Demigods : Version 3.0 { Closed, Started }

[Pm0n3y]

Gabriel mumbled an expletive as he realized the divide-and-conquer tactic the harpies were beginning to take. And before he could close the gap between himself and Willow, three more of the beasts flanked him from her direction, swiping at him with absurdly shaped claws. "Shit, they'll surround us at this rate." The bravest harpy took a lunge at him, the force of the tackle putting the Harvestchild on his back. He could hear and feel the small pot in his backpack breaking as the avian beast snapped at his eyes. He noticeably grimaced at that.

"This ***** just smashed Marcy's pot!" He put on a wild grimace as he thought, and tried wriggling out of the harpy's clutches. The monstrous adversary leaned in close, her beady, red eyes gazing into his. "You're a virile specimen, Harvestkin. Maybe i'll have my way with you before the otherrrrs. I can't wait to sink my teeth into you~" "Ew. No." Quicker than Gabe could recover, the black-feathered bird woman stood upright, letting out a quick cry before taking to the skies with Gabriel wrapped in her talons.

"Gabe-!" The wood nymph called out from beyond the chokehold she had on one of the harpies. Meanwhile, at about fifteen to twenty feet up, the hardest scowl one could possibly muster was apparent all over Gabriel's face. This whole predicament was becoming a little humiliating in the boy's eyes. "I'll be damned if end up some bird brain's conquest!" As he wriggled against her clutches, the contents of his backpack began to jostle. As the zipper stretched open, a collection of vines and branches exploded out, binding the harpy with haste. The harpy let out fearful squawks as she felt her legs being bound, and her flight began to falter as the expanding sapling began overtaking her wings.

One independent branch slithered around his arm and into his hand, leaving the shrunken sword in his grasp. At twenty-five feet, the harpy was entirely engulfed, and the two began to plummet back to the earth. "This might've been a bad idea..." He realized this as he stared down the monstrosity that laid atop him. Her angry, muffled screams annoyed him. "Shut it." He rapidly shanked at what parts of the harpy he could reach, and with enough strikes, the bird crumbled into ashes. With the load lightened, the jungle of tree parts quickly shifted to Gabe's front, thickening into a large shield of sturdy bark. "Oh man-"CRASH!crahgss"Ngh-"hhcasCRACKhahs"Ouff-"rha"Fuc-"shaCRRKshc"Dammit-"harash"Shi-"shsasah! A brief bout of tumbling through a tree canopy, Gabriel smashed into the ground about as violently as you would expect. The bark shield, thoroughly smashed and having served its purpose, weakly began receding back into his tattered rucksack. "Good job, Marcy."

His limbs were incredibly sore, he was out of breath, and he was almost certain something in his chest was fractured. Yet he arose still, abeit a little slowly. He reentered the fray, to see the two girls still holding their own against the harpy horde. By the looks of things, the combined bunches of ash piles scattered around Willow and Ambrose's feet, and the thinning crowd of harpies that still dared to fight told the story of a turning tide.

"I wasn't even in the air that long..." He found himself momentarily distracted at the sight of his dryad guardian suplexing one harpy into oblivion, one lithe monster rushed at him from his left, and her feral slash dug into and through his shoulder. Now alert of the attack, Gabe tried distancing himself from the bird. Yet she persisted, and another claw ripped into his chest. He bounced back, sloppily swinging the shrunken wooden sword in her direction.

She seemed to be much more experienced than the other harpies he's faced (she wasn't, Gabe's just never dispatched a harpy with hand-to-hand before), as she deftly dodged his blows, and continued her fierce offence. She seemed to smirk as she toyed with him, letting him throw a slash before easily dodging it, and replying with a connecting punch or slash. One of those punches left him disoriented, and a following kick put him back on the ground. Gabe's thoughts lingered over to the non-reactive dagger that he just couldn't get to work. "C'mon, you piece a' shit! Work!" He exchanged glances between the amused harpy and his malfunctioning weapon. This was becoming embarrassing for more than one reason. As he stumbled to his feet, his sword finally responded by extending out to it's normal form...and further still. He fell back down, as the sword became too big and too heavy to properly wield. "Goddammit." He sighed. The harpy, now standing over him, snickered at the spontaneous growth.

