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

[Terratina.]

"Don't dwell on it. Forget and move on."

"Tch, I'll try." Etna muttered as she clambered back into the van and took a seat. Hopefully, with some sleep, she would be able to bury that experience. However, she still held the knife - a tangible reminder of the torture. But what of it? She was only following orders, right? Besides, Etna had taken no pleasure at all in the act. However, she had still tortured Teshub in cool blood. Damn it, her mind was like a seesaw. A seesaw that had even tipped towards the Nuremberg Defense, still that couldn't really be applied or mocked in the context of gods. Yes, she had been forced to do it by a being far more powerful than herself. Moreover, it wasn't like anything she and the group so far was particularly moral. It was kinda stupid worrying about such things.

Wasn't it?

Settled on that, Etna finally managed to fall asleep. Little did she know that she wouldn't escape so easily from that dilemma...

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Spoiler: Dream Sequence

The crows never stopped cawing, the rain never stopped pouring, and the clouds had never looked so forboding. Timid footsteps made deep impressions in the mud. Somehow she knew that a great battle had taken place here. Maybe it was the never-ending cries of the crows, or the stench of death, or was that song?

"...An evil time!
Son will deceive his father,
Daughter will deceive her mother."

Lightning flashed and thunder roared and with a flicker, then she knew the place was Magh Tuireadh - place of pillars and great battles. Etna caught a raindrop on her hand, it was red. No, it was ablaze. But the fire somehow didn't burn her; as if to mock her surprise, the crow decided to caw some more. Neverending. Neverending.

A figure in black approached her, wailing as she walked. Suddenly without warning, the woman in black stabbed her in the eye, with that same banshee dagger Etna had been given. That fizzled and burned as well.

"What. Are. You. Doing?"

"Wha--? Nothing, nothing."

Unstatisfed with Etna's answer, the woman in black took the other eye. It was a shame; the crows were so disappointed with the eyeball's fiery death, that would have been a tasty meal. Now blinded, Etna reached out for anything and everything, desperate to know who this terrible person was.

"How are you doing it?" The woman in black leant forward and whispered in a softer tone, "I see, I see. Yes! Let the crows be your eyes."

"How can you...?" Etna whispered. Tiny dots of light quickly melded into one giant field of vision. She could feel them - their hunger, their desire for carrion; in fact, in their view, Etna looked like a very tasty snack indeed. Her body was covered in blood, surely she would bleed to death.

"Don't you see? You're finished, finished."

Yes, she saw. Etna saw so much, even the face of her attacker. The woman in black's mouth was curled up in a twisted smile and her eyes looked on greedily at Etna's suffering. But despite her warped face, Etna could easily recognise it and she let out a wail of her own. It almost exactly matched that of the woman in black.

"There's nothing more to do, I think we shall end this, mise."

With a flick of the woman in black's wrist, the crows descended upon Etna. She could feel the pecks of their sharp beaks through them and herself. It was a strange feeling, probably the closest a person could even come to eating themselves. And with one final peck the dream was over.

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Etna tossed and turned in her seat. Nevertheless, that soon stopped and sweet, dreamless sleep embraced her.

 

[hiei82]

Vera watched as the others got comfortable, drifting off to sleep. She couldn't. The events of the previous battle poured into her mind, keeping her alert even as she desired sleep as a relief from the terrible thoughts and deeds. The images of Able and Remus dead flashed vividly in her mind, fresh and apparent as a yet-bleeding wound. Fear gripped her soul this way. Not fear of death; she'd long since stowed that away with the discovery that the gods were real and human souls did in fact find some reward or punishment postmortem. No, it was he fear of failure that gripped her.

She'd failed and two had died. In her mind, she replayed the battle, seeking a way to change the events. The solutions were all too evident. If she'd taken any form she could have protected them from the blast. Yet she'd been too hesitant to change. She'd thought to conserve her power and try to negotiate.

But there was more to it then that. Her argument with her father flashed into her mind; the memory still sharp though not quite as fresh as the the deaths. A moment later, the image of Vidarr crying over Able followed. Had she given her father a raw deal? Perhaps he cared more... No. That she couldn't accept.

