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

[Not G. Ivingname]

Watching from his seat, Steven really wondered

"We have three new people, dont freak out. Steven, don't let the crazy girl know who your father is just yet."

Steven raised an eyebrow, but nodded.

"At least we have... reinforcements," he said, wondering if these new people had any idea what they were going into.

 

[Terratina.]

"We have three new people, don't freak out."

New blood to replace old? Why not get an entire army of demigods while they were at it? From a previous peek in the window, they looked like lost little lambs, like lambs to the slaughter.

"Hello."

...Or rather not. Etna tried to ignore the mass of blood and entails on the strange girl's weapon. Well, at least the girl wouldn't have any problems with fighting, unlike Etna herself.

"Hi. Welcome to the team, I guess?" She said to the newcomer, arms folded.

In some sense, it felt nice to have some new blood in the team. Still, Etna agreed with Steven. Reinforcements were nice, but in the end, would that just mean that more people would get hurt?

 

[hiei82]

"Hello."

Vera couldn't say she wasn't happy to see another heavily armed member of their team. If it kept them all alive, she'd be happy to work with just about anyone. She doubted she would have said that before Able and Remus had passed, but the lesson their deaths had taught was a tough and unforgiving one. She heard Etna welcome them, so Vera decided to do much the same.

"Likewise. I'm betting the gods didn't explain much inside the hut... thing. If you have any questions, I'll try to answer them. The name's Vera and it's a pleasure to meet all of you." she said to the three new allies.

 

[Not G. Ivingname]

"Which is the crazy..." Steven started to think.

"Hello."

"...Holy !#$^."

Steven stared at the blood covered spear.

"Hi," Steven said, deciding that this is a girl he didn't want to make an enemy of.

"Likewise. I'm betting the gods didn't explain much inside the hut... thing. If you have any questions, I'll try to answer them. The name's Vera and it's a pleasure to meet all of you."

"So can I," Steven said quickly, "But do you need anything? Water? Food? A paper towel?"

Spoiler: OOC

"Holy !@#%" was also a thought, not something said aloud.

 

[Green Shoes]

Apollo smiled again as Nicole sat down in the passenger seat. She barely fastened her seatbelt before he started driving hastily out of town. As he drove, he spoke to her as if talking to an old friend.

"I hope it'll be nice for you tonight. Catch a break from...all of it. Just have a night of pseudo a normality."

He looked down at himself then laughed, an infectious and melodic sound that put a smile on her face. The God continued to exude an aura of charisma and approachability; part divine, part charm. Though it was comforting, it balanced carefully upon the edge of dangerous, a fact that could be felt by both of them.

Arriving at a narrow airstrip, they were greeted by the sight of a sleek, hyper modern private jet. Stepping out of the car, Apollo opened the door for Nicole, ushering her inside, continuing to chat about trivial things. Inside, the plane was a blend of cream leather and light wood finished; several couches arrayed next to a sand table with figures and lines splaced sporadically. At the back was a bar, manned by an attractive brunette.

Apollo tool a seat and motioned towards the back.

"There's a shower and clean clothes past the bar. I figured you might like to change into something fresh, not that there's anything wrong with what you're in."

Next to the rather lavish shower was indeed a choice selection of dresses, all rather classy. Ordering a vodka, he smiled and cocked his head, trying to gauge her reaction.

 

[Green Shoes]

A stiff breeze blew through the town as Apollo left. It carried with it faint traces of smoke - not uncommon, though Aria could feel the mark of the dead upon the breeze. Then she heard it, the soft wailing, audible only to her, flowing across the town from above. A monastery, recently renovated, large and foreboding. Too far to see details with the naked eye, all she could do was hear the screams, and feel the soft pains carried on the wind.

 

[IFS]

"I hope it'll be nice for you tonight. Catch a break from...all of it. Just have a night of pseudo a normality."

"I hope it'll be nice too," Nicole replied quietly, almost to herself "though I think this is a far cry from normality."

Her words were drowned out by Apollo's infectious laughter, and she couldn't help but smile and laugh with him a little. Apollo's words matched her own thoughts perhaps a bit too closely, but all the same his presence was strangely comforting. Even so underneath that there was an unmistakable aura of power about him, it frightened Nicole a little reminding her of how he had called Steven's bluff, certainly she wasn't going to be forgetting that Apollo was a god anytime soon.

They traveled quickly and soon Nicole found herself boarding an impressive looking private jet, where are we going for this date? Nicole wondered to herself. For now all she could do was follow, and be impressed by the amount of luxury present all around her.

"There's a shower and clean clothes past the bar. I figured you might like to change into something fresh, not that there's anything wrong with what you're in."

"Oh wow," Nicole said, she had never expected a shower, especially not one so fancy, on a jet. A shower would be really nice right now, after everything that's happened. The dresses all looked quite nice as well, and she did feel rather under-dressed compared to Apollo in his suit.

"Just give me some privacy to get cleaned up and dressed," she said, waiting for him to do so before stripping down and stepping into the shower. She took her time letting the water wash over her, trying to cleanse her of recent events, and enjoying the feeling of hot clean water washing over her. After some time she stepped out of the shower, dried off, and turned to selecting a dress soon deciding on a long black one.