"Aww, looks like someone's happy to see me~!" She cooed and giggled, stomping down on Gabe's dominant hand. "All y'all're perverts." Gabe spat back, an idea forming in him as the aviary straddled him. She lunged down with fangs bared, eager to take a bite out of the Harvestchild. Quick enough reflexes smushed his free hand into her face, buying him enough time to incorporate Marcy back into the battle. "Don't flaunt it if you're not gonna give it up, babe!" The harpy angrily hissed at him. "I didn't even know birds could hiss. That's a new thing."

"Bite me. Wait. No." In the time inbetween clever exchanges, the hardened branches of the sapling had wrapped itself around his dominant hand, seeming to resemble a giant arm and fist as it grabbed the sword. The harpy sat up, planning to hit Gabe from another angle. In that short window of time, Gabriel kicked away from her and scrambled to his feet. Somehow, his idea was a success, the impromptu super-limb was reinforced enough to lift up the sword. It became doubly efficient, when Gabe relinquished his arm from the formation, giving him three arms to fight with. "Could never do that before...let's see how it works."

He rushed towards the monster, the sword picking up dust and ash as it was dragged through the ground. He threw a predictable right haymaker, and swung his foot around for a roundhouse. Both were simply deflected or dodged, but with a new variable introduced into the equation, the harpy couldn't prepare for the following attack. As soon as his foot came back to the ground, his third arm fell through the air, the blade of that heavy sword cleaving the harpy right down the middle. Panting, Gabriel scanned the battleground. The crowd had definitely thinned out, with Ambrose bringing her scythe down upon a slumbering harpy, and Willow giving her all against a big harpy, one they seemed to have saved for last. The visibly exhausted wood nymph was covered in dripping gashes, and found herself resorting to defensive maneuvers as the towering harpy laid on the attacks with overpowering vigor.

Gabe tried entering her fight, wanting to jump on the hulking monster's back and give his all...but he couldn't. His feet were cemented to where he stood. He was hesitating. "Is this...happening right now...?" He couldn't explain why, but his body refused to charge forward, his hands trembled. In the back of his mind, this whole situation, the sight of his dryad guardian fighting a losing battle (to ensure the survival of both he and a girl she barely knew, no less) filled him with...fear. "So move, Gabe! Save her! SHE WILL DIE IF YOU DON'T FIGHT! GODDAMMIT GABRIEL DON'T LET HER DIE! MOVE!" He yelled at himself.

At the other side of the fight, Willow caught her surrogate child at the edge of her vision, frozen. As she dodged away from another of the harpy's blows, she could also see a straggler bird, lunging towards Gabe. She took her attention away from the colossal beast to yell out to him. "Gabe! Behind you-!" The call snapped him back into action, where he spun on a heel to meet the descending harpy, the momentum throwing his blade around to impale the avian she-devil. "Urk-"SHLUK! He returned to his original stance, eyes widened as he witnessed Willow, suspended in the air by her neck, a imposing claw emerging from her torso. "WILLOW!" He yelled for the first time in years as he raced towards her. Ignoring the furious boy speeding towards her, the feathery monstrosity decided to turn her attention to the closer demigod: the unsuspecting Sleepling, Ambrose.

"WRONG MOVE, *****! FIGHT ME!" He screamed as loudly as he could, emitting a exasperated wail as he raced toward the harpy. With his third arm raised as high as it could go, it was brought down once Gabe got in range of the avian colossus, his sword impaling the beast with extreme prejudice. What harpies that stuck around decided to retreat after witnessing their champion be slain.

 

[PrinceOfShapeir]

Jia readied her crossbow, wishing she'd brought something a little more suitable for this. "Royce! Lay down some covering fire!" She twisted around the corner and fired at their assailant - she wasn't expecting a hit, just to get him to put his head down, then sprinted out, drawing on all her divine speed and agility, dancing into and out of cover as she charged up the ramp. As she ran she slung her crossbow and drew the Rose of Sunrise, willing it to shine brightly.

