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

[IFS]

Apollo reacted with surprising offense at Aria's statements, defending himself and Andrew. He seemed almost appalled at the notion that his intentions were anything less than gentlemanly.

"Whoring anyone out. I don't want sex, just a nice date. Is that so much to ask?"

This statement of his was rather reassuring though, and she felt herself relax somewhat, although she hadn't been aware she was as tense as she had been. Then Apollo did something quite unexpected, bowing to her and kissing her hand, sending a tingling sensation through her. I can certainly think of worse things than a date with Apollo I suppose, Nicole thought to herself, though she reminded herself that Apollo could still easily have intentions beyond those he expressed.

"Lovely to meet you, Nicole. I've heard a lot about you. I'll come and pick you up at sunset, and I'll have you back at sunrise. Right here. Is that alright?"

He has? Who from, Andrew, my mom? He is a prophetic deity so who knows. She nodded though, regardless of Apollo's motives it would be best to have the date out of the way sooner rather than later. It'll probably be nice to get away from all this even, regardless of the circumstances, she caught herself thinking, at the very least hopefully it won't be as bad as Andrew was making it sound.

"Yeah, that should work," Nicole replied, sounding a bit confused and surprised "I'll see you then."

 

[DarkRawen]

"Disgusting? I offer you the gift of Ambrosia in exchange for one date. And Andrew is not -"

At that moment, Apollo took the chance to examine Nicole, taking a break in the middle of a sentence. From the tone of his voice, it was obvious that the god was trying to trick them, at least, it made sense that he was.

Whoring anyone out. I don't want sex, just a nice date. Is that so much to ask?"

I don't believe that.

However, did he want to say that aloud? Not only would insulting Apollo probably not work out well, but if the others believed the god, if only slightly so, that'd make the whole situation a little better, right? If they all were oblivious to how Apollo really was, then... perhaps it'd be less negative.

I don't know. I honestly have no idea.

Andrew would have preferred honesty. However, when dealing with other people, those with more emotions, something like this might be better. Apollo continued, addressing Nicole this time, telling her he would pick her up at sunset, and give her back on sunrise. Andrew couldn't help but frown, especially considering the fact that Apollo seemed to have heard about Nicole, and exited through the door on the opposite side of the whole conversation.

"Andrew..."

He heard Prometheus say. Andrew couldn't tell if the titan was mad or not, but now, with Apollo occupied, apparently done with deals and busy flirting, Andrew might as well take the chance to explain his actions to Prometheus, make him see what he had been thinking.

Who am I kidding?

He asked himself, as he walked over to the titan, leaving a couple of feet between them as a distance. If Prometheus really was still mad, then that might leave Andrew some time to act.

I'm just going to be twisting my words and intentions.

"You told me I could be the emissary," he started, giving off a mixed feeling made of pride, responsibility, empathy, and a slight guilt. Honestly, it wasn't one that worked out well, and Andrew found himself wanting to neglect it the moment he started speaking. However, he just continued, voice gradually turning colder, rather than less, which would have been preferable.

"I wasn't aware of that I couldn't do something on my own. Telling everyone what I was intending to do would just have cause you to oppose it, or try to interfere. I thought this was something worth doing, so I put myself at risk, and I didn't want you to become involved in that." By now, he sounded hardly convincing. Why was he finding it so hard to lie right now?

"I managed to get something out of it, a powerful power, if one that needs to be used with care. Ambrosia, the liquid, Apollo gave me some of that. Not enough to make me immortal, but enough. I..." Andrew frowned. "I didn't know he would give me the payment before asking for the cost. Now he's going to take Nicole out on a date, one night, she agreed to it. I..." he stopped completely, just examined Prometheus. This wasn't going to fool him, not at all. Not anyone. Not to mention, Andrew had been speaking the truth this time, why was he having such difficulties? Or even, why was he still trying to lie in the first place?

"Will it help if I say I'm sorry?"

 

[Terratina.]

Through all of the chaos, Etna stayed - or rather, hid herself - in the RV. She was ever conscious of the weight in her hand, even now she clung onto that damn dagger.

'Annoying Andrew.' That was her only thought on the matter.

The Celtic cynic saw no need to get involved since the others were already running around after him, no to mention her reluctance to do so. If he wanted to run away, or whatever, that was up to him. It would at least make the whole experience less torturous.

Now that was a funny way to describe it.

