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

[CrazyGirl17]

Shiro caught his breath as they finally entered the fort, but he knew it wasn't over yet. The group walked through the dark tunnel, Shiro could feel the hairs on the back of his neck standing straight up. The lack of light didn't help either. Finally, they reached a small room with a downwards staircase. But before they could go down, a strange voice spoke up out of nowhere, bouncing arund inside his head. "I think perhaps you should hear the Wine Gods case, before making any...rash judgements. Those stairs are awfully narrow..."

Without warning, they were plunged into darkness. For a moment, Shiro couldn't see anything, but then an image formed in front of him, of a young woman being thrown out of an opulent-lookung house into the snow. A woman he recognized.

"...Mother...?"

"Please," Suzume begged, "Why are you doing this?"

From the doorway, a tall, stern man Shiro assumed was his Grandfather sneered down at the young woman. "You know why you little tramp. I give you everything and in return you go and get yourself pregnant? You are a disgrace to this family. I never want to see you again." And with that, he slammed the door shut in her face.

Suzume sat there for a moment, weeping pitifully, before getting to her feet and slowly walking away from her former life.

From there he saw her raising him mostly on her own, smiling to his face, but silently weeping whenever he thought she wasn't looking. Shiro could only stand there, eyes squeezed shut and tears streaming down his face. He knew perfectly well the sort of strain his birth put on his mother, but had always tried not to think about it. Now that he could see exactly what sort of things she had gone through

It would be so easy to just let himself die and save his mother from her pain... but then she would cry anyway, and Shiro could not let that happen. She had already cried enough, and that was more than enough already.

Mother. I swear I won't make you cry any more...

 

[IFS]

"I think perhaps you should hear the Wine Gods case, before making any...rash judgements. Those stairs are awfully narrow..."

A flood of images overwhelmed Nicole, she found herself in her home sitting on her fathers bed and staring down at a picture. It was from shortly after she had been born, her father standing there blissfully happy his arm around Nike, who looked some mix of happy and confused holding her. Then she felt thoughts, her fathers thoughts, and realized she was seeing through his eyes.

He was tired, looking at the picture brought a small smile to his face but little more. He had been waiting so eagerly for Nicole to come home from college for the summer, he worried for her all the time even when he knew he shouldn't. When she had started getting into sports he had worried she might get hurt, though he didn't discourage her, and now she was off on some errand for the gods instead of home.

He heard a car stop outside, stood up and went to the window, Nicole felt her breath shorten as she realized what he was about to see, trying to wish it away. His eyes widened and the picture slipped from his grasp as he saw her get out of the car, wearing that black dress. A number of emotions welled up in him, confusion, happiness, worry, and others. Worry over who she was with and why, why she was dressed as she was, confusion for the same, happiness just to see her. Only the last of those mattered though he knew that, he wanted to rush down the stairs and embrace her, tell her he loved her and was glad she was home, but something held him in place as though part of him knew it was too good to be true.

He watched as she went up to the door, and then as she turned and left, all the while Nicole herself struggling, trying to pull herself away from this memory. Its not mine, I don't, I don't want to see this! But it didn't help, her father watched as she went back into the car, helpless and alone. He began to weep and she felt herself crying as well, Nike's absences even the longer ones had always been tolerable because he loved Nike, and because he had Nicole to look after, but now he was helpless and alone. He sat back down on the bed, staring down at the broken picture and cried.

Nicole felt herself crying as well, felt guilt and pain, and understanding. Tears still on her face her expression became more determined, I have to make it back to him, I knew if I talked to him I wouldn't be able to make myself leave, but this has to be done. I need to keep going, to get through this and make it back to him, and I'll bring mom with me so we can be a family.

Her wings exploded into visibility, their golden glow shining all around her as she swept them out to push away the webs, trying to struggle free of the vision. She wouldn't, couldn't, forget what she had seen, but she remembered what she was fighting for, and it gave her strength.

 

[Green Shoes]

Vera


Vera's sword sluiced through the webs, rendering them still and powerless, falling to the ground. The more she cut, the more seemed to fade in; the previously unblemished walls and floor seemed to grow more and more webs, until the whole room seemed to be steeped in white-grey strands. As Vera freed herself, her mind was rid of the visions, and the voice that echoed in her head seemed to fade away.