 

[CounterAttack]

"Covering fire? With what?" Royce called out to Jia as she passed. A flamethrower was a close-range suppressor, not a long-range one. Not a very genius move there.

Meanwhile, Freya found herself at the top of the path. No-one was there, but there were no more niches to hide in. Instead a large stone altar stood in the center of a square room. Two stone brick columns were protruding upwards from the altar, and each housed a large stone lever. There was no sign of the archer, only a stone door set in each wall and a hole from which the nail-studded boulders continued to drop. Freya was soon joined by Jia due to the latter's increase in speed, leaving the two males behind in their niches.

[hr]

"Oh, I could finish the three of you and not break a sweat," the Athenian rogue retorted in response to Brandon's claims, chuckling. "But then who would carry a message to that feeble old centaur you call a leader? Not even Chiron will save you from the destructive force that will raze Olympus to the ground."

Jess groaned from her spot on the floor, having half-sat up. Her knife and the stolen shield were both discarded in favour of trying to stem the blood flow from her injury. "Even the gods... make mistakes. And when you... aah." A hiss escaped gritted teeth. "When you fuck up... you'll know. Cause we'll be there to remind you." Cerberus' teeth, that hurts. Dear Mother, please let someone have a first-aid kit.

The rogue just laughed at her. "I'm not scared of you, queen of the bedsheets, nor any of your other friends with benefits. Maybe we'll meet again, maybe we won't. And I would love to stay and chat, but I gotta go. The Chimaera was just the first step in my grand design." He snapped his fingers and vanished in a puff of white-grey smoke. The sounds of retreating feet and hooves from adjacent rooms indicated any other inhabitants of the warehouse were beating a hasty retreat, leaving the three demigods alone with their unconscious prisoner.

 

[NeoAC]

"If you ain't scared, why you runnin' like a wounded dog, ya chicken-shit bastard?!?" Brandon shouted out as if the Athenian could still hear him while fleeing the vicinity. "God damn little smart-assed brats, think they're king shit."

With nothing left to fight, the rage was dying down, and clearer thoughts were beginning to reign once again. With the only captive being incapacitated, Brandon turned his attention to the wounded Jess, grabbing a left over shirt that had been tossed aside. "Here, c'mon Jess," he said, pressing the shirt into the wound to try and stop the bleeding. "Easy does'er now. You're gonna be all right. Let's get ya up an outta here." He looked up, unsure where the third member of their trio was. "LIZ! C'mon down and grab the leftover trash, we gotta get outta here!"

 

[Pm0n3y]

The air became still as the last sound of retreating wings grew quieter and quieter. Ash fell upon the kids as that pillar of a harpy began to dissolve. And as the gray soot softly cascaded onto their faces and shoulders, Gabriel's expression lowered. The battle may have been won, but the cost of victory was much too great for him. "Willow..." He raced back to her, falling to his knees to tend to her. He lowered his hands to her, to check her pulse, to cradle her the best he could. "N-no...this wasn't supposed to happen...this is what I was trying to prevent!" "What have I done?" "I fucked up...O-oh God, I fucked up..!" Their foreheads touched as he berated his follies.

"Gabe...Gabe..." Willow whispered to him in short breaths, a cooling hand cupping his cheek. Even through the mortal injury, her cracking voice remained calm and comforting to the Harvestchild. "It's okay Gabe...I saved you..." His head slowly rised, and his eyes slowly opened, to see the weak, wavering smile of of the dryad that's sheltered him for the past six years, the tears rolling down her face. Her expression contrasted his own, the exhausted, awestruck frown that accompanied lowered eyes and a crumpled disposition. "No, Willow, I...I didn't deserve..."

"Gabriel...you have to live...live, for me." She shushed him with her words, her grasp growing lighter. "Willow, wait...please..." As he pleaded, he could feel the warmth fading from her as her body grew still. His person began to tremble as he pulled her closer, and wrapped her in an embrace. "God...goddammit."