Still, Aria's and Nicole's words rang in her head, giving credence to the claim. She continued to shake the ideas until a sound outside threw her back into the land of the conscious.

Vera stared out the window of the RV; hours having passed in slumber at least. She wasn't sure when she feel asleep, but Vera could be certain of one thing. She hadn't slept well enough.

 

[Green Shoes]

Rising early from his thoughts, Prometheus grabbed his charged phone and quietly stepped out of the van. Closing the door behind him delicately, he paced from the van behind a nearby tree. The sun was just rising, though the morning air was still brisk and still; light-clouds above kept the world below from heating up. The van was parked in a small circle of trees, within walking distance to the town just down the road. Holding his phone up into the air, the Titan screwed up his lips. There was very little signal.

Raising the phone to his ear, he called anyway. A familiar voice answered, grumbling and upset at being woken.

"Hey. I need to call in a favour. I'm somewhere in West Russia, and need some help. Oh you know? Okay..."

Prometheus quickly grabbed a pen out of his pocket and wrote down an address.

"And you're sure she'll help? Okay, I'll head out later. Thanks."

Slipping the phone back into his pocket, Prometheus returned to the van and began to rouse the occupants. Picking up the list of items Andrew had wrote, he furrowed his brow, though there was little he could do to reprimand him; he should have just stopped him when he left.

The group looked tired, though especially Etna and Vera. The two girls looked worn and worried; haunted still by their nightmares. The titan spoke to all of them, hoping to get some proactive responses.

"So Andrew has thoughtfully explored the town for us, so we can just grab supplies and go. I'll bring the van round to the garage and let Steven fix some stuff up; while we're doing that, Nicole, Aria and Andrew, you should go grab some food from the grocer. Etna and Vera..."

He looked at them again, screwing his lips up once again. He felt awful meeting their gaze; guilt for Etna and grief for Vera. He stood there silent for a moment, considering what to say.

"...just, take a break. You look worse for wear."

Clambering back into the drivers seat, he pulled the van round and into town, pulling up outside the gas station. One pump, a small, dim-litted building and a handful of tools sprawled in a locked cage. Motioning for Andrew to lead the others to the shop, he climbed out and grabbed the tools, handing them to Steven.

"Just fix as much as you can; whatever you can't will have to wait until we get further north."

With that, he slumped back down onto one of the benches, and took out his notebook. Transferring the address into his book, he turned to a fresh page and began jotting down any information they had so far.

Spoiler: Notes

Dionysus has freed the World Serpent, and has, or intends to free, Fenrir.

Vidarr believes he is trying to instigate Ragnarok for the wrong reasons.

Dionysus is receiving sacrifices which lends him power.

Teshub was promised Zeus' throne to aid him.

Loki has joined him.

Artemis shot Nike, who is with us, erego Zeus.

Apollo..?

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The black car pulled up outside the bar that Andrew frequented the night before. Apollo stepped out, leaving the other man in the drivers seat. Stepping up to the door, he found it was locked. Shrugging, he swiftly kicked it in, much to the alarm of the old couple that lived upstairs. Waiting patiently in the doorway, he smiled as they descended the stairs, the man armed with a rather large gun.

He spoke in flawless Russian.

"Sorry to intrude, friends. I promise to have your door fixed, and even reimburse you. I'm looking for a young man, maybe in his mid-20s. He's not from here, he looks a bit like me; has he passed through here?"

The old man simply nodded, still stoically suspicious of the stranger. His finger didn't move from the trigger. Apollo procured a large fold of money from his pocket.

"Where is he?"

 

[DarkRawen]

Andrew woke up when Prometheus was talking in the phone, though he wasn't close enough to hear what the titan actually said. Though he wanted to know what it was, Andrew decided to ignore it. For now, at least. Perhaps Prometheus would bring it up later, although Andrew did has his doubts. That, and a slight neck-ache, though that because of how he had been sleeping.

"So Andrew has thoughtfully explored the town for us, so we can just grab supplies and go. I'll bring the van round to the garage and let Steven fix some stuff up; while we're doing that, Nicole, Aria and Andrew, you should go grab some food from the grocer."