"I'll have your fucking head!"

Prail's cry was loud and piercing, and she whirled her blade fast in front of her, preventing Vera from reaching her temporarily. Nicole had backed herself into a corner, and was caught fast in seemingly hundreds of strands.

Now standing in a room covered in webs, she finished freeing all but Steven, Nicole and Prail. As she turned to cut Steven loose, she was confronted with the business end of his gun; his eyes glazed and far away. His finger was pressing down on the trigger, his eyes streaming with tears.


Nicole


In an attempt to free herself, Nicole's wings caught more and more of the webs, sending her further into madness. The webs were now tensile, and held her wings fast. The vision was gone, and she was now back in the strange, stone room; though now alone, with no evidence the webs were ever there.

A voice came from behind her, and she turned in the vision to see Prometheus come strolling through the tunnel. He was clean shaved and freshly washed; wearing a casual grey suit and a steel watch. Smiling, he came over and patted her on the back.

"You did well, kiddo. Come on; everyone's waiting outside! Don't you want to see your family?"

As he beckoned to her, Nicole heard Prail's battle-cry, and Prometheus seemed to shift slightly; in place of the Titan, for just a moment, seemed a collection of black spiders. Flashes of Prail and Steven, both still stuck in their visions, appeared in the room. But then they were gone, and though she didn't forget, she felt a deep want to live in the fantasy, and to follow the Titan out of the jail.


Prail


As Prail screamed out, her arms caught more strands, and the vision blacked out, replaced now with the empty stone room; devoid of both webs and companions. A stream of tiny black spiders flowed out from the stairs that descended further into the prison, rising up in front of her, piling more and more into the writhing mass until it took the silhouette of a man. His voice was high and shrill, and seemed to pierce her ears with an uncomfortable pitch. She saw in the corner a flickering image of Nicole, and opposite her the enraged Steven, his gun seeming to point nowhere.

"Dionysus only wishes to continue the cycle of the Gods. It is only natural, and has been put off far too long. You must understand; you of all people. Death and rebirth; the natural cycle. Just as one gods fall, others rise, and then they too will fall. Will you not listen?"


Steven


Steven narrowed his sight on Teshub, now standing in front of him, lightning leaping from his fingers. His voice seethed through his teeth, hissing with anger, a reflection of the rage that boiled within Steven.

"Do it! Prove yourself a man!"

The voices of Remus and Able competed to be heard as fog enclosed both Steven and Teshub; the clamor of their pleas rising to unbearable volumes. The desire to pull the trigger was so strong; retribution for the murders, for the hardships he had been through; in the face of the storm god was everything he had ever hated.

Steven's memory pervaded the warped vision, and Teshub now stood bleeding from his eye; tortured and in pain. He had clearly already suffered. As the vision attempted to correct itself, he saw flickers of the group, freed from the webs, and Vera; frozen in front of his gun.


Everyone Else

Freed from their visions, the group was now confronted again with reality; the room was now covered in webs, and Steven, Prail and Nicole were clearly still in their dream-state. Flickers of light came from the stairs to below; and the high-pitched voice sounded again, persistent.

"Zeus gave you no protection! Zeus hid the truth from you! This is nothing to do with protecting the people; he only wishes to tighten his grip on the throne! It is not his to hold; it belongs to the cycle. It stagnates and is polluted under his reign; we only wish to do what is natural!"

Though his words sounded sincere, their friends were still held fast in their visions, becoming more and more agitated.

 

[IFS]

"You did well, kiddo. Come on; everyone's waiting outside! Don't you want to see your family?"

"What... I..." she was confused, this seemed unreal it couldn't be over could it? Yet Prometheus was here congratulating her, He didn't come with us though, she thought and another voice answered of course he only just came because the battles over! It sounded so like her, yet off somehow, too excited too eager to accept this. She felt a tightness on her back that she couldn't place.

Things shifted for a moment, spiders ran across her vision and she saw Prail and Steven, held in visions, Prail yelling fearsomely. The tightness on her back increased slightly and the flash of vision faded. Her eyes widened, startled by the sights this isn't real is it... No it can't be, we never fought Dio... the other voice spoke again, feeling more like a part of herself maybe one she hadn't been aware of before Its ok you've been through a lot, it'll come back to you, don't worry you did it, you kept anyone else from dying!