 

[SkyeNeko]

The last of the harpies shrieked in defeat and anger as they disappeared into the concrete horizon that was New York. Through the Veil they looked like pigeons. A lot of the city's pigeons were just that though, the gray rats of the sky. Ambrose spun around and let out a sharp whistle. Lethe tumbled out of the underbrush as the girl approached Gabriel and the dying Willow. Everything was so muted now, and time itself seemed to have stopped. The ash falling like snow was the only movement besides the Harvestchild's shaking. Ambrose looked at the sky, her thick lashes catching the monster dust. She bet the dryad would dissolve soon too...

Lethe licked Ambrose's ankle, meowing to be picked up. Ambrose picked a feather out of the kitten's mouth, placing her on her shoulder. Both bore minor scuffs from their scuffle, but neither were seriously hurt. Ambrose had scratches on her face, arms, and knees. And a few bruises. But she was alive, she guessed, and she had this guy to thank for it. Just not now. Or ever. Cause what use was a thanks by the time he calmed down. She decided to go ahead and let him have his moment. After all, she was really tired. That fight took a lot out of her. She walked over to the closest tree. It was kind of awkward to think about it being a dryad house, but she leaned against it regardless and closed her eyes. She could wait for a while.

 

[blaze96]

Elizabeth jumped down into the building rolling to lessen the fall before calmly standing up.

"He who fights and runs away, lives to fight another day. Smart man, he may actually be able to pull off whatever he's planning. He picked good pawns, placed them well, and knew when to retreat. Underestimating him would be a bad idea." She said as she went ahead and walked into the side room to see if there was anything of note.

"I figure you're the better one to carry our new prisoner to the van Brandon. I'm more of the transport security type. Make sure she doesn't wake up and get away. Though right now I'm more wondering if, in his haste, he left anything we can work off of."

 

[NeoAC]

"Yeah, you call that bastard a frickin' genius all you want," Brandon remarked to Liz. "We got our own sayin' down home. He who turns tail and runs is probably a little..." He held himself from finishing his euphemism remembering that he might be the only one in the building who would not get offended by the word he wanted to use. "Anyway, fine. I get it, I'm the mule. You look after Jess for a sec."

He walked over with a bit of a ginger limp to where Carolina's body laid. She was still bleeding out a bit from the bullet holes in her legs. "Aw hell, I ain't pickin' her up like that. She'll be stainin' up my Witten jersey." He looked around the place for something he could use as a buffer, settling on a tarp that seemed to be covering some boxes near one of the bay doors. Draping it on the concrete, he picked up Carolina with all the dignity of a wet paper towel and laid her down on the tarp. Satisfied with her position, he rolled up the unconscious daughter of Aphrodite in the tarp and slung her over his shoulder. The extra weight forced a little bit of a grimace when it settled on his wounded leg, but he pressed through it.

"All right then, I don't think we're gettin' anything more outta this place. Little bugger was set to run from tha get go, knew that by the way he got outta Dodge. Probably better off bringin' the li'l traitor outta her X-rated dreams and pumpin' her for info. Sure Chiron's gotta have somethin' in his bag o tricks to coerce her inta co-operatin'." He turned back to the second-in command, if not co-commander. "Jes, how you holdin' up, girl? Can ya make it out?"

 

[Pm0n3y]

As the wood nymph began to fade from the mortal realm, a collection of footsteps accumulated on Gabe and Ambrose's location. From the brush appeared Sister Dawn, and a cavalry of dryads that arrived far too late. All eyes fell on the Harvestchild and the passing nymph. Expressions of distraught, shock, guilt, and frustration fell upon those who looked. Dawn rushed up to Gabriel, and knelt at his side. "I'm sorry...I'm so sorry." He shook his head timidly. "Willow. Sister Dawn. I messed up." He apologized to the elder as he watched Willow fade, her physical form growing lighter to the touch. "Oh Gabriel..." Before Dawn could move in to comfort him, one of the burlier wood nymphs rushed up to him, kicking him away from the body. Red Ash's foot stomped into his chest before he could fully recover, pinning him to the ground.

"Consider this death your third strike. Willow was the sole factor keeping you here. And you squandered her. Your only chance. Your last chance." She applied pressure as she talked, the pain in his ribs intensifying exponentially. "Urk...Ash...please..." He tried to plead. "No. NO. You don't get to beg anymore. Now, you either leave us, or we kill you." Her growing aggravation was noticeably apparent through her expressions and actions as she crouched to his level. Before she could slip her hands around his neck, the Elder Sister intervened. "Ash, please. He's already hurting. Need you twist the knife further?" Easing the infuriated dryad off of the boy, Dawn did her best to help him to his feet.

