The Centrality (6-21-17)

Elli returned to her room, pleasantly surprised to find a hat on the bed.

She put it on. It fit perfectly.



With the hat only providing the barest of relief, Elli still found herself unsettled by what Tukha had told her.

Maybe I need to find a good hiding place, she thought. Never know when things might turn south. Well, more south. It already sounds pretty south.

Elli looked at her device. Under the "Locations" tab, there was only one place she hadn't visited - the Solarium. She set out in that direction, resolving to find some way to add more places to the list, just in case.

There was someone waiting already in the Solarium, which sort of defeated the purpose of a hiding place, Elli thought.



"Ah, hello!" they said. "Greetings! Welcome! I'd heard scuttlebutt around that there was someone new among our number! And what a cute hat you've got, too!"

Elli blinked. It was probably the friendliest greeting she'd gotten so far. "Oh, uh, hi," she said. "Um, Elli. That's my name, I mean. Elli."

"Good to meet you!" Only their eyes were visible under the cloak, but from what Elli could tell, they seemed happy. "My name's Nisi. I'm the goddess of cooperation and aid," Nisi said, clapping her hands - well, sleeves - together. "You seem a little lost. I know how it goes. I'm what you could call a newbie around here too. It can be intimidating, can't it? This big old place, all the gods and goddesses wandering around, and I bet on top of that you don't remember anything."

Elli could only nod as the words washed over her.

"Well, don't worry! In time, you'll get used to it. My memories took a while to come back too. But I'll give you some advice - when I first started here, what helped me get to know everyone was helping them out with their problems. So I took it upon myself to start a little service. I call it the Help Board." Nisi gestured behind her with one wide sleeve.



"All of the members of the pantheon," Nisi continued, "can post their troubles here. If you think there's one you can help resolve, then you should! Solving troubles can help you get to know everyone, and it'll help you learn the layout of the Centrality, too."