Had she really? She didn't remember that either. She felt the pull strengthen on her back again, were her wings caught in something? Why would she even have them out? Don't worry, just follow Prommy out, you can work everything out later, the voice suggested, and she felt herself agreeing with it, after all this won't it be nice to just relax? She shook her head, whether it was in disagreement or she was simply trying to clear it she wasn't sure, but she looked up at Prometheus and took a step towards him, whether she meant to follow him out or approach him for answers even she was divided on, but the pull strengthened, tightened around her wings, trying to pull her deeper into the vision. She grimaced and made them break, twisting under the pull of the webs and splintering into rapidly fading strands of golden light.

The webs wrapped around them fell away from her and the vision began to unravel. No, why didn't you just stay? It would have been so much easier. The other voice protested, but it was fading as well, spiders swarmed across her vision as it pulled away and she found herself back in the room with the others. She gasped and steadied herself, looking over at Vera who seemed to be hacking others free of the webs. The webs, had they been what caused the visions? Was she still in a vision, just another deeper layer? It might be impossible to ever be certain.

"This is real right?" she said mostly to herself, tightening her grip on her sword trying to reassure herself, it has to be, this is where we were before I remember I know I do. With a mixture of anger and fading regret she swung at the ones that had bound her, severing them so they fell to the floor.

She turned back to the others, Vera had freed most but some were still bound, and... she saw Steven holding his gun, seemingly prepared to fire and her eyes widened in fear. She reached out with her power, still weakened from having only recently escaped the vision, and weaker still without her wings extended. She concentrated on the gun, if he fired she would do her best to stop anyone from getting shot, though still unsteady and unsure of reality she wasn't sure how much she'd be able to do.

 

[Not G. Ivingname]

"Do it! Prove yourself a man!"

The finger was applying more and more pressure...

The god started to bleed from the eyes, in pain.

For an instant, the God was replaced by Vera. The rain was gone, the group was there. It was gone as soon as it came.

"No, where..." Steven said, slowly releasing the pressure on the trigger, and slightly lowered the gun.

"I thought, the rain had stopped... the god... what..."

His elbow bumped against the ax.

The ax he built in his father's forge.

This couldn't be right...

He pointed the gun at the ground, grasping his eyes, trying to remember what was real.

 

[DarkRawen]

When Andrew came to it, he found himself standing, together with the other people in the group, in the same round room he had been in before. However, he could still very clearly remember what he had just seen, and his whole face felt wet. He turned away from the others, quickly, and started drying his face, though he had a hard time stopping crying in the first place.

Kirsten.

He thought of her crying face, and about what he had just felt. It was fading, of course it was, but he still felt a little of her sadness.

Kirsten, I want to see her. I need to see her.

Andrew wanted to see her right now, apologize. Hold her. Even if the situation right now didn't allow something like that, he didn't particularly care, not now. However, that shrill voice from before snapped him out of it.

"Zeus gave you no protection! Zeus hid the truth from you! This is nothing to do with protecting the people; he only wishes to tighten his grip on the throne! It is not his to hold; it belongs to the cycle. It stagnates and is polluted under his reign; we only wish to do what is natural!"

I'm not supporting Zeus either, though.

Andrew calmed himself down, quickly, drying the last of his tears. He didn't want them to notice that he had cried.

I shouldn't be this weak. It's not important now.

He told himself that. It wasn't that he thought of Kirsten as weak, even though she could be rather sensitive. When she cried, it was normal, she was sad, and she needed to express it. However, Andrew was different. Not stronger... but different. More logical. He had no reason to cry, nor did he get sad. Showing emotions was something he did when he lied, right now it was just pathetic. Risky. Ridiculous.

Even now, I can't trust them enough to drop my guard.

He hoped no one had realized, and turned back to the rest, noticing that the situation wasn't too good. Nicole had managed to get herself out of whatever she had been in, but both Prail, and Steven still looked... lost. Steven was pointing his gun at Vera, though he suddenly brought it down. The tension disappeared somewhat, though Andrew kept his distance. He then looked to Nicole.

"Are you okay?" he asked her. He had no business asking any of the others, after all.