After Prometheus had parked again, Andrew got up, shrugging. "Sure." He glanced over at Aria and Nicole, who didn't look like they were ready to head out just yet and added; "I'll go ahead, I'll leave the note so you can join me when you're more awake." He then got out of the van, and was about to head towards the store. Only... was that an alarm? It was faint, certainly, but Andrew was sure of it.

I might as well check it out. It's not my problem, but I have a bad feeling about this. It may be someone following us.

As he was on his way, he realized that it was coming from the direction of the bar, and started walking faster. He noticed a black car in front of the bar, and saw a person in the driver's seat, though he was more interested in whoever had kicked the door open.

"Where is he?"

Despite only having heard that voice once, in English rather than Russian, it was unmistakable. Andrew carefully approached the situation, the old couple seemed to be more than a little surprise and annoyed at someone ruining their door. "What are you doing?" Andrew asked Apollo, annoyed. Because of the situation at hand, he made sure to speak Russian, so that the couple wouldn't be even more suspicious. He noticed the gun, and the money, and addressed the Russians, both of whom he'd spoken to the night before. "Was he looking for me?" They nodded, slowly. They seemed to feel somewhat relieved because he was there, and the gun was lowered. Andrew sighed, and waited for Apollo to pay the couple for the door, before following the god outside.

"Why did you do that to their door... Apollo?" he asked, speaking English now. Andrew was honestly puzzled about that, did he really have enough money not to care? He pointed at the guy in the car. "And who's that?" Andrew then realized that he was speaking casually to the god, not even taking the time to ask him which side he was on. He decided that he should make sure of that first, although not getting attacked was probably a good sign.

"Also, are you here to help me, or kill me?"

Or neither?

 

[Lunar Templar]

The titan woke them all and handed out orders as they headed into town,Etna and Vera got to just rest, and to be fair, both looked like hell, while Steven worked on the RV and she, Nicole and Andrew hit the town in search of supply's, cept, Andrew left with out them. Aria stretched a bit and popped a few times, she was still kinda tired, but not overtly so, she also did a quick check on her powers, they seemed to be working normally, she'd need to find out why over doing it some times leaves her powerless and other times just tired.

Aria grabbed the note Andrew left for them and waited for Nicole to get ready before setting off. "Um ... do you know how to speak Russian ..." she asked before they left.

 

[Not G. Ivingname]

Steven woke up, noticing just about no one was in the van. He got up, only for Prometheus to arrive.

"Just fix as much as you can; whatever you can't will have to wait until we get further north."

Steven nodded and took the tool box. It didn't have much, a screw driver, a hammer, nails, crowbar, some wrenches, pliers, and an old piece of measuring tape.

"I will still need a plunger, but I should be able to fix everything else with this," Steven noted, trying not to think about how bad the smell will be.

Steven walked back into the bathroom, put his shirt over his mouth, reminded himself to breath through the mouth, and walked in...

 

[IFS]

Nicole had spent some time just lying there after waking up, the thud of Remus and Able hitting the van replaying in her mind. She shook her head and forced herself to sit up, and begin getting ready for the day. The guilt was still there though it was not quite as powerful as it had been earlier, and overall she felt somewhat numb. Still hard to believe that they're gone... Sighing she finished getting ready and headed out.

"Nicole, Aria and Andrew, you should go grab some food from the grocer. Etna and Vera..."

"I'll go ahead, I'll leave the note so you can join me when you're more awake."

"Um ... do you know how to speak Russian ..."

"No," Nicole said, shaking her head "I'm sure there will be English speaker's around here though."

She wondered if they ought to follow Andrew, it certainly didn't seem like a good idea to split up too much. Especially not after what happened just last night. She turned back to Aria.

"You think we should head out after him? I think he said that he knows some Russian," Nicole said "Probably not a great idea for any of us to run off on our own anyways."

 

[Lunar Templar]

"You think we should head out after him? I think he said that he knows some Russian, Probably not a great idea for any of us to run off on our own anyways"

"Agreed" Aria said, then gave Nicole a hug, as she looked like she needed it. "They weren't upset when they left you know, annoyed at being dead, but other wise they seemed to be at peace." she added, hoping it would give her some comfort. After a moment Aria broke the hug and switch gears back to business. "Come on, lets go find our doctor, and hope we don't need to blast anyone."