"No...it's fine. She deserves to be angry." His augmented tree arms began to shrink and unravel as they receded back into his bag, the sword followed suit. "I get the hate. But, thank you for having me." He made one last glance in the direction of the body of the dryad that spent the last few years protecting, feeding, teaching, mothering him. "Thank you..." He silently gave his gratitude to the guardian. Then, making a passing glance in Ambrose's direction, the kids began making their way out of the park.

[hr]

After finding one of the many winding roads that led back to the 72nd Street sidewalk, the two demigods crossed a few extra streets before entering the subway they once exited. They approached the turnstiles, but Gabriel didn't feel like hopping over them. He was exhausted. He was distraught. He was in numbing amounts of pain. "I'm sorry you got dragged into all this." Gabriel apologized to the Slumberchild as he slowly ducked under the metal bars, groaning all along the way.

 

[SkyeNeko]

The dryad's body disintegrated, joining the gray harpy dust. Ambrose assumed the dryads would dispose of it in some plant-y manner. Maybe using it as fertilizer for a new tree, or maybe scattering it somewhere important. Would she be reincarnated, Ambrose wondered, as a tree? Or something smaller. A bush? Even Lethe was quiet now. That silence seemed to stick to them like glue as they maneuvered the crowded streets and busy subway. What should she do? Ambrose slowly reached over and gave Gabriel an awkward pat on the back as they waited for the train. He looked pretty torn up, but then again, he kinda always managed to look like a scraggly dog. If he weren't black and blue and red, it would have looked like a normal day.

 

[Lambi]

"Urgh, fucker got away. Just great, and here I wanted to beat him up for information." Looking around, Freya spotted an altar with two levers on them. "Now, this is interesting. Wonder what they do." Stepping forwards, Freya wrapped her hands around the left lever and yanked it down. Almost instantly one of the three stone doors opened with a loud grinding noise, revealing another corridor in the Labyrinth. The stone blocks continued to fall from the hole in the ceiling, however.

"Huh." Freya remarked at the door opening. "Now, the other one." She walked up to the right lever this time and yanked that down as well. More grinding of stone ensued, followed by every block in the ceiling falling into the tunnel behind her at once. They slid down the ramp and fell into the hole at the bottom. There was no sign of any others taking their place: the lever was a kill-switch.

"Booyah! Who's awesome? I'm awesome! Now lets get this guy!" She immediately started running for the open door without waiting for her two male teammates to catch up, and assuming Jia was close behind her.

 

[Pm0n3y]

Soon, an outbound train drilled into the station. Gabriel entered the metal tube, far too encased in his thoughts to acknowledge Ambrose's comfort. Only once the train departed and the two took their seats, did the Harvestchild decide to speak. "The dryads, they have a...special way of reproducing. Their tree'll make seeds, and they plant the seeds wherever they can. A young nymph is born from one or two of the many seeds, and they grow along with the saplings. Willow's tree, for some reason, never made seeds. She was barren." His head started to lower as he talked, eyes affixing to the floor.

"I guess I never thought about much. But in the short time we had, she was the closest thing I had to a actual mom. And I guess I was...her sapling." His vision started to blur, his head fell into his hands. "And...an...fuck, man." Droplets accumulated in the corners of his eyes, and began falling upon the one square tile of floor he couldn't take his eyes off of. "I lost her. I fuckin' lost her, Ambrose. Goddammit."

 

[SkyeNeko]

Ambrose's chair was sticky... she didn't like subways, she decided. That's when the boy started talking again. About dryad reproduction. That was the risk with seeing family outside of the camp. Willow had been somewhat battle ready, and she died protecting him. What if it was Lily? Ambrose didn't think she could have protected her against harpies. The only reason she probably survived the fight was that Willow and the guy were fighting too. She took out her bottle of pills and took a couple.

