Axle basked in the sunlight that danced around his face, admiring the tranquil and carefree nature that emanated form this little patch of heaven. He smiled as he thought of his life back on Earth, his life that felt so distant now. A life of secrecy, hiding and serving. A life of skulking in the shadows, waiting for The Hunger?s prey to come within his reach. It seemed so dull, so repetitive when he looked back on it; why had he not left his temple more frequently?
He was reminded of the answer as the sun?s glare was blotted out by the slender figure of a woman bending over to glare at him, her pitch-black hair dangling in a frame around her pale face. Athena was giving him a smirk coupled with a look of disapproval as she produced a small book and some receipt paper from her pockets.
?While you?ve been lounging around, I?ve been doing a bit of research. Might come in handy during our battles, you never know.?
She sat down next to him as he sat up; she daintily waved the piece of paper in front of his face. Axle was irritated, but he let none of it show on his face.
I must not disrespect the Great Shadow?
?What is that?? he finally asked, a slight quiver in his voice.
Athena shrugged. ?A list of local eateries we should stop off at on our trip.? He skimmed over the barely legible scrawl on the paper, which displayed a list of the 25 contestants? names. Some of them were portrayed next to each other, most likely to mean that the two would be fighting together like Athena and himself.
?Nice joke,? he chuckled. ?taken a look at them yet??
?Of course!? exclaimed the Great Shadow. ?I need to know what?s in my food before I start eating it. That?s why I brought a menu.?
She dropped the book on Axle?s lap. He picked it up and glanced at the pages inside, giving details on the contestants as well as the events prior to their arrival. He suddenly took interest, taking mental notes as his eyes skimmed over the pages.
----------------
Athena sighed, smirking as she glanced over at the various people that dotted the landscape, some training, some trying to get comfortable, and some in conversations with each other. It made her laugh, the fact that these people were acting so casually when they knew that death loomed ahead of them.
Bunch of nut-jobs, if you ask me.
She smiled. She?ll have to store that nut line among all of her other culinary jokes; she rather enjoyed them. After all, she was only here for the food.
Strange. I don?t remember having a sense of humour?
She shrugged the feeling off, knowing that it must have been a side effect of stealing a mortal body. And besides, how could laughter harm her?
----------------
Axle was buried deeply into the pages of the book, his mind absorbing every last bit of information that may be useful to their future fights. He knew from experience that every last detail was a possible victory; after all, his abduction of Lady Athena had not been an easy task.
?My Lady, something that has been irking me for quite some time. Why have you not devoured everyone right here, right now??
She pouted in frustration. ?I would love to, Axle, but chances are that I would get caught and banished from existence or merely disqualified for offing the competition early. And besides, I like to play with my food.?
Axle sighed. ?I suppose, but it means more work for me in the long run.?
?What have you found in the book??
?Quite a bit. You know one of our opponents has an exploding liver??
Athena suppressed a giggle. ?Should lay off the spicy stuff. I learned that after that one time I ate a Mexican; couldn?t get the taste out of my mouth for weeks!?
Axle chuckled, which quickly turned into a look of deep concentration as he began to hear an odd murmour in the breeze. He swiftly got up and glanced around him, trying to trace the sound.
Where is it coming from?
The sound began to get louder, reaching a crescendo. He began to make out the sound that was heading in his direction, even if he could not see where it was coming from.
It?s a god-awful small affair
To the girl with the mousy hair
But her mummy is yelling ?No?
And her daddy has told her to go
He glanced around him, his eyes darting from place to place. The deathly girl who sat next to him, the man in black armour giving the bird to the clouds that circled above him and the angels that strolled around the area, making sure that no-one tried to start a round earlier than planned.
But her friend is nowhere to be seen
Now she walks through her sunken dream
To the seat with the clearest view
And she?s hooked to the silver screen
?You hear that?? he asked to Athena, who stared at him quizzically.
?No. Seriously, if you can hear something that I can?t, then something?s gone horribly wrong.?
But the film is a saddening bore
For she?s lived it ten times or more
She could spit in the eyes of fools
As they ask her to focus on
A chorus began to play around him as he stood up, frantically searching for whatever was making that noise. As Athena gave him a look of confusion, he remembered the first rule of stealth.
No one ever looks up.