 

[IFS]

"They weren't upset when they left you know, annoyed at being dead, but other wise they seemed to be at peace."

Nicole was startled both by the hug and by Aria's words. She wasn't sure how to respond for a moment, standing limply for a few moments before returning the hug. She was surprised how much hearing how they were at peace affected her, they were still gone and she still felt guilty, but every bit helped.

"I had forgotten you could see the dead," she said after Aria had released the hug "But thanks, knowing that they are at peace helps a little."

"Come on, lets go find our doctor, and hope we don't need to blast anyone."

"Yeah hopefully not," Nicole agreed "And he can't have gone far."

With that she left the van, turning towards the direction Andrew had gone. She could hear an alarm of some sort in the distance, though it was rather faint, and after a moment realized that she had tensed up at the sound of it. Could be any number of things, no need to get worried. We should still check it out though. That thought in mind she made her way towards the sound, keeping her pace slow and steady.

 

[Green Shoes]

Prometheus nodded as Steven began working on the van. With limited tools he managed to get the bathroom in working order, albeit without a proper plunger, as well as giving the van a much-needed tune up. The air conditioning now worked at optimum efficiency, the brakes and turning far sharper. Passing the now somewhat grimey Steven an apple, he clapped him on the shoulder before grabbing an empty plastic bag.

"Nice work Steven. I'll go clean up the bathroom."

As he began the unsavoury job, he talked loudly, hoping to speak something of a conversation.

"Have you unlocked that book Verathragna gave you? Could be some useful stuff in there."

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

Apollo turned around in surprise, meeting Andrew's gaze with a mixture of shock and amusement. Leaving the old couple with the money, he walked over to his son and sized him up. Apollo was taller and far more beautiful, yet the resemblance was striking, so much so that they could have been brothers.

"Andrew! I was just inquiring with our friends here about you. Seems you're easier to find than expected! Come! You wanted to talk with me?"

He spoke in English as the black car pulled up outside the bar. Nicole and Aria just saw as Apollo and Andrew stepped in, the car then driving off to do circles around the town.

Apollo sat facing Andrew in an impeccably kept, high-end car. The interior was black leather with wood furnishing - a small drinks cabinet sat between the two.

"Andrew, Andrew. It has been too long. I'm here to help you of course, as you asked. The prodigal father, as it would be. Oh, where are my manners. Asclepius!"

The window seperating the driver and the passengers came down to reveal a youth in a grey suit, similar to Andrew but with shocks of blonde hair and piercing green eyes.

"Hello little brother. What brings you to Russia?"

He spoke with an apathetic airiness, as if he had no real interest in the question. Apollo poured both himself and Andrew as glass of whiskey, before winking and motioning him to speak.

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

"Hermes you wily bastard!"


An old and somewhat haggardly crone promptly crushed her cellphone in her hand, after a lengthy and draining phone call. Snatching a thick black cloak from her door, she stepped down from the forest-house and began muttering incoherently, before vanishing into thin air.

 

[DarkRawen]

Andrew really hadn't been sure what to expect. All he knew was that he hadn't expected Apollo to be this... eager? The god who happened to be his father, examined him.

"Andrew! I was just inquiring with our friends here about you. Seems you're easier to find than expected! Come! You wanted to talk with me?"

He nodded, and, making sure nothing seemed off, followed Apollo into the car. It was luxurious and neat, very unlike how he had been travelling these last days. Andrew sat opposite of Apollo, facing the driver's seat, wondering if all gods had this much wealth.

"Andrew, Andrew. It has been too long. I'm here to help you of course, as you asked. The prodigal father, as it would be."

The wording of that came of as odd, not only because it was something like almost two months since he had last seen him, but because he made it sound as if they'd met more than twice -if half a second of eye-contact counted- before. Andrew smiled slightly, though. It was an honest smile, if not an overly expressive one. For now, it seemed Apollo really did have the intention of helping him. Andrew was about to say something that sounded more like a greeting than the questions from before, but then Apollo spoke.

"Oh, where are my manners. Asclepius!"

Asclepius?

Andrew really hadn't spent a lot of time browsing the myths, but he had read about Asclepius beyond what he had been taught in school. Apollo's favorite son, capable of raising the dead, and killed off by Zeus. He wasn't very dead from the looks of it, though. The window that had been between the two of them and the driver went down, revealing the... god, wasn't it? He bore Apollo's likeness the same way Andrew did, but he had some different traits as well.