Lethe jumped down off the benches after a mouse that scurried for forgotten scraps of popcorn and sweet soda.

Hopefully Gabriel wasn't too preoccupied with crying to remember their stop.

 

[CounterAttack]

"Jess, how you holdin' up, girl? Can ya make it out?"

"I... I should be good. Only took the knife in the side," Jess answered Brandon through gritted teeth. She scooped up her own blade and sheathed it before trying to get up, one hand clamped over the injury. Even that was enough to cause a sharp hiss, but the Aphrodite counselor was standing. "Fuck, that's painful." Her shirt was already stained blood-red.

Meanwhile, the side room Elizabeth had entered was practically a war room. A map of New York City took up an entire wall, with several arrows pinned to it and rough circles drawn over certain areas. Several of the arrows converged on the Empire State Building, the Western world's closest connection to Olympus. A small open crate under a table was filled with files, three of which were also on the table. They were marked

Camp Registry Copies: A-I, J-R, S-Z

.

 

[blaze96]

"Brandon I'm quite happy to say you are wrong. This room is very useful. Seems our distant nephew and niece were making quite the treasure trove." Elizabeth replied as she checked both the map and box for traps, making sure they were clean before lifting the box up and placing it on a nearby table. It was soon followed by the carefully rolled up map. She made sure to check the rest of the room for any hidden panels or doors and gather anything of use that may have been inside, still being extremely careful for any surprises that may have been left behind.

"Alright I think I've got everything. Mission accomplished."

 

[NeoAC]

"Well then I guess he's stupider than I thought," Brandon commented. "Ain't surprisin' a stuck up little bugger like that." He adjusted the weight of the body he carried over his shoulder to try and prepare for the long walk back to the van. "Let's git outta here then. Sooner I get someone to look at my leg 'n Jess'es side, the better."

 

[CounterAttack]

The return trip to the van was uneventful: all the monsters that had been in or near the warehouse had cleared out after the raid and subsequent retreat of their leader. It wasn't long before Gabriel and Ambrose returned from their trip: the child of Demeter was quiet, not even acknowledging the rolled-up tarp in the back of the van. Sure, he was quiet before, but this time around he seemed more... sombre, was probably the right word for it.

Elizabeth ended up driving the team back to camp, where Brandon, Jess and the unconscious Carolina were immediately rushed to the infirmary. While the Aphrodite counselor only required a few sips of Olympian nectar and a pad taped over the gash in her side - purely to prevent any further bleeding - the others required more attention.

"You didn't have to put a round in both knees. One would have sufficed," the nurse on duty grumbled to herself, as she patched up the injured prisoner. "I swear, some people just don't know how to take prisoners. As for you, Mr Robertson, you'll need to refrain from any strenuous activities for a day, two at most. If you get in another fight before then, do it at range."

[hr]

Over at Chiron's offices, the centaur had sat Elizabeth down with the files she'd brought from the warehouse. They were a surprisingly large repository of information: three files dedicated to notes on campers, six on tactics for units composed of a mix of demigods and monsters, and a pair that confirmed what the map suggested: an invasion plan focusing on several approaches to a raid on Olympus and the capturing of defensible positions near the Empire State Building.

"Intriguing... this page describes a monster I've never heard of," Chiron noted as he read through one of the mixed-unit folders. "It appears to be an infiltrator, possessing powers of shapeshifting and compulsion. Judging by the name, the Typhomorph, it was probably created by Typhon himself. I find it concerning that the Father of Monsters is spawning new breeds to oppose heroes."

He closed the file and set it aside, away from the others, before turning back to Elizabeth. "This invasion plan the map suggests. Did the Athenian give away any details as to when it would begin? We can have forces mobilised and ready to protect the marked locations in due course."

[hr]

[hr]

"Ugh. Must you be so quick to charge on ahead?" Royce grumbled as he approached the niche Dorofei was still inside. The Snowchild had an arrow in his chest. "Yeesh. Look at you. Might wanna invest in some of that ice for armour," he commented as he carefully extracted the shaft.

"Doesn't look like it went in all that far, though I could be wrong." Royce snapped the head off the arrow and pocketed it for later, then tossed the shaft aside and helped the burly demigod out of his spot. "C'mon, Ruskie Bear, we need to catch up to the others. You're good to move, right?"