 

[Rogue Trooper]

"I think perhaps you should hear the Wine Gods case, before making any...rash judgements. Those stairs are awfully narrow...?

Almost instantly after the voice had spoken Jonathan was thrown into darkness. At first nothing happened, but soon images of those he had fought and defeated appeared in front of him. Many of them were injured and even a few moaned and groaned before eventual kicking the bucket. Jonathan just watched in a nostalgia silence as the images appeared in front of him. He could recall some of the faces of those in the images, although this was only because they put up a decent enough fight and deserved to be remembered, several of his scars were a testament to that. The others however he couldn't remember and instead Jonathan just shrugged the images of them lying wounded or dying as a worthy result of them entering combat against him. As the images continued to roll Jonathan?s anger soon began to grow until eventually he grew tired of the situation.

?Is that it? he shouted into the darkness ?you try and convince me to join your side by showing me the faces of those weaklings I've defeated? You?re wasting your time arsehole?

Jonathan then tried to move but his limbs were held in place with what appeared to be rope. He pulled against them trying to break their hold over his limbs but they didn't budge, he continued to try but he made no progress expect the fact that his anger continued to grow as he struggled with his restraints.

?Struggle all you want, you?ll never break them? a voice spoke its words ringing in his head ?It?s what an animal like you deserves anyway? to be tied down?

?Fuck you? Jonathan grunted as he strained under the pressure of trying to break the rope ?I?m not an animal?

The voice laughed at Jonathan?s comment ?Say what you want boy but we both know that you?re just a slave to your anger, and the truth is your scared of that aren't you??

Jonathan said nothing to the voice?s mocking words; instead he put every ounce of his strength into trying to break the ropes that held him. But as he done this the voice continued with its onslaught of insults

?You?re scared because you know that you can?t control it, instead all you do is appease it, because that?s the only way your know how to deal with it. You vent your anger like an animal and the truth is you've always wished for something to hold you down, isn?t that right Jonathan?

Jonathan?s anger reached boiling point and as this happened he could feel his godly ability flow through his body and overtake him. His mind started to be overcome with pure rage and out of the madness that was overtaking his mind one goal rang out; kill.

His eyes opened and he was greeted with the site of the stone room and his companies. The ropes which had tied him down were gone and replaced with webs which he easily broke through, but he didn?t care he had to kill this God and every fibre of his body ached for it.

"Zeus gave you no protection! Zeus hid the truth from you! This is nothing to do with protecting the people; he only wishes to tighten his grip on the throne! It is not his to hold; it belongs to the cycle. It stagnates and is polluted under his reign; we only wish to do what is natural!"

?I don?t give a fuck what Zeus did ?Jonathan shouted his enraged voice easily drowning out the other noises in the room ?I'm going to rip out your spine AND THEN BEAT YOU TO DEATH WITH IT!!?

Jonathan then let out a blood thirsty roar and charged down the small stone steps, prepared to kill anything or anyone that might get in his path.

 

[IFS]

"Are you okay?"

"Yeah... I think so at least," she said, relaxing somewhat as Steven lowered his gun. She moved slowly to him and cut down the webs holding him, hopefully freeing him from the vision. There wasn't any point doubting her reality at the moment she had people she needed to help, or is that the trap in just another layer? No there's no other voice it has to be real. She thought, trying to reassure herself again.

She had moved over to Prail and was cutting her down when she heard Jonathan tear free of his binds and give an enraged battlecry.

"I'm going to rip out your spine AND THEN BEAT YOU TO DEATH WITH IT!!"

She hurried up her freeing of Prail, hacking quickly through the remaining webs and turned to the others as Jonathan ran down the stairs. What did he see to make him so angry? Or... I think he's been angry this whole time, but especially now.

"We should go after him shouldn't we?" she said "he won't stand a chance on his own."

She paused slightly to give the others time to follow before she moved towards the stairs after him, sword gripped tightly in both hands.

 

[CrazyGirl17]

Shiro blinked as the world came back into focus. Suddenly, the whole room was covered in cobwebs, and it looked like some of the group was still in a trance.

"Zeus gave you no protection! Zeus hid the truth from you! This is nothing to do with protecting the people; he only wishes to tighten his grip on the throne! It is not his to hold; it belongs to the cycle. It stagnates and is polluted under his reign; we only wish to do what is natural!"