As he raised his head, he noticed a small dot in the sky. As he examined the dot, it began to grow.
Shit.
A few seconds later, the airborne object collided with his head with the force of a sledgehammer.
Take a look at the lawman
Beating up the wrong guy
Oh man! Wonder if he?ll ever know
He?s in the best selling show
Is there life on Mars?
------------------------
Axle felt the glare on his face as he opened his eyes. As he looked around him, the first thing he saw was Athena stooping over his person, a childish grin forming on her face. She pulled a small bronze object out of her pockets and spoke.
?Fool. A mistake like that on the field could cost you your life.?
His temples almost screamed with pain. ?What happened??
She tossed the bonze box onto his lap, standing up and making violent gestures like she was reciting the events of a tragedy. ?That thing fell out of the sky and smacked into your head; you?ve been out for nearly an hour. I don?t know where it came from, but it has your name on it.?
He picked it up and examined the object, running his fingers over the fine indentations in the flawless metal. Sure enough, an image of a sun was apparent on the back, spelling out four letters in a circle.
A. X. L. E. Sounds like it stands for something.
?Some of the memories I?ve absorbed indicate that it?s called a ?wireless radio?. I don?t know what the hell music will do to help us, but you never know.?
She was right, a speaker and telescopic antenna was protruding from the front, but to his confusion, there was no sign of an on/off button.
What on Earth is a radio, anyway?
He shrugged as he placed the radio on the inside pocket of his cloak. He was curious as to what it was, but now was not the time. After all, he had a lot of research to do.
?Mistress Athena??
?Yes??
?Please don?t make a ?the world is my oyster? joke while we?re here.?
She laughed as she took a mental note of the comment. That was too good a line to not use.
He was reminded of the answer as the sun?s glare was blotted out by the slender figure of a woman bending over to glare at him, her pitch-black hair dangling in a frame around her pale face. Athena was giving him a smirk coupled with a look of disapproval as she produced a small book and some receipt paper from her pockets.
?While you?ve been lounging around, I?ve been doing a bit of research. Might come in handy during our battles, you never know.?
She sat down next to him as he sat up; she daintily waved the piece of paper in front of his face. Axle was irritated, but he let none of it show on his face.
I must not disrespect the Great Shadow?
?What is that?? he finally asked, a slight quiver in his voice.
Athena shrugged. ?A list of local eateries we should stop off at on our trip.? He skimmed over the barely legible scrawl on the paper, which displayed a list of the 25 contestants? names. Some of them were portrayed next to each other, most likely to mean that the two would be fighting together like Athena and himself.
?Nice joke,? he chuckled. ?taken a look at them yet??
?Of course!? exclaimed the Great Shadow. ?I need to know what?s in my food before I start eating it. That?s why I brought a menu.?
She dropped the book on Axle?s lap. He picked it up and glanced at the pages inside, giving details on the contestants as well as the events prior to their arrival. He suddenly took interest, taking mental notes as his eyes skimmed over the pages.
----------------
Athena sighed, smirking as she glanced over at the various people that dotted the landscape, some training, some trying to get comfortable, and some in conversations with each other. It made her laugh, the fact that these people were acting so casually when they knew that death loomed ahead of them.
Bunch of nut-jobs, if you ask me.
She smiled. She?ll have to store that nut line among all of her other culinary jokes; she rather enjoyed them. After all, she was only here for the food.
Strange. I don?t remember having a sense of humour?
She shrugged the feeling off, knowing that it must have been a side effect of stealing a mortal body. And besides, how could laughter harm her?
----------------
Axle was buried deeply into the pages of the book, his mind absorbing every last bit of information that may be useful to their future fights. He knew from experience that every last detail was a possible victory; after all, his abduction of Lady Athena had not been an easy task.
?My Lady, something that has been irking me for quite some time. Why have you not devoured everyone right here, right now??
She pouted in frustration. ?I would love to, Axle, but chances are that I would get caught and banished from existence or merely disqualified for offing the competition early. And besides, I like to play with my food.?
Axle sighed. ?I suppose, but it means more work for me in the long run.?
?What have you found in the book??
?Quite a bit. You know one of our opponents has an exploding liver??
