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

[DarkRawen]

"Do you have any more arrows? Could you get a clear shot at Ahriman if you did?!"

Andrew took a look around. Although Ahriman wasn't the smallest of men/gods, some of the people were holding up their hands, or just tall enough to interrupt his view. "I have some arrows left, but I can't promise I will hit." This was not a situation where acting tough would help anyone. He fired a shot towards Ahriman, but it hit the shoulder of a random dead instead.

"Somebody lift me and Andrew up! Just give us a boost so we can get a clear shot on Ahriman, we are not going to be able to fight through this crowd!"

Andrew had considered something similar before, but he knew that the balance wouldn't be enough to actually aim correcting. It might work, but chances were, he wouldn't be able to fire a decent shot, even if he had managed to aim. "It might work with a gun," he said. "But it won't be good with a bow." And he was running low on arrows. Besides, Vera, currently some sort of warrior, attacked Ahriman. At that point, he put down his bow, deciding to pull back for now. Keeping a few arrows, especially the poisoned ones, could be vital.

"Also, I wouldn't want to hit Vera with one of my arrows."

 

[Deu Sex]

As Vera continued her heated duel with the Persian deity, Remus focused on helping the others deal with the droves of ghastly spirits rushing at them. At first he drew Dan's sword and took a few swings, unsure that his fists would do much damage against the undead but hoping that nordic steel might. Yet as the scuffle continued he noticed Prometheus and some of the others dishing out damage through mundane means. Remus then switched to using his fists, which were faster and hit perhaps even harder than a sword.

He couldn't help but feel somewhat miserable about fighting the spirits. These weren't feral beasts or foul monsters that hungered for blood - they were just some helpless souls being controlled like puppets by Ahriman. They didn't deserve getting thrashed on by demigods in the afterlife. Still, they were a danger to the group right now. That fact was enough to push away any thoughts of guilt Remus may have had.

Remus noticed a handful of undead had split off from the main mass and were heading straight for Etna. "The hell they are!" He wasted little time before darting across the chamber, his feet creating small cracks in the grounds with the force he stepped on them with. Remus slammed into the undead, knocking them down and tossing them aside like a raging bull. He even stomped on one for good measure, before turning to Etna and nodding.

 

[Lunar Templar]

Aria hardly needed the Titan telling her to 'keep firing', so her reply was a look of 'What the hell did you think I was doing?!' as she started firing bigger blasts to take out more at once.

 

[IFS]

"Just burn as many as you can; we'll keep them off you. Nicole, can you fly her up so she doesn't fry us?"

"Just give us a boost so we can get a clear shot on Ahriman, we are not going to be able to fight through this crowd!"

Nicole was a bit confused by this, who do I grab? Prometheus was in charge so it would probably be best to do what he said, and Aria was closer than Steven. Aria it is I guess, she darted over to Aria, kicking away another undead as she arrived.

"You ready to fly?" she asked, ready to grab Aria from behind and take off, she wasn't sure how stable her hovering would be when holding up someone, but hopefully that would be less of an issue with Aria's magic than it would be with a gun.

 

[Lunar Templar]

Aria held onto her hat "Yup" and Nicole took her up ward and waited for her to settle into a holding pattern before resuming fire, but she really didn't want to, it wasn't their will to attack them, they where being manipulated, but from this height she had a clear shot of the silver armored prick that was doing this, though it seemed Vera was already going for the kill so Aria provided covering fire for the others while keeping an eye on Vera in case things went south.

Her height as meant she could use lower energy bolts, since she didn't need to burn through one to get the guy behind it.

 

[Green Shoes]

Vera's blade slammed hard and fast into Ahriman's head, and stuck fast as her arm gave way to the power of his scimitar, the bones in her wrist compacted and useless. The crack in his head began to glow faintly as he stepped back, dropping his sword and touching the wound with two fingers. The glow subsided, and blood began to flow, bright red.

Bringing his hand forward to his face, he spoke quietly, his eyes beginning to roll.

"Mortal...again..."

With that, he fell back and collapsed on the ground. Dead. The hordes of dead that had surrounded the group stopped in their tracks, confused. They had lost whatever motivation they had received, and quietly resumed mournful wandering. It was as if the fight had never taken place. An eery silence fell over the stone city, broken only by a newly appeared Dis Pater. He paced briskly to the group, grinning, his arms wide.

"Ha-Ha! Nobody usurps the Lord of the Dead! Thank you, friends! You must join me in celebration; come! Kore returns at any moment, sure to bring a bountiful harvest."

