Children of the Gods: Arc 2 [Game/Closed]

[Green Shoes]

Prometheus spoke nonchalantly to Aria and Remus, both searching for Dan.

"I suspect Dan was taken by Odin, for his own protection, or for some other divine purpose. Don't worry, he's still alive. Probably."

The loss of Dan from the group didn't really bother Prometheus; he had proved both arrogant and foolhardy. Still, Aria might miss him. Someone else could comfort her. Prometheus walked towards the cockpit, turning briefly to the group.

"Uh. Good job everyone. Make sure Nicole is alright; I think she's throwing up. As to Vera; she's outside keeping the plane up. Hope she can hold up until we land. Try not to cry too much Andrew."

Prometheus didn't grin. Andrew was proving less courageous than first impressions would indicate. Proud of Remus and Able, he gave them both a nod of approval, before making a mental note to thank Vera and Nicole when he got the chance.

And Etna. Strange girl...

Walking into the cockpit, he closed the door behind him and sat in the copilot seat. Taking a sip of whiskey he spoke blatantly.

"Well. That was...interesting. How far to Sicily? Where are you crash-landing us? Do we have to crash land?"

Prometheus put his feet up on the dashboard and sighed.

 

[DarkRawen]

"Uh. Good job everyone. Make sure Nicole is alright; I think she's throwing up. As to Vera; she's outside keeping the plane up. Hope she can hold up until we land. Try not to cry too much Andrew."

Andrew frowned, but he nodded. Prometheus had caused part of his pain, but he seemed to justify it with what Andrew had said. So, Prometheus wanted to treat him like he had done something wrong? Then Andrew would just have to answer with a smile.

"I'm sorry, I had hoped to confuse him. After all, he seemed sure none of us would give in that easily, so I tried to play on that." He looked around at everyone, into their eyes. There was an honesty there, one that could not be ignored easily. "I'm sure it's not that easy to trust me. But. I had no intention of joining him. Ever. I thought it would be better than taunting him. I promise." He became more serious.

"I promise, I have no intention of helping Dionysus or anyone who wishes to harm people."

I don't doubt you'll still be suspicious of me. Heck, you might even hate me. But I don't regret what I did. We're still alive, and I like to think I'm part of that reason.

 

[Deu Sex]

After hearing both Nicole and Prometheus removing his worries, Remus let out yet another relieved breath. "Thank the Gods. Literally." While it was good to know Dan hadn't died during the fight, he was still gone for the time being. The group would be hindered now being one fighter short. As he turned himself around and walked back to the cockpit, Remus found Andrew apologizing for what he said earlier.

"I'm sorry, I had hoped to confuse him. After all, he seemed sure none of us would give in that easily, so I tried to play on that." Remus simply nodded. While others might be holding suspicions at how Andrew acted, he resolved to dispel any such thoughts. For the brief time Remus knew him the doctor seemed to be a perfectly friendly, helpful and clever person. He didn't have any right or reason to be doubting his claim. "He's not a brawler. He needed to come up with something to confuse Loki." he told himself.

He then caught Prometheus mentioning that Nicole was throwing up. "Again? Geez, girl must have a soft stomach." Remus himself hadn't experienced any discomfort during this battle or the previous ones. The violence and death seemed oddly natural to him, while the disturbed reaction of others to it confused him. Walking over to the bathroom stall, Remus tapped a finger against the door. "Nicole? Are you feeling alright?" he asked rather rhetorically.

 

[Not G. Ivingname]

"Well. That was...interesting. How far to Sicily? Where are you crash-landing us? Do we have to crash land?"

"One of the rudders got damaged," Steven explained to Prometheus, "A part of outer shell of the plane got knocked off during the battle. It was being held down by what is known as Speed tape, basically duct tape for aircraft, which is designed as a temporary repair. Sadly, airlines have been struggling to keep afloat since 911, so they been using Speed tape as a much more long term solution that the stuff was designed for. After today, even fewer people are going to trust airplanes."

Steven signed heavily.

"The tape was slowly losing it's grip already when it was knocked off by what ever was the blast behind us," Steven turned to Prometheus, "It hit the main rudder, damaging it BADLY. I can tell it cannot be repaired, it will have to outright replaced. Without that rudder, I cannot make the adjustments needed to land on any runway, nor will I be able to react if another flight is coming our way. I will be able to get us down just south of Sicily, which will be less than an hour away. Still, do you want to accept help from the authorities or shall we leave the plane before anyone comes to help? If the authorities think we are dead, Dionysus may think we all drowned as well. I am not sure, don't know much about gods or how all this magic works."

