off."

Meanwhile in the Entrance Hall, the disembodied voice offered the guided tour boomed again in response to the angel's request. "THANK YOU FOR YOUR PATIENCE, YOUR REQUEST IS BEING TRANSFERRED. PLEASE HOLD WHILE WE PROCESS YOUR INQUIRY. IF YOU HAVE ANY FURTHER QUESTIONS, PLEASE CALL FOR ASSISTANCE." Out of nowhere, a strange device emerged near Sirona. It was composed entirely of metal, its body a metal cage with several propeller blades encased within. At once the blades started spinning, blowing a gust of warm air in her direction. In her free time Shiloh had managed to make a few of these, and they had wheels on the bottom to make moving them easier. An attendant with freshly dried towels was on its way when Shiloh entered the Marble Corridor. She spent a few minutes loitering around, trying to decide how to go about this. Sirona had seen her out of disguise back on Apoy, and she had managed to keep her cover as a deity then. Right now she had two choices: put on a disguise and continue the ruse, or be upfront with it and expect confusion or surprise. Advertising her divine status wasn't something she enjoyed, as it usually led to more problems than solutions. There was also the bit where Shiloh wasn't sure how much the angel knew about who she was visiting, so if she already knew her name and appearance from another source putting on a disguise would be pointless.

She couldn't keep her waiting forever, so she decided to just get it over with. Without a disguise, Shiloh walked down into the Entrance Hall looking less disheveled than she normally was. The hum of the drying fan was loud enough to cover her footsteps. "You called?" And now, the reaction.

Sirona flinched when the voice boomed again, saying that her request was being handled. When the strange device appeared Sirona backed up a step at the sight of the blades on the thing, even if they were caged in. Blinking when it started to spin she quickly calmed down when the breeze hit her, ah, perhaps this was to help dry her? Taking advantage of that sign Sirona carefully shook her wings and felt about five pounds lighter when the water fell out of her feathers. Glancing over she saw the attendant coming with the towels and used that as a sign to remove one boot and dump the water from it and then the other. That left her barefoot for now as she accepted a towel and got her feet dried as she saw that another had entered into the hall as well.

And Sirona knew her already.

Raising a brow Sirona eyed Shiloh as she spoke. ”You?” She asked simply as she finished drying her feet and used another towel to stuff into her boots and get them dried out as well before pulling them back on. She didn’t speak as she did this but did keep glancing to Shiloh, it was hard to tell if Sirona was surprised at seeing someone she already knew here or she was upset that Shiloh had kept her statues as a Goddess secret before. Sirona had made it clear she was out to look for and speak with all of the Deities at the time, yet Shiloh hadn’t said anything even when they had been in private speaking.

Close enough to dry for now Sirona looked back to Shiloh. ”I suppose I should be surprised, or angry, that you didn’t reveal yourself to me when you knew I was going to seek you out anyway. Though I’ll admit that was a while ago we last saw each other, Shiloh.” Sirona finally spoke, she seemed, different, hardened maybe. Knowing who and what Shiloh was before she might have at least kneeled before the Goddess until told to stand. But that didn’t happen, Sirona only kept an eye on Shiloh while she spoke. ”I know before I said that I was seeking out the Deities to pledge my loyalty to them. Truthfully Dalanesca was the only one I ever actually pledged to, but, well…” She let that topic go for now.

”But I’m not here to do that. I have a request however, and if are willing to take on this project I’ll do what’s needed to repay you for it.” Sirona explained. ”I brought with me a block of leadwood from Onnen and some platinum, I have an idea for a shield and I was told that you’d be one to be able to help with it. Interested?” She asked, getting to the point. At once she seemed annoyed and disappointed that Shiloh had deceived her back then, but was trying not to let those emotions cloud her judgement now. If Shiloh wasn’t interested in hearing her out Sirona would simply thank her anyway and leave to find someone else who might be able to help.

This was exactly why she liked using a disguise. When people didn't know your face, they wouldn't have a chance to be disappointed. People naturally put deities on a pedestal, heaping on piles of self-created expectations. But the moment you 'failed' to meet them, down came the thunder. This was why Shiloh never had her face anywhere, used aliases, and had very few religious symbols associated with her. And for those who might remember, there was psionic magic to correct that. Already knowing the angel's attitude towards divinity, the anger was justified. "Due to certain circumstances I wasn't exactly at liberty to reveal my identity back in Apoy." She replied, though she was sure it wouldn't change the fact Sirona was already upset at her withholding information. If Sirona had started bowing and scraping, everyone would know and it'd be a whole new can of worms. The title of 'goddess' could be incredibly limiting sometimes. Apparently Sirona hadn't made much progress in her attempt to serve the entire Conclave before the one deity she pledged herself to was put down as a mercy kill. Obviously that kind of loss would leave an impact, but Shiloh didn't say anything.