Ever since the event, Etna had gone over it again and again, telling herself that it was justified. She just wanted to let go of the banshee's dagger, but where to put it? She definitely needed a sheath or something.

After all, simply placing it in her belt was a sure-fire to get herself stabbed.

Etna wandered over to the RV's kitchen and found some cereal, scissors, and some tape. Using those three things, she created a rather makeshift sheath for the dagger.

It would do, for now.

 

[hiei82]

As Nicole offered to go on a date, Vera - still stuck in wind form - could only vibrate the air to show her disapproval. Whatever Apollo's gift or his intentions, it was an unnecessary and significant risk. How could they know Apollo wasn't out to kill them? For all they knew, he was trying to divide the group and kill them 1 by 1. Maybe he had some way to turn Nicole against them - he was a god after all. Even if he wasn't sinister, who knew what he had planned for Nicole. After all, no matter what he said, the Greek gods weren't exactly known for their sexual restraint.

It was because she was thinking these thoughts that she failed to notice the driver make his way over to her; not that she was going to pay much attention anyway. After all, she was in wind form where little could hurt her. A moment later, he'd somehow reached out and "pulled" her out of the wind; as little sense as that made.

needless to say, this left her dumbstruck. How had he done that?

Spoiler: OOC

seriously though... how did that work? She wasn't in the wind; she WAS the wind. I'm very confused...

 

[Not G. Ivingname]

"Disgusting? I offer you the gift of Ambrosia in exchange for one date. And Andrew is not -"

"Whoring anyone out. I don't want sex, just a nice date. Is that so much to ask?"

"Lovely to meet you, Nicole. I've heard a lot about you. I'll come and pick you up at sunset, and I'll have you back at sunrise. Right here. Is that alright?"

Steven turned to Apollo. The shotgun was pointed straight at the God's face.

"Do not take that deal," Steven said, really wishing he could pull the trigger right now, "Spend even a minute with alone, and you will find yourself in my position."

 

[Green Shoes]

Apollo bowed his head at Nicole, a small smile on his lips.

"Wonderful. I'll see you then."

He turned to leave and follow Asclepius, but was faced with the barrell of Steven's shotgun. Reaching over, he pressed down on Stevens finger, the trigger firing, with no effect. Apollo smiled and spoke, lowering the gun with his hand.

"A word of caution. Dont try to negotiate after a deal has been struck, and dont threaten a God, alone, with a gun. Especially one that is empty.""

Walking to Andrew, he saw Asclepius pull up in a rather rickety, red sedan. Sighing, he spoke to Andrew alone, puling him away from the Titan with a wink to Prometheus, keeping his voice down. He placed a small phone in Andrews hand, closing his fist around it.

"If you ever want out, call me. Things are going to get very bad, Andrew. I am your father - I will come and get you. No questions. Your friends, the Titan; they can't save you if they fail."

Stepping back from Andrew, he nodded. Nothing more needed to be said. As Apollo stepped into the car, he grinned and laughed.

"Oh and Andrew. I'm rooting for you!"

As they drove away, Asclepius kept his eyes on Vera, watching her.

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

Prometheus listened to Andrew with an increasingly sour expression. He was about to speak when the youth was tugged away from him by Apollo. When Andrew returned, the Titan spoke only four words. His face was contorted into rage, yet his eyes lacked any passion. Prometheus was simply disappointed. Andrew risked the lives of many, without any consultation, and had inadvertantly sold off Nicole as a harlot.

"Get in the van."

He rounded up the others silently, everyone taking a seat in the van. He addressed them from the couch, rubbing his temples in frustration. He had found a few shotgun shells that he handed to Steven, rolling them across the table.

"Please, nobody repeat Andrews stunt. There's no way of knowing who is on our side, and it places us all in danger. I have some good news though. We're off to pick up some help - I have it on good authority that whatever it is will help turn the tide somewhat. Someone explain to me exactly what is going on while I drive."

Prometheus returned to the drivers seat and started driving, heading away from the town and onto a small dirt road.

 

[DarkRawen]

Prometheus was about to speak, but Andrew was quickly pulled away by Apollo, and the god handed him a phone. Andrew put it in his pocket, as Apollo spoke.

"If you ever want out, call me. Things are going to get very bad, Andrew. I am your father - I will come and get you. No questions. Your friends, the Titan; they can't save you if they fail."