"Hep... my real father," Steven said, clearly not liking that fact, "Wanted to teach me, but I refused."

 

[Dogmatic99]

Well that was something at least. If Odin was involved then odds were Dan was safe, or maybe he'd just been thrown into a different kind of madness. All Able could do was hope for the best. Aria wasn't going to like it though.

Able stiffly forced himself to his feet, his body groaning out for rest. Prometheus seemed happier now at least. Maybe he didn't screw up that badly after all? That's a load of crap, I got lucky that's it. Technically he'd gotten what he'd wanted to happen. He and Remus had busted the door open, they'd lured the hijacker out and Etna had managed to stun them. Along with Remus groin punching him. That was pretty awesome.

But he hadn't counted on Dan ghosting out. He hadn't counted on the hijacker being the one flying the plane. Able hadn't thought of a lot of things. Steven being able to fly the plane and Vera holding it up, it was all luck.

You panicked and you put everyone at risk. He chided himself. But there was no point dwelling on it, that wouldn't accomplish anything. I'll do better next time. I will. And admit that he wasn't the right person to try and lead. It just didn't work. Able went to find his notepad and phone, they'd been lost in the chaos and he wanted to stay busy and not think about that sucky realisation.

Eventually he found them, they'd been knocked down to the far side of the isle. The battery had been knocked out of his phone but other than that it was unharmed. Another lucky break.

So what now? Able thought, finding an empty chair with its back to the carnage back in the rest of the plane. He tried to block out the faint smell of blood that was drifting through the isles. Able closed his eyes, just for a moment and prayed they'd land soon.

This was going to get worse before it got better.

 

[Terratina.]

Etna sank to the floor with a mutter of, "Just fine thanks." Her body was aching with pain, though hopefully it would fade away. She eyed Andrew. Ruse or not, it was still a stupid thing to do. Well, at least it was over, anyway. Here she was, slumped on the floor of a dying plane. Useless again. She didn't bother with standing up. Etna would just pace around the place, and she was sure that would not help with the situation. It was up to Vera and the others now. And with that, she noticed that Mr. Horsey was missing. The price of victory? She couldn't see one-eyed corpses, so she guessed that Loki just telepored him somewhere.

 

[IFS]

"Nicole? Are you feeling alright?"

Nicole exited the lavatory after wiping her mouth, "I'm fine, not as bad as last time even, just not used to seeing... this," she said gesturing to all the dead passengers whose hearts had been torn out. Why their hearts? There had to be easier ways for Loki to kill them, I hope it was fast at least. She wasn't sure she wanted to talk to Remus at the moment, the last time he had tried to make her feel better after a fight it hadn't helped much.

She heard Steven say something about setting them down in the ocean, or sea or whatever they were over, well at least we know some of us can swim. She decided that she didn't want to stay near all the corpses, and she walked back towards where they had sat and found a seat facing away from it all. Able was already back there, I suppose I might as well ask him about the blessing.

"So how did it feel? The blessing of victory I mean," she said, then realized that he might not have noticed in all the confusion "I put it on you when you opened the door."

 

[Dogmatic99]

"So how did it feel? The blessing of victory I mean," she said, then realized that he might not have noticed in all the confusion "I put it on you when you opened the door."

Was that what that was? The weird head rush. How to put it into words? It was like that feeling all the "Don't drink" ads tell you about. That rush where you feel invincible, like yu can do anything. Except it was real! I'm pretty sure at one point I heard a crowd chanting my name.

Looking back on it in this hard faught moment of calm, it all seemed to go beyond words. It was something that had to be seen to be believed, or felt, he guessed. But Able was too tired to try and go into detail on how divine blessings can make the world seem all that brighter so he settled for a simple answer.

[Amazing] He wrote with a silent sigh. He couldn't believe how much attempted deicide could take it out of you.

 

[IFS]

[Amazing]

"That's good," she said smiling a little, Loki had killed all those people and she had helped pay him back for that through her blessing, she couldn't help but feel somewhat proud even as she felt horrible for what had happened to them. There will probably be more like that, I need to get used to it. Not sure I want to, but the others seem to be handling it better, I can't be the weak link.

"I've never used it before, mom taught me how when she showed me my wings, but I just never thought much about it before now," she said, "I'm glad it helped, I wonder if Loki will survive the fall."