Prometheus stood dumbfounded at the scene, and wiped the sweat from his brow. Nicole and Aria were nowhere to be seen, and Vera was collapsed amid the crowd. His mind raced as he tried to process what had happened.

"Where's Nicole and Aria? Able, Vera needs help, can you bring her here? Andrew! No, you don't have enough energy - Where's Remus? No! -"

He spun to scan the crowd for his mother, but she was hidden from sight, at least to him. Hades caught him looking and slinked over to him, his voice a whisper.

"Yes, I saw her looking for the Italian...It would be a shame if he was to be distracted from this task, no? I suggest you come with me to celebrate, Prometheus..."

Dis walked the whisper off casually, and made a magnanimous introduction to the group, complete with sweeping bow. His staff was held loosely in his hand; he appeared to be unscathed from the previous tussle.

"Friends, New Friends! I am Dis Pater; Undisputed Lord of this realm, brother of Zeus and supporter of your task! Won't you join me for drinks?"

 

[Dogmatic99]

On it. Able staggered over to the prone Vera, or rather, the figure he believed to be Vera. He looked around him in disbelief as the horde scattered like drunk cattle, jerking nervously every time one got a little too close. They didn't do anything. To think it had only been a minute ago they'd been trying to rip him limb from limb. If the dead weren't creepy before their acting like radio control zombies only helped to make Abe even more uncomfortable.

Either way he made it to Vera and helped her/him to their feet, looping Vera's arm around his shoulder and letting them lean on him as the two of them made their way back to the group. Hades (Who was going by his fancy name today) had sauntered back in from nowhere and by the sounds of it was trying to claim credit for Vera's hard work.

Well I hate you already.

Able wished more than ever that this all meant that Valhalla and Asgard were real too, or maybe reincarnation. Ao long as he didn't have to call this simpering old dandy king. He gave Vera a nod and rolled his eyes at Hades in an attempt to say "What a jerk, huh?". Either way if they were keeping score of people's kills or heroic deeds then Vera was certainly in the lead.

Able waited near Prometheus after Hades started offering drinks, checking to see what their guide would say.

Hey whatever happened to that commet thing? Maybe they were just a regular thing here in sunny old Dis.

 

[DarkRawen]

It all had happened very fast, and suddenly, Vera finished off the evil, persian god, and it calmed down. Hades reaction was more than a little too proud, as if he had been the one to do it.

"Ha-Ha! Nobody usurps the Lord of the Dead! Thank you, friends! You must join me in celebration; come! Kore returns at any moment, sure to bring a bountiful harvest."

...Are you kidding me?

It seemed that the "Lord of the Dead" was not only a coward, but also as prideful as every other god. Prometheus didn't seem up for a party, instead he panicked.

"Where's Nicole and Aria? Able, Vera needs help, can you bring her here? Andrew! No, you don't have enough energy - Where's Remus? No! -"

Our leader is not very fit for leading, is he?

The last Andrew had seen of Aria and Nicole had been when Nicole started lifting Aria up, and he quickly located them. "Aria and Nicole is fine," he told Prometheus. "And I'm not too tired, give me a few minutes, and I'll be up for whatever task you have."

Before Prometheus answered, if he would answer at all, Hades spoke again, to all of them.

"Friends, New Friends! I am Dis Pater; Undisputed Lord of this realm, brother of Zeus and supporter of your task! Won't you join me for drinks?"

"If you're a supporter of our cause, help us make sure our people are okay, and then with finding that one soul."

You damn wuss.

"Really, I don't think I'm the only one who think it's more important to stop this as soon as possible."

And I'd really rather not stay here. If the god of the dead don't have control over the dead... And we were told not to drink or eat anything."

 

[Terratina.]

Etna nodded back as he knocked back the undead horde that was charging towards her with a counter-charge of his own. Nevertheless, that would be the last time those living corpse would be knocked back as they returned to peaceful wandering as the sound of a sword swipe was heard. Etna regained her composure only to be meet with the sight of Hades swaggering about and muttering stuff about his great victory and feasts. Surely everybody knew what happened when you ate or drank stuff from another realm? Who was he trying to fool here?

Questions... Endless questions. Nevertheless, those would had to wait. She still had the tongue and the tablet in hand. One made her wish she had brought gloves on this particular expedition. But Prometheus hadn't mentioned any corpse tongues. Wait... Drink? Previous events had made Etna weary of alcohol. Probably so much so that she would never touch a drop of the stuff again. Unsure whether this Dis Pater was a supporter of their task or not, she spoke up, "We didn't came to the Land of the Dead just to get wasted. Here's the tongue, you find the soul, and let's get this over with."