She walked back out, feeling refreshed from the shower, and while her movement was a bit restricted by the dress it felt nice to dress up like this. She didn't normally do so very often after all, she was glad the dress wasn't skimpy or too revealing though, have to remember who I'm dealing with here after all.

"How do I look?" she asked Apollo as she stepped back out to the bar.

 

[CrazyGirl17]

Straighting up, Shiro regarded the bearded man, as well as the adolescents behind him.

"Um, hello. You must be our escort. My name is Shiro Yamamoto, nice to meet you." He bowed politely as he said this, he straightened up again and added, "If you don't mind, I'm sort of curious why you need to call us here."

He glanced at his companions beside him, trying to ignore the fact that the girl's spear was somewhat bloody.

 

[hiei82]

"If you don't mind, I'm sort of curious why you need to call us here." The Japanese man said; introducing himself as Shiro. Vera thought the question through for a second, trying to find the best way to summarize everything, before speaking up.

"Basically, as we've been told anyway, one of the Greek Gods - Dionysus - has gone power mad and is on a rampage. He's been sacrificing people to increase his power for some reason, is trying to bring about Ragnarok, is driving gods insane or otherwise pulling them over to his side. Apparently, the gods can't deal with the problem themselves because Dionysus can sense when they approach. So, Zeus assembled a "crack team" of - mostly - teenage/young adult demigods to fight back. Needless to say, it's been rather difficult... and we just lost two very good people because of it." Vera said, filling in most of the blanks she hoped.

 

[Lunar Templar]

Aria heard the wailing over some where over head, she had heard it for a little while now, but was ignoring it till now, it was the feel of 'death' on the air that made her stop and actually listen. She followed the sounds through the town till an old monastery came into view, she paused there. The sounds where not only getting louder but there was more to them, she was starting to feel an ache in her body, like she'd been working all day or something similar, while decided if she should go in to investigate or not.

 

[DarkRawen]

Andrew had taken his time looking for Aria. Actually, he had taken the time to buy some food, as he had gotten hungry, and had spent some time just wandering around as he ate, halfway looking for her, halfway making sure he didn't accidentally walk into her and upset her. He wondered if Nicole was being treated right, most likely so. Even if Apollo did try something, the chance of him hurting Nicole was somewhat small, at least if the god intended to stay as neutral as he had claimed he was. Still, there was nothing Andrew could do, but wait and see, for both the van and Nicole.

This is idiotic, though.

Why had even both of them been sent, if Aria was going to run off like this? Andrew was getting increasingly annoyed at that fact, they had been sent as a pair so that they could be safer. He considered just giving up and letting Aria do whatever the fuck she wanted, he could go get a drink or something. Of course, he'd have to explain the bow if he did, but he had managed to make the people in the grocery store trust him -he had managed to convince them of that it was simply an antique, which hadn't been hard considering what it looked like- so he could make these people too. However, it was at that moment he spotted Aria, walking determinedly towards something, although he didn't know what.

Trouble?

Perhaps so, he had to keep an eye out, at least. She stopped not far from there, looking at some monastery. Andrew couldn't really see her that well in the darkness, but the behavior was suspicious to say the least, so he approached her, not waiting for her to notice him before he spoke.

"What are you doing?" he asked, his tone being both curious and annoyed. He walked up next to her. "Why are you standing here? Is something wrong?"

If she runs away, I swear...

Andrew was about to say something more, something about her running away being more than a little annoying. However, he stopped himself before he spoke. That really wasn't the approach he should take. If he ended up having to look for her again, he'd rather just not. Instead, he held out the bag of food, not very much, but he had bought food taking Aria's portion into consideration, if only so that she couldn't complain about that.

"I have food for you if you're hungry."

 

[Lunar Templar]

"What are you doing? Why are you standing here? Is something wrong?"

Aria turned to see Andrew, her expression showed she was annoyed he'd followed her, but that was only a minor annoyance, the monastery was of far greater concern, and she turned back to it "Something is here, I can hear it, even feel it" she started "Some kind of howling spirit, a banshee maybe? or something like it? Ether way I don't think leaving it be is a good idea, I just haven't decided on going in or not." Aria said, then glanced at Andrew "If I'm gonna, probably should sooner rather then later, you and the others will only be in the way if it's a ghost related matter"

 

[DarkRawen]

"Something is here, I can hear it, even feel it. Some kind of howling spirit, a banshee maybe? or something like it? Ether way I don't think leaving it be is a good idea, I just haven't decided on going in or not."

Andrew glanced towards the monastery, he couldn't hear a single thing. However, Aria could talk to spirits, right?

Yeah, she was the one who spoke to the owner of the tongue.

Still, this was troubling. While he could admit to that it might not be a good idea, going inside didn't sound like a particularly great plan either. It was risky, that was for sure.