Andrew nodded, he wasn't sure how else to react. This was... he wasn't sure what to make of it. Was Apollo speaking the truth this time? He realized that he might be the very same, hard to read not only because of his skills when it came to lying, but because one had no way of knowing what the true state of mind was.

"Oh and Andrew. I'm rooting for you!"

Still, when Apollo laughed, smiling, Andrew felt a slight warmth inside. He supposed, even if it was only a guise, he wanted it to be true. When Apollo and Asclepius had driven away, he walked back to Prometheus, who looked very disappointed.

"Get in the van."

Andrew supposed that affected his state of mind as well, he hadn't thought Prometheus would go without yelling at him, or telling him what to do. For a very short moment, he questioned his actions, feeling some sort of shame and guilt for something else than the fact that Nicole had chosen to go with out Apollo as payment. Then, Prometheus spoke again.

"Please, nobody repeat Andrews stunt. There's no way of knowing who is on our side, and it places us all in danger. I have some good news though. We're off to pick up some help - I have it on good authority that whatever it is will help turn the tide somewhat. Someone explain to me exactly what is going on while I drive."

"Oh. So you have contacted someone, who you believe can help us, without asking anyone else about it beforehand, nor giving us details to whom this may be? I always figured you had no idea where we were going, or what we were about to do, but I didn't know you were such a self-righteous, hypocritical son of a *****." Andrew few a cold annoyance as he spoke, and he conveyed the feeling through his words and tone.

"It makes sense, I suppose. It's only fine when you do it, after all, because you still believe I'm trying to get away. Probably even betray you. It's not like everyone so far has known where to find us already, right? We'd need to actually get ambushed for that... wait, we have been. Several times. Do you really think I didn't know of the risks?" He sighed. Andrew wasn't even sure why this annoyed him so much. He probably should be quiet, after all, he had gotten Nicole into an... odd, possibly bad situation. However, he owed Nicole something. Not Prometheus. Andrew sat down in the passenger seat, not looking at the titan.

"I would tell you to go to hell, but you already dragged us down there, for little to no reason. I hardly know why I'm doing this anymore, I just... don't want anyone to die. Also, the situation at hand? Nicole will be together with Apollo from sunset to sunrise, one night, and I can save someone on the brink of death now, the cost being that I get their pain and fatigue. If you don't like it, then I'll make sure to remember not to save you."

If Prometheus was going to get upset, so be it. Andrew had placed himself there as a way of showing that he simply did not care anymore. His hand went to his pocket, to the phone Apollo had handed him. He knew he most likely wouldn't call Apollo with it, but he had a couple of calls he had wanted to make, after asking Prometheus whether or not it would be safe to do so.

Nevermind, I suppose.

 

[IFS]

Steven turned his gun on Apollo, threatening him, goddamn it does he know how to do anything other than wave a gun around? Plumbing I guess.

"Spend even a minute with alone, and you will find yourself in my position."

Nicole began to reply but Apollo acted first, calmly pushing down the trigger, she felt a shiver go through her. The gun wasn't loaded and all the trigger produced was an empty click, but even so Apollo's action was impressive and scary.

"A word of caution. Don't try to negotiate after a deal has been struck, and don't threaten a God, alone, with a gun. Especially one that is empty."

Apollo then turned and walked off, going to speak with Andrew from the look of it. Nicole turned to speak to Steven, annoyed and angry with him. His actions could have easily turned a friendly(ish) god against them, or even simply made Apollo leave and take his gift with him. Though we don't know if he can actually take the power back, but its best not to risk it.

"How many times do I have to say this? It's my choice alright?" she said, pushing past him and heading to the van.

"Please, nobody repeat Andrews stunt. There's no way of knowing who is on our side, and it places us all in danger. I have some good news though. We're off to pick up some help - I have it on good authority that whatever it is will help turn the tide somewhat. Someone explain to me exactly what is going on while I drive."

Prometheus said once they were all in the van, Andrew spoke up defending himself well and pointing out the hypocrisy of Prometheus's statements. Nicole sat quietly while Andrew talked then spoke up, she didn't want to get involved in another argument about Andrew's actions.

"How far are we going? I need to be back here by sunset," she said,she still had mixed feeling about what she had agreed to but she had agreed to it and was not about to back out "And don't tell me I shouldn't go, I've made my choice and if Andrew's new power can save lives then it's worth it."