 

[Not G. Ivingname]

Steven was glad the dead had stopped attacking. He looked at his ammo, and found he was only the last magazine of ammo. Seven rounds, that was it.

"Friends, New Friends! I am Dis Pater; Undisputed Lord of this realm, brother of Zeus and supporter of your task! Won't you join me for drinks?"

"How is this guy a supporter of us?" Steven thought, "Yeah right..."

"If you're a supporter of our cause, help us make sure our people are okay, and then with finding that one soul." Really, I don't think I'm the only one who think it's more important to stop this as soon as possible."

"I agree, we really do not have time for feasts nor drink. We need to get this information and get out of here, before the Wine God causes any more destruction. If nothing else, you do not want normal humans to connect the dots and start trying to solve the problem with their attack helicopters."

"Also, with everything that has happened, I don't think I will ever touch any form of boos ever again..."

 

[Deu Sex]

Looking about the room, Remus realized that the fighting had somehow come to an end. The undead which were previously swarming all over the group had halted and then lost any sense of aggression as they resumed moping around. As he turned around, Remus saw the reason for this. Vera had apparently killed the Persian deity. She had cracked open his skull with a blade, after catching Ahriman's own scimitar with her hand. It was the sort of bold, ballsy move Remus would have expected himself to do.

After the temporary amazement wore off, his first concern was making sure Vera was fine. However Able beat him to the punch and scooped their injured companion up. With that tended to, Remus scanned the rest of the room to make the others were fine. It was then he saw Hades making his grand re-entrance.

"Friends, New Friends! I am Dis Pater; Undisputed Lord of this realm, brother of Zeus and supporter of your task! Won't you join me for drinks?"

Remus immediately scowled. Though he knew his mythology, he hardly expected the god of the underworld to also be the god of cowards. While the group had been risking their lives to fight his battle, Hades had scampered off like a rat only to return boasting like an ass. And knowing his mythology, and remembering the words of Prometheus earlier, Remus knew better than to even think about eating or drinking in the underworld.

"Don't bullshit us." he said with utter bluntness. "If you're really a supporter of our task, than instead of trying to trick us into imprisonment, you ought to give us what we need."

 

[hiei82]

When the self-proclaimed overlord of evil hit the ground dead, Vera could hardly believe it. Sure that had been her plan but she certainly hadn't expected it to work. I mean; weren't gods supposed be unstoppable juggernauts of power who could only be faced by other gods; excepting the Norse gods of course.

In any event; Ahriman - the spirit of darkness, lord of the underworld, source of all things evil - was now dead and she wasn't. Victory. Vera had a few moments of jubilation at the idea they'd somehow survived the entire mess, but as the adrenalin wore off, the sharp pain in her crushed wrist made itself apparent.

She pulled her blade out of the dead god's head and tried to use it as a balance to little effect. With her power drained, Nicole's power released, and fatigue setting in, she didn't have the strength to even stand. She fell to the hard ground of the underworld with what dignity she could muster and lay there; letting the reality of the situation wash over her.

Shortly thereafter, Able staggered over to her and helped her to her feet. "Thanks Able" she said with a smile, happy for the help. They made there way back to the group just in time for the new lord of the underworld to proclaim his thanks for their "assistance". "What a jerk, huh?" able commented, to which Vera could only laugh in agreement.

she was half tempted to proclaim herself the new queen of the underworld, but for 1) there would no doubt be an endless supply of paperwork to fill out and for 2) that would make her a god and that was just... ew... Besides; if she had to become a goddess some day, she'd rather be the goddess of obscure farm animals or something; no one would fight for that crown.

"Friends, New Friends! I am Dis Pater; Undisputed Lord of this realm, brother of Zeus and supporter of your task! Won't you join me for drinks?" Hades said, interrupting her thoughts. Vera didn't even take a moment to consider the offer. "Considering we're up against the Greek God of Alcohol Poisoning, I think I'm going to pass on the drinks." she said. She didn't much like Hades more than Ahriman and didn't trust anything he'd serve. A moment later she added a grudging "But thank you for the offer." - just to maintain diplomacy. She wouldn't be much help fighting Hades so soon after all.

