From the Waters of the West I Come

RedPiggy

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Hero is my hero, LOL, from a geek perspective (a Greek geek perspective?). He was a real engineer who lived in ancient Alexandria in Egypt. The inventions I mentioned are but examples. He also invented a kind of holy water vending machine, where you put in a coin and a predetermined amount of water flowed from a fountain, a ten minute play with nothing but automatons, and medical syringes. You can read about him here. Since a lot of his inventions involved the use of water in some fashion, I thought him the perfect ancient engineer to be referenced.
 

The Count

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Ah, okay. I think I saw the segment of the show where they recreated the vending machine, in as so least using the concept of weights and counterweights onto a pan-mounted lever that opened a valve allowing a measured flow of water to then open up temple chamber doors.

The Hero I know of is from Greek myth who fell in love with Leander. Their story is similar to the song Running Bear... Two people in love with each other, living on opposite shores, can't stand being apart any longer, through themselves into the body of water separating them, swim to meet each other, kiss, and drown in each other's arms. Yeah, not the happiest of endings, but at least they went as a couple.
:boo: A couple of nuts if you ask me.
*Chuckle.
 

RedPiggy

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I'm hoping to write a couple of chapters a week. I was going to make each chapter cover each day before Mizumi's coronation, but then I realized last night that'd be 365 chapters, LOL. Yeah, I'm gonna have to rethink that. :smile:

At least I was able to write up a rough outline of where I want this to go, though after writing a chapter I get ... writer's block. Fun fact: the scene that Charlene writes for Robbie in Writer's Block helped inspire the beginning of this fic.
 

The Count

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Curse you writer's block! Too bad you can't just drill your way into the giant wooden block with a red W on one side and a blue B on the other like Baby Gonzo did in Romancing the Weirdo to get to the next part of your story.

At least you have a working roadmap of where your story will go.
:embarrassed:: Can't we just take that blue line?
:smile:: No, that's a river.
:embarrassed:: Well that's the way we're going, down the river with the ferry queen. Aaaah! *Earwiggle.
 

Twisted Tails

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Curse you writer's block! Too bad you can't just drill your way into the giant wooden block with a red W on one side and a blue B on the other like Baby Gonzo did in Romancing the Weirdo to get to the next part of your story.

At least you have a working roadmap of where your story will go.
:embarrassed:: Can't we just take that blue line?
:smile:: No, that's a river.
:embarrassed:: Well that's the way we're going, down the river with the ferry queen. Aaaah! *Earwiggle.
:sigh: Very funny!

Fozzie? Now you made Boober shake his head. (sighs)! The blue line's is the river. Why can't you just read the maps? Arggghhhh! I am so tensed that now I want to sleep (groans)!
 

RedPiggy

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Chapter 3

The moon had swollen over the course of many days before shrinking back into the blackness of the night sky. For her childhood, Mizumi had been, as all heirs are, hidden in the darkness of ignorance, free to play in the vast main wing by herself, her parents watching from elsewhere using magic water droplets that extended their senses, the child playing no part in the governing of the kingdom (even for pretend’s sake). This was the year prior to her coronation, however, and Mizumi could feel her heart swell as the days wore on. She would spend hours in the ancient libraries, where not books but flasks and vials stood on countless shelves. Knowledge was stored in liquid medium and could be obtained merely by supping its contents. Her body overflowed it seemed with ancient tales of reptilian and amphibian ancestors, of humans and the first appearance of magic, of the King --.

Mizumi sighed as she stared at a painting of a hooded figure cloaked in the moonlight of a crumbling crystal palace set far away in a distant and color-saturated land. The years numbered more than the drops of water in the deepest ocean, but there had been a tall, handsome, striking King who somehow had obtained dominion over the entire Universe (though how he did so was a tale still untold). No one remembered his exact features: some said he was an elderly male all dressed in black, some said he was young and vibrant and over ten feet tall (though only the various Gorg Dynasties tended to say such things), and some said he was just some dwarf hiding in the swamps to avoid his subjects.

One day, during a banquet wherein feasted thousands of inhabitants of the universe, the King stole away and hid his crown, which had grown bigger with every passing year as the weight of his authority continued to make him buckle under the pressure, in a large sack, intending to destroy it, as he no longer wished to be King of the Universe. That would certainly lead one to believe the dwarf concept was the most accurate tale, but Mizumi’s heart knew he was most handsome, if perhaps his height was something of an exaggeration. No one knew what had become of the King’s various trappings, signs of his unending powers, but there came word from distant lands of large creatures, the Gorgs, claiming the King had entrusted them with such sacred objects.