"Hello little brother. What brings you to Russia?"

"Hello, Asclepius," Andrew replied, although his eyes were mostly kept on Apollo. He had no idea how to address something a half-brother, after all. Not to mention, Asclepius didn't sound very interested at all, although Andrew certainly understood the feeling.

"I'm here to stop Dionysus," he explained, glancing at the glass Apollo handed him. Although he was hesitant to drink anything that was handed to him by anyone possibly involved in this mess, he figured that he was already in the car, and drank.

If they're trying to kidnap or kill me, I'm already fucked.

Besides, he had been aware of the risks. Andrew figured that he should get to the point already, if he was gone too long it would become a problem. Besides, he still had a slight intention of doing this without anyone finding out, else he would have to explain to Prometheus why he had contacted someone who could very well be the enemy.

"Something like two weeks ago, Zeus gathered a group of demigods regardless of whether or not they wanted to be there, and told us that we were stopping Dionysus. Nothing more than that. I've been following along so far, because of the recent suicides that Dionysus seems to be responsible for, but I want to know more about the situation at hand. This is getting far too risky, and I don't intend to die for a cause I don't really know what is. Besides, everyone we've met so far seems to be more informed of all of this than us, yet no one has given us a reason for this whole thing, nor a goal for either of the two sides. Even Prometheus, who's supposed to lead us, seems to be hiding something."

Andrew explained it calmly, before drinking more of the whiskey and glancing out the window, trying to see where they were now. He supposed he was making sure they weren't leaving the small town. "I was hoping that you knew more, but I still don't know if you are on Dionysus' side or not. Prometheus said you might be, because of Artemis. I wasn't sure whether to expect nothing, an attack, or help, so this is a pretty risky move because of me not knowing anything." He thought of Able and Remus' deaths, the incident that had brought him to this point.

"I also would appreciate if you knew a way to give me more power, I don't more people to die than those who already have, and I'm the only one capable of healing people. I don't have any intention of watching the others fight without acting either. That's what I meant about a deal, although I don't know what you'd want for it. Also..."

He supposed he had to show some appreciation for Apollo showing up. Andrew doubted he and Asclepius had just happened to be in the area, after all.

"Thank you for listening, and coming all this way to help me. Both of you."

Andrew finished his glass of whiskey, surprised he had drunk that much already.

 

[Not G. Ivingname]

"No I haven't," Steven admitted, quickly washing his hands before taking the apple. "Because, well..."

Steven shook his head. Not time to dwell on all that. Concentrate on other things. This apple, for example.

He walked outside taking a bite.

 

[Lunar Templar]

Aria smiled a little, the hug are consolidation seemed to have help, even if it was only a little. The pair walked into town, having agreed he couldn't have gone far when she heard a faint alarm as well. Nicole decided to fallow it, and Aria followed her. What they found near the source didn't please her, Andrew, and some one who looked a lot like him, Apollo she presumed, getting into a car and driving off.

"Son of a ***** ... What should we do? Go after Andrew or Tell Prometheus?" Aria asked as the car sped off.

 

[IFS]

"Son of a ***** ... What should we do? Go after Andrew or Tell Prometheus?"

Was that Apollo? It would have to be, I mean he looked a lot like Andrew, just much more handsome. Nicole thought, she could only wonder why Apollo was here though, and what he was doing with Andrew. Is he on Dio's side? Is he abducting or recruiting Andrew? Or maybe they're just meeting to talk? The only way to know would be to catch up with them, something she wasn't sure she could do on foot, and with all the people around she certainly couldn't fly.

"You go tell Prometheus," she said, starting to run after the car, steadily increasing in speed "I'll try to follow them as best I can."

She had to at least try to catch up to the car, if Apollo was with Dio then Andrew could be in danger and she wasn't about to let one of their group face a god alone. Hopefully Apollo wouldn't kill his own son though, I remember he cared a lot about some of them in the myths.