Eyes narrowed, Shiro drew his sword, but before he could say anything, Jonathan broke free, roaring, "I'm going to rip out your spine AND THEN BEAT YOU TO DEATH WITH IT!!" Then charged down the stairs .

Yikes. I feel sorry for anyone who gets in his way...

By now, the last few members of the group had broken free. "We should go after him shouldn't we? he won't stand a chance on his own."

"...Sure, Hopefully he won't get started without us."

 

[Lunar Templar]

"Zeus gave you no protection! Zeus hid the truth from you! This is nothing to do with protecting the people; he only wishes to tighten his grip on the throne! It is not his to hold; it belongs to the cycle. It stagnates and is polluted under his reign; we only wish to do what is natural!"

Runa heard as the vision faded, and immediately checked her shoulder for some indication she'd been shot, and found none. " I couldn't give any less of a fuck what happens to Zeus or the rest of the assholes in his pantheon. You want him dead? Fine, go for it, I'm not here to save his worthless ass anyway, I'm here for revenge and for the small number of people I care about." Runa shouted back.

"But you ... When I find you ..." Runa started, her tone darkening to one of pure malice "There will be no 'cycle' for you to return to, When I find you, I am going to tear your soul from your worthless carcass and shatter it like a wine glass" Runa continued down the narrow stairs, following in the path Vera and cut, and unusually 'calm' given what she'd just said.

 

[DarkRawen]

"Yeah... I think so at least,"

Nicole replied, and Andrew smiled, slightly. She was busy cutting the last people loose now, but he was glad to hear she was okay. His eyes glanced over at the others, checking them for injuries and such, he was the doctor, after all. They seemed to be fine, and he smiled a bit more, though he didn't express it further. They needed to get ahead.

"I don't give a fuck what Zeus did. I'm going to rip out your spine AND THEN BEAT YOU TO DEATH WITH IT!!"

I'm fairly certain even a god would be dead if you ripped out his spine.

The tall guy who had been brought along, the rather angry one, had apparently forgotten that they were supposed to do a surprise attack. He was yelling, angrily, before racing ahead, running down the narrow steps without any consideration of what might be down there.

Dio probably knows we're here too. Even if he didn't before, he certainly does now.

They had to reason to stall, then, even if they turned back now, they probably wouldn't be able to get out.

"We should go after him shouldn't we? he won't stand a chance on his own."

Andrew nodded, and followed Nicole, listening to the others speak as he did.

"Yes, he needs to die now."

I assume you're talking about Dio.

He hadn't thought that Prail would be such a violent person, she had appeared to be a bit strange, but fairly normal earlier. Still, the others probably had seen things they didn't want to see too, so perhaps people was just pissed off because of that. Still, it was a bit too much for him to relate to, getting worked up to this point was useless.

Not that they can help it, I suppose.

"...Sure, Hopefully he won't get started without us."

Andrew agreed with that. There was no use in stalling now, if Dionysus already knew they were there, they probably wouldn't be able to get out anymore. Not to mention, if the the god wasn't alerted to their presence yet, which he doubted, but still, this was the best chance they had to do something. A surprise attack with only one person wouldn't do much good, so it was better if they managed to reach the angry guy before he got to Dio, else Andrew suspected they soon would have one less person in their group.

"But you ... When I find you... There will be no 'cycle' for you to return to, When I find you, I am going to tear your soul from your worthless carcass and shatter it like a wine glass"

Surprised, Andrew turned to look at Aria/Runa. He'd seen her annoyed before, and she was certainly an emotional person, especially from his perspective. However, the coldness she seemed to possess now was different from that, and while he didn't comment aloud, he couldn't help but feel a bit... wronged. It wasn't important now, and he shouldn't care, but why did he have to change, if someone like the angry guy, or like Aria, loud, entitled and now, outright violent, could just act like they wanted to?

