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Post by ƤαƖƖαѕ ✧ on Mar 4, 2021 17:02:51 GMT -5
When Chiara had first become an Ascendant, though the revelation of the gods being real had been complicated and mind-bending, things seemed somehow uncomplicated. There was good and there was evil and Chiara knew precisely which of them she was.
She’d seen everything precisely; she’d always been the type to organise things into little boxes in her mind, to see things as black and white.
But over time, that had diminished. As she’d seen Laurie fight alongside the exiled. As she’d seen Lane killed for nothing other than cruel, unfeeling chaos. For nothing she’d done, or was. Just because. And she’d seen so much else since then, things she couldn’t name. She’d seen death and destruction brought on by the very people she’d aligned herself with, the good ones. Because they were kids and kids made mistakes, sometimes terrible ones, and their consequences were so much worse with the power of gods behind them.
It was hard to see things in black and white when she could now see such vibrancy and detail with those enhanced senses given to her by her guide
Luka’s death had been the straw that broke the camel’s back. It had been Chiara’s fault entirely, she knew that. Hers and the gods that had wrapped them all up in their petty little war.
So she’d do anything it took to bring Luka back. To pay for the mistakes she’d made. Because Chiara wasn’t like the gods, who let mortals suffer on their behalf and caused pain and suffering without lifting a finger to rectify their catastrophic mistakes.
So the girl was sitting in the darkness of her room, illuminated only by the harsh white light of her desk lamp, which threw harsh shadows across the contours of her face. Her eyes ached with lack of sleep, but her determination to keep going had made sure she stayed awake.
She still wore Heimdallr’s bracelet, but not much else about her felt the same as it had when she’d been younger. Her blonde hair was cut short now, falling around the length of her jaw rather than the length it had been previously. Glasses, which she’d only recently had to start wearing, pushed back the pale locks. She wore simple but comfortable clothes, the kind of clothes one needed to wear if they intended to stay up all night.
She was poring over a book, as per usual, but with more urgency this time. She had to find some way to do this.
And more and more she was beginning to stop caring what it might cost.
“What are you doing, rainbow?” A voice questioned, almost accusatory, behind Chiara. A wave of words that had a hint of amusement hidden in their depths. Completely and utterly unique to the past leader of this very Pantheon.
Standing there was Luka, a translucence to her, indicating her status as one of the dead. Almost everything seemed normal, her unruly hair, her bright blue eyes with their tint of green in the dark, like venom in a sea of blue. Her clothes were the very ones she wore the day of her death, originally a pale green-grey shirt, now stained scarlet. Her pants were dark, slightly torn from the fight that ended her life.
Perhaps what stood out the most was the wound located just below her neck, from her back it would seem like a wound for wings to sprout from. Instead, it was the very wound that killed her. Almost resting over where her still heart would usually beat.
Her eyes wavered over Chiara, smirk on her face, arms crossed, leaning against the girl’s walls, sharp eyes scanning the new leader of the Antarctic Pantheon.
At first after Luka had died, the first times Chiara had heard her voice like that it had startled her. By now she was so used to it she just turned to look at the girl with slight irritation, though she felt that familiar and still debilitating pang of guilt. Especially when she saw that wound.
“What I should’ve done a long time ago,” Chiara answered lowly “bringing you back. I don’t give a shit about what Heimdallr said about you dying averting Ragnarok.”
She didn’t care anymore that Luka’s death had caused Heimdallr and Loki to wonder why they were fated to kill one another, why exactly it was the Norse gods simply accepted the fates planned for them.
“I’m looking into everything I can. Ambrosia. Gorgon blood. The rod of Asclepius. The powers of that exiled boy. Whatever the f*ck it takes.”
She couldn’t do this. She couldn’t run this pantheon, take Luka’s place. She could see how much people missed Luka. And she swore sometimes she could just see that they sometimes found themselves wishing it was Luka who were still here and not Chiara.
Either way, she no longer has any regard for the rules that had put Lane’s soul in such jeopardy. She didn’t care about what the gods thought any more. If they wanted things done the way they thought was right they should’ve done it themselves and not given teenagers that responsibility. Sure they were all older now but they still weren’t gods.
“I need you the hell out of my head,” Chiara sighed after a moment, a tone of desperation in her voice “I need you to be alive again.”