"If I'm gonna, probably should sooner rather then later, you and the others will only be in the way if it's a ghost related matter"

"If you're going," Andrew replied, having gotten more annoyed by now, "Then you're not going alone. If anything attacks you, and hurts you, then I can heal you, it being because of a ghost or not. Both of us were sent out for a reason, and that was not for you to go running into some place on your own. Besides, it could very well be a trap, and I'm not explaining why you were attacked while I wasn't around." He kept his eyes on hers.

"If you try to go ahead, I'll follow, because I'm not putting up with you leaving me behind again. If you want me to, I can keep a distance, I just need to be close enough to be able to run in and help you should you need it." Andrew clearly expressed that he was determined to follow her.

"I'm usually not keen on trying to force people to let me help them. However, I'm not going to let you get yourself killed."

 

[Lunar Templar]

"And how do you expect to protect your self from something you can not see, or hear?" She start still facing the building "I am not good enough, nor do I have the skill set needed to protect both of us, and YOU, are still highly valuable to the team, since you are the only one that has healing powers" Aria said turning around to face him, still neglecting to mention the air of death hanging around the place.

"Besides, what makes you think I'd let you follow me? Or that you can?" motioning to the locked gate "I can get around that easy, you, would have to pick the lock, and I'll be at the door and inside before you can finish picking it." there was an sense of smugness to that last statement, but her expression changed to a more somber one "But really, DO. NOT. FOLLOW. ME. You have no means to protect your self from these things that I know of, and I'm not gonna let you or anyone else who lack the ability to see or hear the dead walk into a place like that. It'd be foolish, and I know your not that stupid, a total jerk maybe, but not stupid."

 

[Green Shoes]

Prometheus fired up the van and started driving, back towards the town, speaking as he did so.

"Prail, Shiro. Nice to meet you. As to hunting..."

The van rounded a particularly sharp bend, tires screeching in protest.

"All we know is he's probably North. We don't know a lot, we just want to prevent any more deaths. Which is harder than it sounds."

Rolling into town, he could see neither Andrew nor Aria at the meeting point. Prometheus could have cursed, but he didn't bother wasting his breath. They just needed to find them.

"Seriously? Vera, can you look for Aria and Andrew."

He stopped the van and drummed his fingers on the shield, running his hands through his hair. He was deeply worried giving the current state of things - Nicole with Apollo, two missing, and nightfall in Russia.

"Nobody break away from the group. Prail, Shiro...other guy. You handy in a pinch?"

 

[DarkRawen]

"And how do you expect to protect your self from something you can not see, or hear? I am not good enough, nor do I have the skill set needed to protect both of us, and YOU, are still highly valuable to the team, since you are the only one that has healing powers"

"Do you honestly think I'm afraid?" Andrew asked, his tone taking a more arrogant form. "The two of us together are still a better shot than you alone, if you honestly think I'm going to just be in the way, you are underestimating me." He let Aria continue, but really, it didn't matter what she said, he still wasn't going to let her run inside alone.

"Besides, what makes you think I'd let you follow me? Or that you can? I can get around that easy, you, would have to pick the lock, and I'll be at the door and inside before you can finish picking it. But really, DO. NOT. FOLLOW. ME. You have no means to protect your self from these things that I know of, and I'm not gonna let you or anyone else who lack the ability to see or hear the dead walk into a place like that. It'd be foolish, and I know your not that stupid, a total jerk maybe, but not stupid."

"You're right, I'm not stupid," Andrew replied with. He ignored her insult for now, he would address it soon enough. "And yes, it would be foolish for me to go inside just like that. It would be just as foolish to send you in alone, though, if not more." With that, he motioned towards the opposite direction of the monastery.

"The smartest thing would be to leave it alone, if you don't know what it is, then it's not even sure you can do anything about it. However, if you're going to act like a moron, then I'm going to make that decision slightly less moronic, and better our odds. I might just be a "total jerk", but it should be clear by now that I have no intention nor desire to see you hurt or dead."

 

[Lunar Templar]

Aria sighed, shook her head, then teleported her self to the other side of the gate "The odds are only better if we had equal ability's suited for the task at hand, and we don't, healing ability or not, your only going to be in the way, stay here, or go back and wait for the others." and with that, Aria teleported her self away again, this time, out of Andrew's sight.

After she was sure she had a far enough head start Aria began her walk toward the monastery, though this time, she kept her guard up. She wasn't getting captured a second time.

 

[Green Shoes]

Apollo nodded and smiled, an impressed expression on his face. There was a genuine smile on his face, but the gods eyes hinted at perhaps ulterior motives.

"Absolutely beautiful. Venus herself would be green with envy. Now I must settle for being the less attractive of our pair."

The plane began its descent, the roar of the engines dulled through the somewhat soundproof design. Admiring Nicole, he flicked a Golden coin between his fingers, rolling it to and fro. Through the windows Nicole could see the lights of Paris drawing nearer and nearer.

"Welcome to Paris, Nicole. Been before?"

As the plane ground to a halt, Apollo continued to watch her, eager to impress. The jet had stopped on a private runway, noted by its proximity to the river and distinct lack of planes. From the window, Nicole could see a small yet beautiful wooden boat, glittering with small lights in the window panes.