No, this really didn't matter. He shook his head, and looked at Nicole again, walking around in silence was well and all, but in case Dionysus did wait at the bottom of the stairs, discussing what they could do might be a good idea. "Nicole," Andrew muttered, walking closer to her. The others would probably hear him speak too, though he made sure to speak quietly enough so that people outside the group wouldn't. "We should be prepared for that Dionysus is waiting for us now. If you hear anything, or see anything, please make sure to act. If there's a chance at surprising him, take it, even if it's just stepping out of the way so that I can hit him with an arrow, okay? If we get there, and the guy who ran ahead is seriously wounded, I need to get to him as soon as I can, so it will be up to the rest of you to prepare an opening, or bring him to me, whichever is faster and safer."

 

[Terratina.]

"You torture yourself enough, Child. Though the fate of your friend...perhaps I can illuminate you..."

"What do you... Aaugh!" Etna yelped as she felt something pierce her organs, suddenly stopping in her tracks. Just what was mother dearest doing? Nevertheless, the demigodess felt another twist in her stomach, a pang of hunger. Beset by pain and hunger, she slowly walked on to find Steven chained to a rock, surrounded by black birds - their eyes betrayed their desire as they looked down at the imprison demigod. Etna would make a joke about a bad Prometheus impersonation if the situation wasn't so serious. The pain, the hunger, the pain, the hunger, the pain, the hunger... She couldn't figure out which was worse. Or what exactly Badb was trying to tell her - the method of 'illumination' was somewhat cryptic, as per the trademark.

But there was only Etna and Steven in the little scene now.

"Gotta... try and... get you... outta here..." She said through clenched teeth as she managed to bring herself nearer to the rock the poor guy was chained to. She looked up to the obscured sky and yelled, "Whaddya trying to tell me?! If you're trying to tell me something... just spit it out already!"

There was no answer but the cawing of the crows.

Through the pain and the hunger, there wasn't sadness. There was anger. This was a stupid situation, all because she had gotten dragged into the stupid war with the stupid gods which was being fought for supposedly stupid reasons. Well, at least they knew one of them: Dionysus. What was the point of it, anyway? Apart from the obvious trio of power, wealth and prestige. What were they doing? Wait... What was she doing? Stuck in the middle of foggy nowhere with no-one but potato head onna rock and some stupid birds for company, doing nothing but yelling at the sky in the vain hope that her mother would hear her - just like a little brat crying out for Mummy. Speaking of Mummy, did she do this to Steven? Because of that mark?

She bit down some more, 'Get it together, Etna.'

How did she get here? The twentysomething frowned as she concentrated... There was a voice, something about hearing the Wine God's case, and narrow stairs. Yes! The stairs! With that realisation, there was another: she and Steven had get to out of here. An idea popped into her head...

"I'm... going to try something, okay? Don't blame me... if it hurts." Etna mentioned to Steven.


She thought of wings and beaks and pecking. Soon enough, the bunch of birdies dived down onto the imprisoned man and began to peck and peck and peck at the chains. With each peck, the vision faded more and more, until reality took over.

"Zeus gave you no protection! Zeus hid the truth from you! This is nothing to do with protecting the people; he only wishes to tighten his grip on the throne! It is not his to hold; it belongs to the cycle. It stagnates and is polluted under his reign; we only wish to do what is natural!"

"Give me proof and not cryptic ramblings." She muttered in response as she cut herself free.

As for the rest of the going-ons? Fuck 'em. If Dionysus was down there, well, it would be interesting to finally meet the deity.

 

[Green Shoes]

Jonathan charged down the stairs at full pelt, stumbling and scraping himself on the narrow walls, blind to the pain in his rage. The staircase itself led straight down at a steep descent; no twists or turns, nor railings for any support. As they descended, the stone became more and more refined; to the point where it was as smooth as polished marble, and just as difficult to grip.

Crack.


A great and powerful sound resonated from the depths of the building. It was followed by the muffled rustling of chains, before the silence returned. Emerging at the bottom of the staircase, they arrived at the far end of a large, vaulted hall. Along the ground was a long, thin pool of water, of which mist rose off. On either side of the pool stood three levels of cells, connected by various gangplanks and walkways. Only small, hanging lamps between the two rows lit the way to the end of the hall, where a pale, white light spilled out from underneath a wooden door.

As soon as the entered, low moans came from the cells. The silhouettes of arms stretched out, their hands cupped as beggars. Thin spider-webs encompassed the grates, indicating that those housed were permanently under the waking nightmare. Jon's charge was put short as he tripped on a thin strip of web, and was promptly hoisted up, strung up from the ceiling by web. Rapidly, he was engulfed in tiny spiders, that quickly spun his hands and feet together.