 

[Lunar Templar]

As Nicole set Aria back down Aria sighed at the sudden display from the god of the under world "I'll pass on that drink, that hole 'eat or drink something down here and your stuck here' thing" that and she already didn't like him, which was hardly surprising at this point, the only god or other wise divine entity she'd met in all this she liked was her own mother so far. Every one else, even the ones helping them had just been varying flavors of 'jerk'.

"So where's this soul we need at? World to save an all." she said, really wanting to just get a move on and find the god that started all this.

 

[Green Shoes]

The God stared Remus down, anger flaring behind passive eyes.

"I have no intention of deceiving you, Remus. To drink is but a figure of speech; we must celebrate my reclamation, no?"

Turning to Etna, Dis received the tongue with a slightly bemused face; tossing it up and down with his hand as he spoke. He gave a shrug and a sheepish smile, and spoke broadly to the group, meeting each of their eyes with a wandering gaze.

"Well, you can't blame a man for trying to be a good host! A soul you say; presumably the owner of this tongue. Yes...I did seem to recall seeing one such a-wandering around these parts. I'll send out a call, though it may take a while. You know, I had this place so organised before that damn Pers-"

Seeing Vera, he quickly ammended.

"Pers-istent bastard came down here and ruined everything. Speaking of which; how did you get here anyway? Have you seen my furies anywhere?"

He began pacing back and forth, stroking his chin. He paced up to Vera, and met her eye to eye. Dispelling her warrior form, she was returned to her spritely young self.

"And thank you, my dear, for dealing with your arrogant relative. Sorry I couldn't help; I was...pre-occupied."

He cast a wayward glance at the ruins of the smouldering building; the glow, nowhere to be found; a nervous twitch here and there alerted both Andrew and Able, attuned to such ticks, of a creeping anxiety.

---------------------------------------------------------

Prometheus rubbed his temples as Dis spoke; questions flying to and fro. At least the group was being direct; he was sure they could handle his questions. The Titan strode went over Etna's words in his mind; Oath by word; what did that mean? On a token? A token....

He strode over to Vera and Able.

"Vera, are you alright? Andrew should be fine to heal you soon. Able; what were you looking at earlier? Something fell from the sky - did you see it?"

 

[Deu Sex]

If Dis was offended by the boy's words, he certainly didn't show it. Remus' scowl faded away as the God's attention was captured by the tongue he was now playing with. There was no way to tell if Dis really meant his invitation to drink as a figure of speech, or if he had intended to trick them and was now trying to save face. Remus would have to give him the benefit of the doubt, although there was little choice in the matter considering they needed Dis, but resolved to be suspicious. There was something about Dis that struck a sour note with him. Probably his apparent cowardice.

"Speaking of which; how did you get here anyway? Have you seen my furies anywhere?"

"They chased us, so I shot and stabbed them." he stated plainly. He paused for a second before speaking again. "Our doctor also nailed one." He shrugged, gesturing towards Andrew. Remus then turned his eyes back to Dis Pater. A small frown appeared on his face as a thought popped into his head. "How do you know my name?"

 

[DarkRawen]

"Speaking of which; how did you get here anyway? Have you seen my furies anywhere?"

Yes. Might be best to answer carefully here, to avoid any sort of awkward situation.

"They chased us, so I shot and stabbed them. Our doctor also nailed one."

Two. I took care of two.

He thought, pridefully. His shots had been so masterfully done too, although he didn't need the others to praise him, or even remember the details, to know that. Andrew had always been able to tell that he was talented, since young age. It wasn't that important right now, though.

Regardless, I don't think saying that aloud will help us a lot now. We did help him out a lot, though, so it should be fine. If he gets upset, I might just accidentally lose an arrow in the back of his head.

Of course, he wouldn't. However, he was losing more and more of his patience with... everyone. If they could just hurry up and get out of there, everything would be fine. Hades had said getting the owner of the tongue might take a while. Annoying. Besides, Hades had seemed a bit unsettled when looking over at the ruins after that which had fallen into the tower, which didn't strike Andrew as a good sign.

"Vera, are you alright? Andrew should be fine to heal you soon. Able; what were you looking at earlier? Something fell from the sky - did you see it?"

That's true, something did fall.

He wouldn't admit it to anyone but himself, but he had completely forgotten in the chaos, even though that might have proven to be a huge mistake.

Anyways, I'm up for healing Vera now, but she better be the last one to get hurt today.

Somehow, he doubted he would be that lucky. It seemed these people couldn't walk out from their house without getting hurt. Yes, they had been fighting a few fights, and yes, those were deadly, but it would help a lot if they had used a bit more intelligence when fighting, rather than running directly in and getting themselves torn apart all the time.