 

[Lunar Templar]

Before Aria could really voice a protest, Nicole was gone. 'Damn she's fast ...' she though as she darted back the way she came, waiting just long enough to get out of the view of other before just warping her self to the RV, even if some one saw her, she didn't care, she was not in the mood to lose anyone else, reappearing right in front of Steven, who was out side now, she gave a little wave and poked her head in the van "We got problems! Andrew took off in a car with, we think, Apollo, and Nicole is trying to run the car down on foot."

 

[Green Shoes]

"What?!"

Prometheus dropped what he was doing and raced to the front of the van. Hauling Steven and Aria in, he practically threw them into the seats and started the van, yelling as he did so.

"Why the hell did he get in the damn car? If this is Andrew's doing so help me!"

Of all the people chosen for this task, Andrew was proving the most troublesome. Yet he could hardly be left to die, and he had helped them all many times. Prometheus was drawn between rage and concern.

Veering round the roads, he searched frantically for a car, though he had no idea what it looked like. Though there were few vehicles on the road, none of them seemed to contain Andrew.

"Aria! What does it look like?"

That's when he spotted Nicole, sprinting after a black car. He slammed his foot on the accelerator. If Nicole got caught by Apollo...

"Everyone ready to get out! Nobody's dying today!"

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

Apollo listened intently, while Asclepius focused on driving, somewhat distracted by something in the rearview mirror. Apollo laughed as Andrew spoke of Zeus and Prometheus.

"Of course Zeus would do that. Never risks his own neck. I bet Prometheus volunteered as well - the arrogant, puritanical.."

Frowning, he stopped himself. Andrew was somewhat in allegiance with the titan.

"Well, its certainly a courageous thing you're doing. I personally wouldn't touch it - so no, I'm not in cahoots with anyone. Especially that ***** of a sister. As to helping you..."

He smiled somewhat maliciously.

"I would be choosing a side if I did that. A costly action, which of course demands a price. But what can you offer me Andrew? I crave things of incredible taste - the finest food, beautiful music...company."

His last word carried a heavy tone, and he stared into his sons eyes. Apollo was fully aware of who was in this merry little band, and he had set his eyes towards some of the more...appealing members. His thoughts were interrupted by Asclepius, and the car turning abruptly.

"I think were being followed. Check the mirror."

Apollo raised himself in his seat and saw Nicole through the blackened window. He motioned for Andrew to look as well, speaking in a serious and malevolent tone.

"A friend of yours?"

 

[DarkRawen]

Apollo's tone changed from the somewhat friendly one it had been before rather quickly, into one that struck Andrew as mocking.

"Of course Zeus would do that. Never risks his own neck. I bet Prometheus volunteered as well - the arrogant, puritanical..

It seemed Apollo disliked Prometheus as much as Prometheus disliked Apollo, if not even more. Then again, Prometheus could have toned down his dislike for the god when talking to Andrew, in some sort of attempt to be polite.

Well, its certainly a courageous thing you're doing. I personally wouldn't touch it - so no, I'm not in cahoots with anyone. Especially that ***** of a sister. As to helping you..."

Andrew realized that he had thanked Apollo too quickly, as his father's smile took a turn for the darker.

Can I take back my thanks?

He wasn't as amused as Apollo seemed to be by all of this, nor had he realized that Apollo would be this opposed to even giving some information, just the slightest aid seemed to demand some sort of sacrifice.

"I would be choosing a side if I did that. A costly action, which of course demands a price. But what can you offer me Andrew? I crave things of incredible taste - the finest food, beautiful music...company."

Andrew could hear that Apollo was putting an emphasis on the word company.

You already know what you want, don't you, you bastard?

He didn't comment on it aloud, but Andrew couldn't help but narrow his eyes. So, he wanted someone from his group? Considering who the members was, it was obvious that it was one of the girls, even if Apollo was attracted to men like in the myths, the only men there apart from Andrew was Steven and Prometheus. So yeah. The women.

The more important question is, what does he want with them?

Perhaps what he had to offer was really useful, but he had only named a price -kind of at least- not saying what he could tell Andrew, nor what he would give in return. Andrew needed to know that to even consider what he wanted, and he doubted he'd even be able to give it to the god, considering he was requesting the... what, company of one of the girls? Or perhaps more than one, Andrew didn't know.