“That’s not going to happen,” Luka snorted, downright laughing as if she really expected Chiara to be joking about it. “No offense, but fate doesn’t care about what you want, Rainbow.”
The more she looked at her friend though, the more she saw how serious Chiara was being. How much Chiara had deserted this, sunk into herself. Luka would be lying if she said she didn’t miss being alive, that she didn’t mourn having died before she made it to the age of 20. She’d be lying, lying so much to herself.
But she was meant to lie, right? She still offered Chiara a smile, “You’re guide must be throwing a fit. It’s not everyday that you break the rules set out for you.” the ghost noted, pushing herself off the wall and stepping closer to Chiara.
She sat on the bed, plopping herself right down, even though it made no impact on the bed. It didn’t move anything, it never would.
“You’d think you’d be happy with me dead,” Luka muttered, “No more being woken up at 4am on some crazy exploring mission to go bother Cleo or River.”
She was teasing, of course. Swinging her feet to-and-fro, looking at Chiara’s book in disinterest. “Heimdallr’s not really wrong either,” She admitted with a scowl, muttering something under her breath about how disgusting it was to admit that he was right about anything. “I mean, he’s wrong about literally everything else, but maybe it’s better like this. Now we don’t have to worry about killing each other out of spite!” She piped up, out of habit trying to elbow Chiara, though no contact was made, and she quickly retracted her arm, rolling her eyes.
“You just need to move on.”
Chiara’s lips thinned as she listened to Luka speak, feeling a rush of anger at the girl’s words.
“This isn’t a joke, Luka.” Chiara shot back “I know you don’t give a shit, I know you’ve never given a shit, but I can’t just let this happen because of some fate bullshit. Fate means something to the gods until it doesn’t suit them, why should I treat it any differently?”
She flipped the page of the book as she listened to Luka then comment about Heimdalllr and how he wouldn’t like this.
“I don’t need him,” Chiara answered “I don’t need my powers, they’re all but useless. I certainly don’t need them to figure out how to bring you back. I’ve done plenty on my own before.”
She didn’t care if Heimdallr took her powers from her, or if he refused to guide her any longer. Chiara could figure this out by herself if need be; she wasn’t afraid. She was willing to do anything by now.
“I never had any spiteful feelings towards you, Luka!” Chiara snapped in frustration at the girl, running a hand through her hair in her stress “I thought you were annoying and a little too chaotic for my tastes, sure. I never wanted to hurt you. And I did, and it’s my fault. Someone has to fix my mistakes, someone has to fix the gods’ mistakes. So no, I won’t be moving on.”
She gestured to the room around her, as if to remind Luka that her entire life was in that Pantheon.
“What is there to move on to? I’m not a leader, I never have been and you know that damn well. I sure as hell don’t have any real ties here. I wasn’t close with most of the others, I kept to myself. You died because of my stupid mistake and I can’t let you pay for that.”
“No one needs anyone, Rainbow.” Luka responded, a bit cruelly, venom in her voice as she turned on her friend, like a predator upon prey, “You don’t need me.”
Luka seemed interested when Chiara continued on, seeming to spiral in her own thoughts. It was slightly amusing, to see the stable minded girl spiral into her own thoughts, to see how the mighty could fall. Had it been someone who deserved it, Luka may have seen it as funny. If this had been Ripley, Atticus, maybe even Drew.
But this was Chiara, and to be honest, it was kind of pathetic.
“You’re not the first person to lose a friend, Chiara,” Luka pointed out, thinking back on Lane. Lane, who was Luka’s friend, who Luka never got to say goodbye to. Lane, who must have seen Luka as a traitor.
“You’re not special,” Luka added, scoffing slightly, “Get over it.”
She didn’t reply anymore than that. Resolutely, she stared at a wall, watching a clock. Time worked so weird now, it sped by so slowly, and yet moved much too fast. She tapped her fingers to the silent ticking beat, counting the seconds.
Try as Chiara might, fate was the way it was for a reason. Luka didn’t really care about the rules and other such, but Chiara was supposed to. Chiara was supposed to guard those rules like a hawk. But right now? This was disregard, Luka could only ponder how angry Heimdallr was.