Meanwhile, Freya and Jia found themselves at a four-way intersection. To the left was a corridor lined with what looked like roots... and they were moving of their own accord. To the right, a hallway of polished metal illuminated by lightbulbs in the ceiling. And straight ahead, a pair of what looked like giant feline paws loomed in the distance. Sunlight lit up the latter corridor, hinting at a large silhouette.

 

[NeoAC]

"Yeah, ya see those orders ya gave me right there ma'am?" Brandon replied to the nurse. "That's why she got both 'er knees taken out. Second ya start messin' wit my routine, affectin' my football playin', I don't give a shit 'bout any god damn excessive force or nothin'. She earned that double kneecappin'."

Brandon had his own patch in on the side, mirroring Jess', but he was more concerned with his slashed leg. He got off the bench and tried to stand, but the pain shot through his left leg. It wasn't as bad as when it was freshly carved with the nectar having dulled a bit of the injury, but it still stung. "Sum *****, I didn't hurt like this after the Purdue game." He slowly walked around the infirmary testing it, but the pain was still there.

The nurse caught him moving around a bit too quickly, with the cursing tipping off the discomfort. "Mr. Robertson, what did I just say about taking it easy?"

"This is easy," he retorted. "If I was goin' hard, I wouldn't still be in here." He walked over to where Jess was recovering. "'N that ***** behind the curtain would be needin' more intensive care!" He was referring to the partitioned section of the room where Carolina still laid unconscious. Intent on putting his problems out of his mind for a brief moment, he sat down on a chair opposite the Aphrodite counsellor. "So, I guess, I'mma have to take a rain check on tonight then. Can't be givin' no half-assed performance."

 

[blaze96]

"If I were to give a word, soon. He was confident and willing to leave everything behind. That means one of three things, we actually got the drop on him and he was covering, this is all a trap, or his plan is far enough in motion that he doesn't particularly care if we know because we are behind and don't fully know it yet. Being a child of Athena I'd bet on either the second or third options." Elizabeth replied to Chiron looking over the materials provided, paying special attention to the dossiers he'd compiled.

 

[Pm0n3y]

Brandon's boisterous drawling was drowned out, unheard by the Harvestchild as he found himself focusing more on his inner tribulations. The thoughts of failure and guilt taking first priorities in his hurting psyche as he laid upon one of the infirmary beds. "Why? Why couldn't I save her?" was one of the recurring queries that plagued him. He thinks back to that moment, how he froze up in that moment of vulnerability. "Why did I freeze up? I...I was right there...I could've saved her..."

The nurse began to attend to his wounds after she finished tending to the busted kneecaps of the unnamed girl that was dragged in with the party. She made a quip about repeat appearances, and something about he might be some sort of harpy magnet. Gabriel didn't reply, and diverted his gaze as she examined his person for internal injuries.

She worked fairly fast, catching the fractured rib, sealing his scratches, offering a ice pack to accommodate the black eye left by the earlier scuffle. Sips of the nectar dealt with the rib, and seconds later his breathing regained normality. He let out a heavy exhale when he could. Sitting up, what was left of his stained shirt let out a noticeable RRriiippp!, indicating the last of the of the tattered attire giving way. Casting the clothing away, he reached for his bag.

Digging past the dirt and smashed porcelain that housed his sapling, Gabe produced a spare, equally dirtied shirt. The grey article lacked sleeves, possibly ripped from a previous attack. The New York Rangers logo at the shirt's center was splotched and faded. Putting the shirt on, he quietly began to depart, eyes still low. "I don't want to see you again today, alright? Two times is enough." The nurse playfully warned to his back. The Harvestchild made no acknowledgements to the nurse, or other teammates scattered about the place as he exited the establishment.

He decided to head towards the lake as he stepped outside. It seemed the safest place to be right now. The forest would only produce more harpies. The cabin would most likely result in someone getting hit. Even from afar, the setting sun produced twinkling rays as light bounced of the water. With his eyes lowered and hands in his pockets, he began across the camp, intent on reaching his destination.