The silhouette of a man quickly leaped from the shadows, clinging to the hanging Jon, his face meeting his face. Only Jon could make out his features; near-black skin, with wide, white eyes and sharp, gleaming teeth.

"You want my spine! I shed my spine when you were a glint in your fathers lecherous eyes!"

Dropping from the dangling Jon, he effortlessly landed on his feet in the pool, where the water only covered his ankles. Sprinting, kicking up water as he went, he skirted in front of Etna and Aria, and laid his hands upon their heads. The arms from the cells reached for him, trying to get his attention; the wailing increased.

"Here is your proof. I'll let your friend down when you turn around."

With that, he took a running leap, grabbing the walkway of the second floor, and hauled himself back into the shadows. Voices became audible from the cells; though they spoke in many languages, a few uttered small snippets of English.

"Water...please..."

"Enough! Kill me!"

"I daresay you haven't the faintest clue who you're dealing with!"

Spoiler: Etna's Vision

Etna's vision was immediately replaced with the yellow-tinted scenery of some exotic land. Hills rose and fell as far as she could see, with a few small, stunted trees dotting the landscape. The eyes were not hers though; they belonged to a tall, dark man; what she was seeing was simply a memory of whatever had touched her. Turning away from the hills, her gaze became fixed on the Morrigan; the trio of women, dressed in varying shades of grey, sitting on a small, log bench. Her mother, Badb, spoke.

"It's sick and wrong. We know. But the Wine God is not the answer. Zeus needs to be taken down from the inside; not some bloodthirsty campaign. Surely you can see that."

The man began to pick his teeth as he spoke. Etna could taste raw flesh.

"No, it's been too long. Dionysus will rule for his term and step down, I am sure of it. We tried your way, and we were almost killed."

Nemain now spoke, pulling on her sisters wrist.

"He has a point, sister. Perhaps we should not be so hasty to retire..."

Pushing her black hair from her face, Badb strode until she was face to face with him. It seemed strange; seeing her mother from another's eyes. Amidst her sisters, she was certainly fierce.

"I'm not going to stop you, but I won't join you either. Zeus can be killed, but I won't stand by while that maniac holds his power. I'll kill that drunken youth myself."

The man laughed heartily, turning back to the scenery. Etna felt his deep love for the land he stood on; an emotional path into other feelings. Pride. Responsibility. Balance.

"I care not if you kill him. My allegiance is to the Cycle."

Spoiler: Aria's Vision

Aria was presented with a scene of luxury. A wide, dome-shaped room, covered floor to ceiling in glittering mosaics, ranging from warfare to childbirth. At the center of the high-reaching ceiling was a glass sun-let, which bathed the whole room in natural light. Instantly recognizable was her mother, reclining on a satin couch in front of a swathe of food. Another woman was opposite her; with tanned skin and black, choppy hair, adorned in a white, gold and red dress, that knotted at her navel.

Aria saw through the eyes of the strange man, who was sitting cross legged on a cushioned seat, munching happily on a fig. The dark-haired woman spoke first.

"Come on Freyja! You know it's the right thing."

Her mother almost laughed, spitting out grape seeds. The scene seemed awfully casual for what they were discussing.

"Zeus has ruled well! There's no need for the cycle if everything is alright. You can't expect my family to go to war like this."

The man spoke, his voice grave and serious.

"War will happen anyway. Your decision is whether you'll fight for what is right, and natural. Like you used to."

Isis smiled and threw a cube of cheese at Freyja's stomach, which was somewhat round and protruding.

"I don't know if she's the warrior she used to be!"

Throwing it back, her mother swung her legs round and sat up, deep in thought. Her star-lit eyes seemed to look far away.

"Zeus will be killed, in time. He is corrupt, everyone knows it. But I won't risk my family. Not for him."

 

[Lunar Templar]

Runa watched the scene unfold after making an attempt to stab the 'creature' in where she assumed the gut would be.