Chiara narrowed her eyes at Luka’s comment about her not being the first person to lose a friend. No, Luka was right, but Chiara had lost Lane too. She’d never forget how surreal it was to see the girl’s body. She’d been the liveliest of the entire group and suddenly that spark was just gone, replaced by waxy, pale skin and an unsettling stillness.
“No, I’m not the first person to lose a friend,” Chiara angered, voice determined “and I’m not claiming I’m special either. The difference is I’ve lost a friend and decided I’m going to do something about it. Anyway, I don’t know why you’re trying to convince me not to do this. Anyone would think you would rather just stay dead.”
Chiara sighed, closing the book in front of her. She was resolute as to what she wanted to do, and Luka couldn’t change her mind. Neither could Heimdallr, no matter how desperately he wanted her to follow his rules. Well, that was tough.
“I’ve spent my life following rules, Luka, even more so when I joined the Ascendants. And you tell me where it got me. Good people die and the gods don’t do shit about it because the fact is they don’t care and they’d rather hide behind some dumb idea of fate to absolve them of any responsibility. You’re not dead because it was your fate to avert Ragnarok. You’re dead because I made a mistake, Set struck the killing blow, and Loki didn’t lift a finger to help you. He just decided that as a mortal you were expendable and used that same stupid excuse of fate.”
“You don’t get to blame Loki!” Luka snapped back, eyes blazing for a moment. “Sure, he might not have been the best, but he did what he could. He made up for his wrongdoing after I was exiled, and he was just as much my family as you or anyone else.” She added, pointing a glare at Chiara.
“He wasn’t like Zeus, he wasn’t like them. You don’t get to blame my choices on someone else because you can’t stand what you’ve become.” Luka shrugged though, stepping back, pointing a look at Chiara, as if she could see through her.
Maybe she could see into the plot, she had been there, after all. “You know, you used to be like Cleo. Seeing things as black and white, and there’s too many shades of grey. You still do, don’t you?” she questioned. “Maybe your eyes have gotten tired of seeing all the shades, but that doesn’t mean you can turn a blind eye to it. But do what you want,” a grin, almost mocking, “You’re going to fail. And you’ll see that I was right.”
Chiara rose to her feet, returning the book to its shelf before whirling to address Luka.
“Oh, you’d love to be right. You’ve always loved to be right. But you’re not, this time. If you knew one thing about me you’d know that if you tell me I’m going to fail it’s going to make me infinitely more likely to do it. But no, I don’t blame Loki for your death. I blame myself for your death, I want to make that absolutely clear. But what I do blame him for is not doing anything about it. Are you seriously telling me that Loki actually wouldn’t have been able to bring you back if he wanted to?”
She took a step closer, shaking her head as if in disbelief that Luka could be so shortsighted.
“You know, for such a chaotic god, Loki seems awfully constrained by fate. When it suits him, of course. When it means he doesn’t have to do anything for the girl who gave her life for his sake. And for what? Why do we do this, Luka? Because the gods told us to? What bullshit. You like to think you’re so above rules and authority, but all of us just accepted the gods like it was nothing. Like it was perfectly reasonable for literal deities to ask children to fight their battles for them. I will do this. I’m going to bring you back because someone needs to fight for you. For once, someone needs to fight for you the same way you fought for Laurie, and Lucien, and River and for me. I didn’t expect it to be me to do it but it looks like nobody else will. Not even your precious Loki.”
With that, she took a step to the door, about to leave before seeming to remember something, turning to face the spirit.
“Just leave me alone for a while, Luka. You can’t stop me anyway. I’m done talking.”
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Post by ƤαƖƖαѕ ✧ on Mar 4, 2021 17:04:55 GMT -5
Everything was a blur, and Lorenzo wasn’t really sure if he was even breathing anymore. Faced with the Exile’s Third in Command parading around Felicia. The girl whose eyes once seemed like a home. A solace from all the darkness and hate.
He stepped back, without even thinking about it. His eyes welling up, looking at Felicia, something he wanted to forget, before his gaze landed on Dillon. The crushing feeling of sorrow built up, whispering to him never to make that mistake again.
As Lorenzo had mastered in the past, he ran. Turning swiftly and pushing through the doors of the building. This wild goose chase after Gwen was tiring, and Felicia was a bad reminder. It wasn’t just her, though. It was the kindness shown to Lorenzo by Dillon, the budding feeling of warmth when in the other boy’s company. The late night talks.