None in the Underground believed such ignorant beasts could hold something so valuable, however….

As the sun began to set, Mizumi left the hallowed halls and toured a park rich in flowing flowered ivy and pastel-glowing butterflies flitting about as though a master puppeteer twitched invisible strings connected to their slender bodies.

An emaciated male with a pale expression staggered forth from behind a bush, gushes of putrid liquid bursting forth from his mouth. He coughed and fainted right in front of her.

Disturbed, Mizumi kept her distance and walked around the diseased fae. She nearly tripped on the lying figure of an elderly fae, bloated and sweating and panting unevenly.

Mizumi began to walk much faster, her heart racing in a strong desire to return to the comfort of her own bedroom. Before she could reach a waterfall that would take her to the main wing, a young female fae, dressed simply in dark pink, wept upon a boulder. The woman looked up and wiped her tears. “Milady, you must entreat your father for the citizens of Moraine,” she told the princess sadly.

Mizumi sat beside her. “What is happening?”

The woman shrugged. “Many of us were swimming in the lake. My husband is dying, Milady. As they say, he has ‘bitten off the toad’s warts’.”

Mizumi stared at her in disgusted confusion, backing away a few inches.

The woman shook her head. “Forgive me, Your Highness, for using such peasant terms, but the phrase means he has invited sickness into the house.”

“And toads are responsible?”

The woman shook her head. “No one knows, Your Highness, for all we did was swim casually in the lake, frolicking as is the habit of the commoners of Moraine. We could not see the lake pebbles glisten in the moonlight as is usual, but we felt there should be no concern. However, it seems everyone who has gone swimming has taken ill.”

“You seem healthy still,” Mizumi replied.

The woman nodded. “It was my task to watch for snakes, so I sat and ate some fruit in the high branches of a tree.” She grabbed Mizumi and embraced her in panic. “Oh, Milady – please seek out the King’s assistance!”

Mizumi ran to the nearest oyster half-shell and rode it high up the waterfall until she landed just near the boot-licking servant, who was arguing violently with an amphibious creature, like a toad but with a thin layer of shoulder-length black hair, dressed in a gaudy display of bright contrasting colors.

“Are you implicating my family?” hissed the female creature, puffing herself up to almost match the servant’s size. “Such an insult! Such a farce! The very idea! I demand a full apology from you, the King, and a private shoreline all to my family’s. I demand justice!” With that, she slapped the servant’s face and hopped clear off the boulder where the main wing resided, falling for several minutes before splashing hard into the waters of the lake below.

Mizumi walked up to the servant, frowning. “The toad committed suicide?”

He shook his head and turned from the princess, shrugging. “It is harder to squash the McMooch family than it appears. There is a danger in the lake of which the king must be made aware, Princess.”
 

The Count

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*Grins at the beginnings of the McMooch family.
*Wonders if the disease is the one most fans would recognize from those little stones at the bottom of the pond.
*Gasps, is that Sir H in the portrait?

Loves how this is coming about, thanks for the update.
*Is extra glad for having gone to see Labyrinth and Dark Crystal last night.
 

RedPiggy

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Could be, LOL. :big_grin:

I've figured out that this story is going to encompass three arcs, ending, naturally, with Mizumi becoming Queen. This arc is going to expand on a random musing from the Comeback King Saga where Wander gripes about how he was treated by Mizumi in his past.

A part of me was thinking, as I was writing it though it wasn't a conscious decision to begin with, that this will be an homage to Let the River Run or whatever that pollution ep was in Fraggle Rock. Otherwise, I was just implying that the lake wasn't clear enough to see the rocks at the bottom anymore. I wouldn't know off-hand what stones you're talking about, LOL.
 

Twisted Tails

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Okay! Now I know what you are referncing to from FR. The female "slimy" toad is part of the McMooch family. All I know is Wander McMooch and he creeps me out and he lives at a swamp. The Gorgs? Well, I know the "crown" for King of the Universe has been passed from genration to generation. Pa Gorg was the recent king of the universe until Junior Gorg was supposed to be king in "The Gorg Who Would Be King" but made a hard choice not to be one.

BTW: Who is Mizumi and where was this character from?
 

The Count

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Heh, I was refering to "pebbles" as in a potential outbrake of pebble pox, but since that only affects Fraggles (or does it?) and there are no Fraggles around...

For Muppetfan24/7, Mizumi is the Queen of Cups, ruler of the kingdom of Moraine, neighboring kingdom of the Labyrinth from the manga Return to Labyrinth published by TokyoPop.
You can find her info at either the Muppet Wiki or Labyrinth Wikis.
 
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