Back to business, the angel stated she was here to commission a personalized shield made of certain materials. Leadwood Shiloh wasn't familiar with, but with platinum she had a good amount of experience. Onnen was full of new materials that were just coming to Parvporan and Canelux markets. Eager to work on a new project, she suppressed the overwhelming urge to experiment and kept her outward expressions restrained. "I can handle that. This will be my first time working with leadwood, so it'll be a learning experience. Once you hand me the materials and finalize a blueprint, we can get started." Custom items were best drawn out and discussed until both parties reached an agreement–then it could be put into production. Even minor aesthetic details were important, as it would affect the steps of construction. As she was more partial to metalwork, she would need to call Pygmalion over for the carpentry. 

Sirona listened to what Shiloh said of not being able to reveal herself on their first meeting. The angel shrugged slightly. ”It’s in the past, I’ve changed since then.” As was likely evident by Sirona’s attitude shift. Before, as Shiloh rightly assumed, Sirona would have knelt before Shiloh and pledged loyalty, now, not so much. ”I have other goals and things on my mind now. Not the least of which is finding out that I have siblings in this world, some of them were here before me some came after me. So I’m trying to sort that out even while having no memories of any of them, it’s been… interesting.” Considering the hate that she had aimed at her from Gabriel and Uriel it had been interesting, but she had proven stronger than them.

The angel nodded when Shiloh agreed to make the shield, professing never having used leadwood before. ”I have access to more leadwood if needed, in fact if you like the materiel I can get you the contact I use to get it over in Onnen. They want to start a trade route into Canelux anyway, I think you’d make a good initial contact.” Sirona offered. ”However, my current leadwood is, unfortunately, out on the pathway about half way here. I stopped to drain my boots of water and set my bag down. I went to lean on one of the pillars, not knowing what it was, and as I fell through it to here I wasn’t able to grab my bag in time.” Sirona explained. ”I don’t mind getting it if you want me to, but I was hoping you’d have an easier time than myself.”

Once the leadwood was retrieved, however it happened, Sirona went on to explain more in detail what he idea was. ”So, I have a rough idea for a design for the shield, about yay big and rounded and I can draw out the detail of the carvings on the front. Similar to my tattoos. However, this is the harder part, I was hoping to have it enchanted.” She thought for a moment on how to explain what she had in her mind. ”I want to be able to throw it and hit something or someone with it and have it come right back to me, to my hand. Even better if I can hit more than one thing before it returns to me. I’m no mage so I’m not even sure if something like that is possible, if not I can think of something else for it, but that’s what I have for now.” While Sirona spoke it was clear that something about her had changed, aside from a few black feathers in her wings. Her voice was a bit more edged, a bit more matter of fact, even considering who she was speaking to.

There were no hard feelings, all things considered. Now Sirona's new goal was to find her family, having learned they too were around. Learning you had family when you had no memories of them was an awkward situation, not that Shiloh would know. The angel mentioned that she could acquire more leadwood for her if she needed it, as well as offering to introduce her to the sources of supply. Not a bad exchange for making a customized armament. "I'll get back to you on that offer; I won't need any extras now but I am interested in importing new materials if there's a market for it. I have a convenient little trick that lets me redo things if they aren't satisfactory the first time." Tsukihigui was a very convenient thing, especially for an artisan. As long as she undid the mistake before it was enchanted, she could keep working on it until it was perfect. When Sirona then explained why she didn't have said raw materials for her shield on her person, her experience let Shiloh realize there was a slight flaw in the design of her transport obelisks. "Ah…I apologize for that. I'll have to fix that problem when I have some downtime. I didn't expect people to trigger the teleportation by accident. I can get your bag inside; you've already taken the time to dry off so no point in making you drenched again."

Putting on a water-repelling garment coated in resin, she opened a portal to the transport obelisks along Via Fulminis until she found the right one, and then reached in to drag the bag in. Hopefully the leadwood wasn't affected by sitting out in the rain. With the materials here, it was time to discuss details. Sirona gave Shiloh a general idea of the dimensions and overall look of the shield. The decorative design would be carved into the shield's surface, which the angel offered to do. The basics accounted for, next came the custom functions that were the main purpose for the commission. Shiloh listened carefully, with a hand on her chin as she mulled over the specifications. "Having an item enchanted to return to its owner isn't too hard. It would be like having a summon item spell that automatically activates once it's away from the wielder. The key thing would be adding modifications so it only actives when the minimal distance threshold from the owner is reached, or else you get what adventurers call 'clingy cursed items'. There are also multiple ways to have it return to you–the boomerang method or the summon method. But before I start splitting hairs over things, I'll need to make a house call." She said, clapping her hands together.

"Enchantments aren't my forte, and I highly advise asking me to do anything magical when it comes to objects. Even though one my domains is luck, occasionally there are…accidents." The memory of her testing Antikythera's hydraulic lift years ago came to mind. One of her automaton testers was sent flying into the ceiling, and made her very glad the majority of her staff members weren't organic. "I know somebody who happens to be an expert in making enchanted weapons. Hopefully they aren't busy at the moment. One second please." Stretching, Shiloh then opened up a portal to the White Court district in Sularia. The portal stayed open while the goddess went in and you could see her walking into a forge on the other side.