Probably will, he is a god. I hope it hurts though, he deserves worse for this. Well whatever is going on in Sicily if Dio sent Loki to stop us then he's gotta be worried about us interfering. She wasn't sure she wanted to talk about that though, things were grim enough without dwelling on what Dio could be doing.

"So how're you holding up? Heh, it seems like we're moving up, last time we ran from a god, this time we tossed one out a plane," she said, focusing on their victory cheered her up.

 

[Lunar Templar]

Aria just sat there, thinking, and mostly ignoring everyone. She didn't wanna talk to them, or anyone else, if she wasn't trapped on a plane she'd have wandered off, so she just sat there, silently, trying to not draw attention to her self. Just like back home.

 

[Green Shoes]

Prometheus nodded. It was clear relations between the Olympian Blacksmith and his son were not too friendly. He rubbed his proto-beard and spoke.

"I think it's best if we just leave the plane in the water. I don't want to deal with authorities right now."

Prometheus patted Steven on the shoulder before returning back into the cabin. He settled back into his original seat before noticing a strange token on the ground. He swiped it and studied it, speaking aloud as he looked over it.

"We'll be making a crash landing in the sea in just shy of an hour, if anyones curious. When we land, I suggest we get in a life-raft and get to the beach before the authorities get to the plane."

Satisfied that he didn't have a clue, he flicked it to Etna, the round silver disc dropping neatly into her lap.

"You're a smart girl, see if you can work out what the hell that is."

He looked over at Able and gave an apologetic shrug.

"Apologies for the violent outburst; you didn't deserve that. Titans rage and all that."

It was a terrible apology, but a heartfelt one.

 

[DarkRawen]

Some people had acknowledged what he had said, Remus had nodded, it seemed he believed him at least.

And I didn't even like him in the start. I'm starting to, though.

Etna eyed him, and he smiled. She then fell to her knees, exhausted, but he didn't think he should approach her. He let her be alone, she seemed to want that most of the time. Right now, he wanted to be alone too. It was odd not being trusted, but more so, it was... he couldn't put a finger on it.

Disappointing?

It was the closest thing he could think of. Andrew sat down in the seat and looked outside the window. He felt like falling asleep, but he didn't think he would be able to. His mind wouldn't let him. The son of Apollo found himself searching for Loki, but he seemed to be gone. He didn't know how long the paralysis would last, the intention had been ten minutes, but with a god, one should make that around two minutes or so. If not less. Still, enough to get rid of him, so all seemed to be well. For everyone apart from a large group of slaughtered people. Part of him felt a regret of sorts, wondering how all of them had gotten killed right under their noses, but truth was, Andrew had not killed these people. He had just not managed to save them.

How would I, though? They seem to have gotten killed instantly, I couldn't have done a thing. No... not true. This happened because we were careless. Not just Prometheus. Everyone. Even... me. However, we also saved ourselves, and whoever Loki would have crashed the plane into. If he himself could be believed, it would have a lot more people than those who died.

It wasn't a comforting thought, but Andrew didn't need one. He did find it odd how well everyone else was taking it, though, only a few had reacted. But it was better than people crying, he supposed.

 

[Dogmatic99]

"I've never used it before, mom taught me how when she showed me my wings, but I just never thought much about it before now," Nicole said.

That's interesting. That's very interesting. Smile and nod. Focus on her, don't think about the butcher's house behind you, just focus on Nicole.

What she was saying was genuinly interesting, the idea of being trained by their divine parent was a cool one. Normally it would even make Abe a little jealous considering what little contact he'd had with Vidarr. But he had to remember what else Nicole had said, growing up with Nike wasn't all sunshine and rainbows. Gods and their like seemed, in Able's limited experience, distant at the best of times. He could only guess what Vidarr might have been like. The stories had never made him sound very fatherly, then again the stories never mentioned him having any kids.

"I'm glad it helped, I wonder if Loki will survive the fall."

Oh god, Loki. How had he forgotten Loki? What did it even take to kill a god? Able just assumed they were hard as nails but a fall from a plane... that could do it... right? Oh hell what if we just pissed him off?

"So how're you holding up? Heh, it seems like we're moving up, last time we ran from a god, this time we tossed one out a plane."

Nicole brought him back into the present, though it couldn't shake the worry from him. Able gave her a grin and a thumbs up.

[Go us right?!]

There was no need to share the baggage.