"I'll help her now," he said, and walked over to Vera, examining her. She didn't seem to have much injuries, at least not on the outside. "Does it hurt anywhere? Or are you just tired?" If it was exhaustion, there weren't a whole lot he could do.

 

[Lunar Templar]

"Yes...I did seem to recall seeing one such a-wandering around these parts. I'll send out a call, though it may take a while. You know, I had this place so organized before that damn Pers-istent bastard came down here and ruined everything."

Aria rolled her eyes as Hades covered his apparently dislike of the Persian deity's, but with the soul apparently 'out of place' there was little else to do for her to do but wait for the dead person to shamble up, Aria found a rock to sit on and wait. The thought of experimenting with her altered powers crossed her mind but she felt it best to rest a bit before expending more energy.

 

[Dogmatic99]

"...Able; what were you looking at earlier? Something fell from the sky - did you see it?"

What does he mean, earlier? Then able remembered the weird flash of light he'd seen when they were just entering the city. The zombie attack had rattled it from his brain but now that he had a calm moment. Ooooh yeah. The big ball of light that had made him come over all zen... and then it smashed a crater into the ground.

Able gave a shrug. He had no idea what it had been but he could guess that everybody had seen it come down, it wasn't like the thing was quiet or anything.

He pointed at his own chest and then off in the direction of where the comet had landed. Nodding in the same direction as he did it. Dis or Hades or whatever everyone had agreed to call him today was busy trying to back pedal his way out of any charges of cowardice the others could level at him, it wouldn't be too hard for Able to sneak away unseen and check the crash site out. He'd be lying if he said he wasn't curious.

Now he just had to hope that his meaning was clear to Prometheus. He added a few raises of his eyebrows just to be on the safe side.

 

[Green Shoes]

..."How do you know my name?"

Taken aback, the God fumbled slightly with his words; a slight stutter in his speech.

"Why, everyone knows your name, of course! The Son of Mars, a companion of a Titan; word has spread fast among those who watch your little group close enough."

He cocked his head, as if listening to some far away noise, before continuing.

"And that's a shame about my furies; I'll have to go round them up again. You have no idea the trouble I went through to get them down here!"

Again, listening, he smiled and spoke.

"I think I found your lost soul, and he's on his way to my keep as we speak. So. I guess you will join me there for celebration after all."

Though it was an open invitation, he spoke as if it was a command, and not a question. He motioned for the group to follow him before turning on his heel, and walking calmly down a narrow alleyway, his staff tapping as he went.

-------------------------------------------------

Aria again heard the distant calling of Remus' name. It seemed to be coming from where Hades had begun to walk; indeed, the alleyway lead to a small fortress, made of grey stone, that stood in the center of the city.

------------------------------------------------------

Prometheus stared curiously at Able as he raised his eyebrows. Obviously he was pointing to the newly-made rubble, but what had he seen? Did he intend to check it out?

He turned to Andrew as he doted over Vera.

"Hey; Able and I are going to go see what crashed into the building over there; keep an eye on Vera, and I guess...follow Dis? We need to chat with that soul. Let Nicole know."

Not waiting for an answer, Prometheus strode over to Remus, Aria and Etna.

"Hey. Able and I are just going to scout something out. Just follow Dis for now; we'll catch up to you. Etna; make sure he doesn't see that token. Remus, just -"

He thought about the woman, calling for his name. His eyes met Aria's, full of guilt.

"Stay focused I guess. We'll be back before you know it. Aria; make sure Dis doesn't withhold the soul."

He took a deep breath. Organising was hard work. He couldn't wait to get out of this hell-hole. He nodded at Able as he began to walk towards the rubble, opening and closing his hands. He was hungry, tired and all-together uneasy; the group needed rest, and he hoped there would be no more conflict before they returned to the surface.

 

[Not G. Ivingname]

"Why, everyone knows your name, of course! The Son of Mars, a companion of a Titan; word has spread fast among those who watch your little group close enough."

Hades was obviously lying. You would think a God of Hell would have time to practice deceit, although most of the gods seemed so arrogant. Steven debated just calling out the lie, but still had no idea why Hades lied. Since the Hell God seemed to be intentionally not noticing Steven's presence, he guessed Hades didn't like the democracy comment or had problems with Hephaestus.

Steven decided to stay close to Remus. Steven owed Remus, and worried Hades may try something.