Athena suppressed a giggle. ?Should lay off the spicy stuff. I learned that after that one time I ate a Mexican; couldn?t get the taste out of my mouth for weeks!?
Axle chuckled, which quickly turned into a look of deep concentration as he began to hear an odd murmour in the breeze. He swiftly got up and glanced around him, trying to trace the sound.
Where is it coming from?
The sound began to get louder, reaching a crescendo. He began to make out the sound that was heading in his direction, even if he could not see where it was coming from.
It?s a god-awful small affair
To the girl with the mousy hair
But her mummy is yelling ?No?
And her daddy has told her to go
He glanced around him, his eyes darting from place to place. The deathly girl who sat next to him, the man in black armour giving the bird to the clouds that circled above him and the angels that strolled around the area, making sure that no-one tried to start a round earlier than planned.
But her friend is nowhere to be seen
Now she walks through her sunken dream
To the seat with the clearest view
And she?s hooked to the silver screen
?You hear that?? he asked to Athena, who stared at him quizzically.
?No. Seriously, if you can hear something that I can?t, then something?s gone horribly wrong.?
But the film is a saddening bore
For she?s lived it ten times or more
She could spit in the eyes of fools
As they ask her to focus on
A chorus began to play around him as he stood up, frantically searching for whatever was making that noise. As Athena gave him a look of confusion, he remembered the first rule of stealth.
No one ever looks up.
As he raised his head, he noticed a small dot in the sky. As he examined the dot, it began to grow.
Shit.
A few seconds later, the airborne object collided with his head with the force of a sledgehammer.
Take a look at the lawman
Beating up the wrong guy
Oh man! Wonder if he?ll ever know
He?s in the best selling show
Is there life on Mars?
------------------------
Axle felt the glare on his face as he opened his eyes. As he looked around him, the first thing he saw was Athena stooping over his person, a childish grin forming on her face. She pulled a small bronze object out of her pockets and spoke.
?Fool. A mistake like that on the field could cost you your life.?
His temples almost screamed with pain. ?What happened??
She tossed the bonze box onto his lap, standing up and making violent gestures like she was reciting the events of a tragedy. ?That thing fell out of the sky and smacked into your head; you?ve been out for nearly an hour. I don?t know where it came from, but it has your name on it.?
He picked it up and examined the object, running his fingers over the fine indentations in the flawless metal. Sure enough, an image of a sun was apparent on the back, spelling out four letters in a circle.
A. X. L. E. Sounds like it stands for something.
?Some of the memories I?ve absorbed indicate that it?s called a ?wireless radio?. I don?t know what the hell music will do to help us, but you never know.?
She was right, a speaker and telescopic antenna was protruding from the front, but to his confusion, there was no sign of an on/off button.
What on Earth is a radio, anyway?
He shrugged as he placed the radio on the inside pocket of his cloak. He was curious as to what it was, but now was not the time. After all, he had a lot of research to do.
?Mistress Athena??
?Yes??
?Please don?t make a ?the world is my oyster? joke while we?re here.?
She laughed as she took a mental note of the comment. That was too good a line to not use.
Okay, this post was to give a display of the personalities of my two characters, as well as introduce some plot elements that I will (hopefully, I am fighting Ultrajoe first after all) introduce in later entries. So please do take note of Athena?s newfound personality, A.X.L.E. and the radio; they are important.
Also, proofreading and comments are welcome, if not, enforced. That?s right, I?ll send the Thought Police on your asses if you don?t; after all, I am a Conspirator.
Can anyone tell that I was watching Life on Mars when I was writing parts of this? The song has relevance to the competition in any case; ?the best selling show?. Maybe I was trying to subconsciously break the fourth wall?
In a few moments, I?ll have compiled all 3 of my important posts on the front page.
EDIT: And it is done. [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/jump/362.107952.1811140]
Also, proofreading and comments are welcome, if not, enforced. That?s right, I?ll send the Thought Police on your asses if you don?t; after all, I am a Conspirator.
Can anyone tell that I was watching Life on Mars when I was writing parts of this? The song has relevance to the competition in any case; ?the best selling show?. Maybe I was trying to subconsciously break the fourth wall?
In a few moments, I?ll have compiled all 3 of my important posts on the front page.
EDIT: And it is done. [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/jump/362.107952.1811140]