Meanwhile Prometheus was unwinding after their close encounter. "Apologies for the violent outburst; you didn't deserve that. Titans rage and all that."

Able shrgged it off. I probably did. True his little 'plan' had kind of worked. They'd gained control of the cockpit, lured out the hijacker and Etna had even used her powers like he'd planned. Except I didn't plan it, I just hoped it. I got lucky.

He hadn't planned on the pilot being dead. He didn't plan on Dan pulling a disappearing act. And most immportantly he hadn't planned on what to do if they did get control of the cockpit without the captain. Thank god we had Steven. Another stroke of luck.

I panicked and I got lucky.

He couldn't afford to try that again. He'd do better next time, he had to.

 

[IFS]

[Go us right?!]

"Heh yeah, if we run into Dio next we can continue the progression I suppose," she said, continuing to try and focus on something other than the carnage, it was working well so far. So long as it doesn't start to smell I think I'll be fine, and we're landing soon. In the ocean. Or sea or whatever. Yay.

There were liferafts but it would still take them some time to get to Sicily, although she supposed with Vera as wind pushing them along, and whatever else they thought up it would be a fairly speedy raft. Able seemed to have been cheered up a bit by the reminder of their victory, either that or he was putting on a brave face, something she felt she was doing to some extent. She wondered how many others were doing the same, stop it, I am brave and strong. This is just horrible though, I'm not used to it.

"So whats on your mind?" she asked trying to keep focusing on things other than the massacre, just keep acting like things are normal it helps. His answers had been short which gave her the impression that he was thinking about something,that or he doesn't want to talk, although he could say that, er write that if that were the case.

 

[Dogmatic99]

"So whats on your mind?"

[Fine thanks. Just tired getting to grips with it all I guess.]

Don't be a downer, think of something to say.

If he just left things in silence then he'd have to dwell on whatever was around the corner... and what was lurking behind them.

[I never asked, did you get to your test on time?] Finals, she called them right?

 

[IFS]

[Fine thanks. Just tired getting to grips with it all I guess.]

She nodded in understanding, "Yeah same, its all a bit much," now there's an understatement.

[I never asked, did you get to your test on time?]

"Yeah I did, I think I did pretty good on them too," she replied, "They feel so far away now, I mean they are we're in Europe now, I've never traveled this far before, but I mean they feel like they happened ages ago." She was glad for the focus on the normal, remembering things from before all this, it helped distract from the reality.

 

[Green Shoes]

Day 4: Early Morning

The strange gliding plane began to decelerate, flying rather low towards the ocean. A few fishermen here and there pointed and yelled as it roared overhead, casting ripples in the water, and generally causing a fuss.

On the plane, the turbulence had kicked in as they descended. Glasses were knocked around and smashed, and Prometheus hauled himself to within shouting distance of the cockpit.

"Should we buckle down for the landing? It's getting bumpy enough as is!"

A rather large bump sent him sprawling back, finding safety in the seat opposite Nicole. Prometheus grinned and winked.

"Your mother has a temple near here. I wonder if she'll care to drop by."

 

[Not G. Ivingname]

"YOU MEAN YOU DON'T HAVE THEM ON ALREADY?" Steven yelled back as he tried to make the plane hit the ocean at as slowly but as flatly as possible.

"GET YOUR SEAT BELTS ON AND BRACE FOR IMPACT!"

 

[Lunar Templar]

Aria had been buckled in for a while now, having figured the plane would have gone down a lot sooner and she'd actually nodded off before Steven started yelling, which caused her to jump a little which caused her to wince from her shoulder reminding her it still hurt.

 

[hiei82]

With one final push, the bottom of the plane touched the surface of the ocean and the plane started to slow. She tried to keep things level, straight, and slow but she couldn't be sure how effective it was. 16 hours of keeping a plane in the air was hard work - even in wind form where the plane did much of the heavy lifting. The flight was worse than all the marathons and Iron-man competitions she'd ever been in. It was the kind of long, arduous task that a person can only speak fondly of when it's either not yet happened or far enough in the past that you'd forgotten how horrible it was. Needless to say, she was winded.

She used some of her wind to keep the worst of the turbulence off the plane, than - once it had come to a halt - transformed into her normal self and collapsed on the still-intact wing exhausted. She didn't care it was cold. She didn't care it was wet. She didn't care that the burning hot sun would likely cook her alive in a few hours if she didn't more. Right at that moment, the only thing Vera cared about was what the back of her eyelids looked like as she drifted off into well earned slumber.