 

[Lunar Templar]

Aria looked up as the other came back into the van and Prometheus gave a blanket statement about not doing what Andrew just did, due to not knowing who can be trusted, then with almost the same breath, told every he'd done just that. Aria sat taken aback by the gall of the hypocrisy, to which Andrew called him out on splendidly. "Andrew has a point, how do you know this contact of yours can still be trusted?" she said, choosing to ignore Nicole's comment, as Aria's opinion on that has been voiced.

 

[CrazyGirl17]

"So, what are you guys doing here? Considering the company we're supposed to be dealing with I can hardly imagine you guys are just human."

Shiro blinked, realizing the girl had spoken up. "Um yeah... I guess you could say that. My dad's Susanoo, god of storms. I take it you're all part god too?" He asked, trying to make light conversation to pass the time.

After all, the crone did mention someone was coming soon, the question was,m what would they be like?

 

[Green Shoes]

Prometheus drove as he listened to Andrew. It had been a long time since someone had addressed him like so, longer still since he had had his flaws pointed out. He frowned, not out of anger or frustration, but as he came to realize he had become like the other gods.

"Huh. You know, you're absolutely right. I've been assuming I'm infallible this whole trip. I needed to hear that, Andrew."

His tone was more shock than anything. The rant, albeit somewhat vicious, had bored straight through the layers of arrogance that had built up over so many years. The titan felt clean, refreshed. He felt good. He spoke now to Aria.

"I spoke to Hermes on the phone earlier. I know he can be trusted as he's a man...God...of favours. And he owes me. Which means a lot in our world at least."

Prometheus still tussled with the notion that he had been wrong this whole time. It was almost an impossibility, but there it was.

"Andrew, in regards to your earlier statement, I can promise you I know nothing more than the rest of us. I'm only here because I happen to really like people. I don't want more of them to die."

Addressing Nicole now, he nodded. Watching the sun, it was beginning its slow descent from the sky - they had a few hours, but he doubted that was long enough. He didn't want her to be late. Pulling up, he stopped the Van and spoke.

"In that case, perhaps we should wait with you. On the other hand, if we keep Hermes waiting, he might...renege. What do you want to do?"

 

[IFS]

"In that case, perhaps we should wait with you. On the other hand, if we keep Hermes waiting, he might...renege. What do you want to do?"

Nicole was surprised by the lack of anger in Prometheus's voice, after listening to Andrew's rant the titan seemed to become relaxed and calm rather than offended. It was a rather odd and surprising reaction, and his words after that were also interesting. Good to hear we've got another god on our side, hopefully at least, Hermes is a trickster god so we need to be careful about trusting him.

She thought more on Prometheus's question for her, it's still a bad idea to split the party, but it wouldn't be good to accidentally piss of a potential ally by keeping him waiting. She frowned then reached a decision.

"I can handle myself for a few hours," she said, with some uncertainty "I don't want us to miss out on an ally because of me."

As she spoke she stood up and stepped out of the van, looking back at the town and beginning to walk towards it.

"Good luck," she said "I'll see you all in the morning."

 

[DarkRawen]

"Huh. You know, you're absolutely right. I've been assuming I'm infallible this whole trip. I needed to hear that, Andrew."

"What?" Andrew replied, surprised. He had expected a lot of reactions, but not that. After all, his attack on Prometheus' personality and actions had more been an attack out of spite than anything else.

Is this a trick?

It didn't sound like it. Not at all. Prometheus' tone sounded... sincere, very much so. More than anything Andrew could manage to do. The titan went on to explain his action.

"I spoke to Hermes on the phone earlier. I know he can be trusted as he's a man...God...of favours. And he owes me. Which means a lot in our world at least."

That's... a lot better than what I had. It's still not that much, but a god of favors have to have some sort of obligation, I suppose. More than what Apollo had.

It made Andrew question just what he thought Apollo would be there for, he had offered a deal, could Andrew really act all surprised and innocent about Apollo wanting a deal? Wasn't that basically what Andrew had asked for?

Even if he asked for something like that, the only reason it went down was because I didn't offer anything better...

"Andrew, in regards to your earlier statement, I can promise you I know nothing more than the rest of us. I'm only here because I happen to really like people. I don't want more of them to die."

"It's fine, I..." he glanced over at Prometheus, trying to spot any sort of sign whatsoever of that the titan was lying, but found none. "I believe you." Andrew's tone wasn't at all the same kind of tone that Prometheus' voice had been. It was still cold, but there was the sound of him believing Prometheus, as well as a trace of humbleness. He had no choice but to, the sudden change had left him somewhat speechless. However, he did find something to say.