At least I know Prometheus was right about him. I don't know if I like being compared to this, though.

Andrew didn't think he was like this, at least he was actually trying to do something like saving people. Apollo was just taking advantage of his request for help.

"I think we're being followed. Check the mirror."

"A friend of yours?"

He didn't care for Apollo's tone, but Andrew finally smirked, seeing Nicole running after them. Sure, it was annoying, and he'd rather she hadn't, but at least now he could talk more freely.

"Well, you clearly knew I wasn't here alone," Andrew commented, dryly, but with amusement. Apollo had seemed pretty arrogant before, but it was obvious that this was his mistake, not Andrew's. "And I asked if I could see you in private. Clearly, starting an alarm was the best thing to do." He also realized another thing, and continued.

"There might have been two of them, Nicole and Aria were supposed to head out together."

With me, but no one needs to know that detail.

"So I'd say Prometheus probably knows by now. Which means the whole group knows, and they think you might be a bad guy." Andrew was having some sort of fun now. Even if he was going to get mauled half to death by a pissed off Prometheus. Still, provided Apollo was still committed to "helping", Andrew had to make sure he had results in all of this, or he would be responsible for creating a mess with no actual gain.

"As for what you want, it better be worth it. Not to appease me, obviously."

It wasn't his choice. Not at this point, not when it included someone else. As much as the moral thing would be to just say no, it was their choices. "You'll need to have something fairly useful to convince anyone to do anything with or for you. And I don't just mean information, there's is no guarantee you know enough for it to be worth it." Andrew didn't even care if he sounded haughty by now. If Apollo thought he could get away with speaking like that to someone, so could Andrew. Even if the other happened to be a god, and his father. He remained calm the whole time he spoke, tone still having a slight playfulness to it.

"So? Before someone manages to stop the car would probably be preferable. I did ask for your help, and I've already thanked you, so I'm not going to accept something half-hearted either. I'm..."

Everyone is going to be furious.

"Not really in a position to do that."

 

[Green Shoes]

It was raining simultaneously in three parts of the world, where three identical crones stepped out from wooden doors. Stopped low, with cracked skin and pale eyes, they wrapped themselves in heavy black coats, waiting in the shadow of an alley. Waiting for three very particular people.

As Jon, Toushiro and Prail stepped out in front of their separate alleys, the women quickly grabbed their wrists, muttering an ancient language under their breath. Their grip tightened, and then they vanished, taking the three youths with them.

Toushiro awoke first, followed by Prail and then Jon. They were lying on a bearskin rug, warmed by a nearby fire. The small hut was covered in macabre odds and ends - bones, eyes, snakes and scales, all strung up or in jars. A single old crone sat opposite them in a chair, whose support was made of bones. She smiled sweetly at them, her eyes alive with swirling colours.

Her voice was grating, her breath horrid.

"Finally awake. Well, you still have some time before they come pick you up. Need anything? Get it yourself!"

 

[IFS]

The car turned abruptly, and with surprising sharpness considering that it was a limo. It had already been steadily getting away from Nicole as even as fast as she could run she couldn't keep up with a car. She gritted her teeth, not going to let you get away. Her wings manifested invisibly behind her pushing herself faster with the new strength they granted and using them to keep herself balanced as she made the turn after the limo, though for the most part she kept them folded behind her to not slow herself down.

Behind her she vaguely noticed the van starting to move, looks like Aria told everyone the news,she thought, good. That said given the abrupt turn it seemed like the driver of the car had noticed her and was trying to lose her. Less good, after all even with the new burst of speed she couldn't match the pace of a car.

 

[hiei82]

Vera was a little surprised when Prometheus returned so soon after leaving; dragging Steven and and Aria with him. Apparently something had happened and, judging by Prometheus's words, it had to do with one or more of their group and - more than likely - another god.

And Vera wasn't going to let this become a repeat of last time.

She unbuckled her seat-belt, opened the nearest window, and pushed her head through. From there, she could see Nicole, wings spread, chasing after a car. It didn't take a genius to figure out something was going on in that car the rest of us wouldn't approve of. So, Vera transformed; taking wind shape.

She flowed free of the van as quickly as she could then slamming down on the vehicle with all the force she could generate; hoping to break something vital and stop the car.