Being inside some one elses head while they talked was weird enough for her but she didn't trust the vision. "You expect me to believe any of your illusions as 'truth' after that monstrous lie of that first one?" she fired back after shaking it off "And even if it is true, that means what? My mother thinks Zeus is a dick to? Not exactly breaking news there when he's abducting people off the street and forcing them to fight his battles while his spawn are no where to be seen. So I'll say it again; You want Zeus dead, fine, I won't stop you. Your methods, however a threat to the few people I do care about, and to the family I've been denied knowing for to long, its for their sakes I'm here, and no one else!"

 

[DarkRawen]

"Here is your proof. I'll let your friend down when you turn around."

Andrew hardly got the chance to raise his bow before the man was gone, and sighed, running into the room in order to get a better understanding of the situation. Etna and Aria seemed to be experiencing the same kind of thing as they all had before, a memory or something similar to that, however, there was no threads attached to them. Even so, they appeared unhurt, and, if the strange man was speaking the truth, he'd want to keep alive too, since harming any of them would just give them less of a reason to listen. Would be hard to try to persuade the group that they should leave, and that what Dio was doing was just, if someone from their group was killed as he did the persuasion.

The hall they were now standing in was rather long, prison cells on several levels filled with prisoners, connected by a web of planks and ways to walk on. The reason for those was most likely the water on the floor, it seemed off, and not only because of the simple reason that it was there, or that mist seemed to rise from it. The whole room had a dark atmosphere, the sound and voices of the prisoners, the lack of light, and the webs on the cells, most likely putting the prisoners under the weird man's control.

Should we get the angry guy down? Would that be a bad idea?

Some of the others would probably do it. Right now, Andrew was keeping his eyes on the water, wondering just what purpose it served.

I wonder if that really is water. That guy wasn't harmed by it, but that doesn't mean it's safe either. It could be a poison.

In any case, perhaps it could be used to their advantage. He got closer, making sure he wouldn't slip and that the prisoners hands couldn't reach him, and examined the water as best he could without touching it. He even dipped an arrow into it, carefully, making sure that it wouldn't be ruined even if the liquid turned out to be some sort of magic acid. He stayed alert in case someone approached, not even trusting the people in the group enough to relax when they got close.

 

[IFS]

Nicole followed cautiously after Jon, her pace only slowing when they entered the room with the cells. Who are these people? Why are they here? She almost didn't notice Jon's predicament, but the increased wailing and the arms reaching towards the strange spider like man brought her focus back. Him, he must be the one who trapped us in visions, or maybe I'm still... no no time for that.

The man, or more likely god, darted away before they could do anything though, leaving Jon strung up in webbing and the prisoners wishing for water and death. She looked to the others and at the cells.

"We should help them shouldn't we? There's water right here we could give them..." she said, knowing it might be a trap. We need to free Jon too, before visions trap him again, how are we going to cut him down though?

 

[Rogue Trooper]

Jonathan began to howl with rage as the stupidity of his action buried itself within his mind. In his mad rush for blood he had been caught unaware by the enemy and was now dangling helplessly from the ceiling of building. Hands of unlucky fools who had become trapped within the nightmare reached out to try and grab Jonathan, but he paid little attention to them. He was putting every effort into trying to break the webs that bounded his hands, but like the ropes in his hallucination they wouldn?t budge, despite his godly rage fuelled strength.

"You want my spine! I shed my spine when you were a glint in your father?s lecherous eyes!"

Jonathan tried to reply to the creature?s comment with a swift head-butt to the face, but unfortunately the creature moved onto the others just before Jonathan could land his blow. He glanced down and saw that the rest of he group was beginning to file into the room, still tied up there was little for Jonathan to do, except try and spur on the others and boast morale.

"Hey guys" he roared "kill this creepy bastard and then get me the fuck down, I think one of the spiders has crawled up my butt hole!"

 

[hiei82]

As Steven pointed his gun at her, possible courses flashed through her mind. If he fired, she'd likely need to take wind form. While she didn't have a problem with this per-say, preserving her transformation ability for as long as possible seemed to be the best course. That's why she was so thankful he lowered the gun of his own volition.

Well; that and the whole "not being shot" thing.

After that, she finished cutting the others free and followed them into the cell room. Needless to say the spider person wasn't exactly a welcome sight but at least his appearance let them take the offensive. Unfortunately, as Jon demonstrated, a more cautious approach was in order.

She moved forward step by step - shield at the ready - careful to avoid any potential webs.