"I don't like people, but I'm the same, I'm only here because I don't want more of them to die. It's true. I don't know why, but I just don't want people to die." He didn't know why he felt the need to restate that. Andrew supposed he just wanted Prometheus to believe him on that. No, not only him, everyone else. It would make things easier, after all.

"I can handle myself for a few hours. I don't want us to miss out on an ally because of me."

Nicole stepped out of the car, and started going back to the town. Andrew didn't like the action, Apollo never had specified a certain location to pick her up, so he had assumed Apollo would just pick her up wherever, but really, that was idiotic, now that he actually considered it.

I suppose I really didn't think this through.

"Good luck, I'll see you all in the morning."

Andrew looked towards her. This was troubling. Not to mention, his fault. However, he decided not to stand up and follow her right away, just addressed Prometheus. "Do you want me to stay and wait with her?" he asked. "I know I'm not the right person to go with her, I'm more useful here, where there are more people, and I'm not fit for fighting, but... someone needs to go with Nicole, and it's my fault." He found it odd, admitting aloud to have made a mistake, but that honestly didn't matter now. Someone did need to go with her. And he found it surprisingly easy to say he would do it.

 

[Rogue Trooper]

"Welcome to real life. When you're needed, you're needed."

Jonathan just grunted at the hag?s statement as he folded his arms and leaned his back against the wall of the cabin.
Even if he wanted to, Jonathan was pretty sure that the hag wouldn?t let him go without a fight. Magic was her area of expertise it seemed and although Jonathan was an anger and brutal person, he wasn?t stupid. Magic was a dangerous enemy to fight and f violence did break out between him and the hag as he tried to leave. The prospect of getting his bones turned into furniture was enough to make him stay, at least until this titan or whatever finally came.

Personally Jonathan couldn?t really give a damn about this mad god or whatever who was going around killing people for the fun of it. It didn?t bother him, so why should he give a shit about it? Although he had to admit that if this titan needed help and despite him caring little about the situation, the opportunity to kill a mad god may just be incentive enough for him to lend his aid to the task.

?Take it you're all part god too??

Jonathan nodded ?Am the son of Nemain, Gaelic goddess of war and fury? he then looked over towards the girl and spoke ?What about you girl, Care to share your story with the rest of us??

 

[Lunar Templar]

"Not so much in mine..." Aria said to Prometheus with a sigh as Nicole left, Andrew volunteering to stay behind with her "I'll stay instead, I can teleport remember, I can catch up after, or, since I don't actually know where your going, just chill in town, your just picking something up right? I'll be fine for a few hours."

 

[CrazyGirl17]

"So what can you guys do? Being divine and all."

"Well... for starters, I can control the weather." Shiro piped up. "well, okay, not a whole lot, but I can do this."

He snapped his fingers and a tiny cloud poofed into existence above him. "See?"

Suddenly, the cloud turned gray and began raining on him. "...I'm still trying to get the hang of it."

He quickly waved his hands at the cloud to make it dissipate.

"I'd do more," he continued, "But I don't want to mess up Oba-san's house any. He gestured at the old crone as he said this.

 

[hiei82]

"I can handle myself for a few hours," Nicole said, uncertainty in her voice "I don't want us to miss out on an ally because of me."

Vera was about to volunteer to remain with her and shadow her for her date - just to be safe - when Andrew and Aria stepped up first. Vera opened her mouth to speak up, but stopped in her tracks. They couldn't risk splitting the group up too much. She wanted to stay with Aria and Nicole herself, but as Apollo's companion had proven, her powers would be all but meaningless should trouble erupt. When it came down to it, Prometheus needed more people should the potential meeting with allies go south.

So, Vera said "Stay safe" and returned to her seat, where she would no doubt worry about them until they next saw each other.

 

[Not G. Ivingname]

Steven loaded the shotgun and pocketed the rest of the shells. He didn't want to say anything as the others talked, still pissed at Andrew for almost everything that had happened in the last few days.

"I don't like people, but I'm the same, I'm only here because I don't want more of them to die. It's true. I don't know why, but I just don't want people to die."

Steven turned to Andrew, but didn't say anything. He considered the words, unsure if they are true or not. He shook his head, not wanting to dwell on it.

"I can handle myself for a few hours."

Steven turn to Nicole.

"Just make sure to stay safe," Steven said, throwing her a weak smile.