The blonde was pulled from his thoughts as he was struck by a bullet of rain. One turned to many, and the thunder crackling nearby echoed in his head more than it should have. Like a knocking, as if trying to snap him from those feelings. From loving and losing again.
Ignoring the initial shock due to the rain, the blonde pushed further into the storm. He roughly rubbed at his eyes, a futile attempt to rid them of the tears. Not that it mattered, given the rain.
Running away was something of a habit. It was strangely symbolic how it was raining, like the night he realized that Felicia hadn’t loved him, that she had cheated. It was as if the sky was mocking him, warning him. Warning him about the trap he was falling back into.
So he ran.
As soon as Enzo had left, Dillon had rushed out after him. He understood why things had gotten overwhelming; after all, facing Gwen was stressful enough without the whole extra personal dimension Enzo was going through. Fighting in his hometown, trying to save the ex who had broken his heart.
He stepped outside, feeling the patter of rain on his forehead, pausing and looking up into a stormy sky.
Well, Dillon was British. A bit of rain didn’t scare him.
He rushed towards Enzo, standing in front of him and placing a gentle hand on the other male’s shoulder, looking at him with concern.
“Enzo?” he asked softly “what’s going on?”
That was probably the worst thing he’d ever said. He knew exactly what was going on, of course he did.
“Sorry, that was a really stupid question,” Dillon sighed, retracting his hand and stuffing it in his pocket “I just wanted to check on you.”
Again, said as if he had no idea what Enzo must be going through. He obviously wasn’t going to be doing well, given the circumstances. God, he just really wasn’t used to being open about the whole emotions thing. He’d grown up in a culture that would have you say you were fine even if you had a bullet wound in your stomach or something.
Not to mention that Enzo seemed to have a way of making Dillon fumble over his words, right now being no exception.
For what it was worth, Lorenzo seemed to snap out of his thoughts a bit when Dillon approached him. Part of him wanted to smile at Dillon’s kindness, how despite Lorenzo running away, the other boy was looking out for him.
Part of him understood that it was Dillon’s nature. He had done it for Pascal the first day, that’s why Dillon was leader. But another part of him was scared of driving his closest friend away.
“It’s…” He winced at how heartbroken his voice sounded, trailing off to try and get that false happy demeanor back. Forcing on a smile, he looked at Dillon, “It’s a lot,” he admitted, softer, and the smile dripped off like rainwater.
As soon as the words left, Lorenzo wanted to sink into himself. He was supposed to be the shiny, happy person. He was supposed to help other people see the hope and light when they seemed to be in darkness, and it felt hopeless.
“I’m sorry,” The two words almost blended together, and pushing himself from Dillon, Lorenzo began to pace a bit. “I’m sorry about this. I-I’m sorry you got dragged into this, Dillon. I’m sorry Irene got dragged into this.”
The words spilled out, faster as he ran a hand through his hair, dislodging some droplets. “I’m sorry,” he added, one final time, blinking some of the tears out of his eyes as he thought back on it. Felicia. His inability to help Penny. His connection to Felicia dragging Irene and Dillon away from their own home.
Dillon shook his head, feeling the droplets of rain spray across his skin. He would be drenched soon, but at this point he didn’t care. He really couldn’t care.
“You don’t have to apologise,” the boy said earnestly “you don’t have to apologise and you don’t have to pretend with me. I spent far too much of my life pretending.”
Too much wasted time spent on being someone he wasn’t. He had time to make up for, lost time. He didn’t want to lie any more.
For a moment he looked over Lorenzo’s shoulder, at the rain. It cloaked everything, falling thickly around them now so that it seemed to cover everything. It took away much of the city around them, like they were the only people in the world.
The rain hammered against the pavement, rising in a kind of mist against the almost mirror-like surface. It was kind of beautiful.
“Listen, I just want you to know that I care. You can talk to me.” he promised
Lorenzo paused, glancing back at Dillon. Dillon, his friend who he talked to late at night when Luka, Lucien, and Lane were up to no good. Dillon who helped Lorenzo cook in the Pantheon. Dillon who always helped the others when they felt down.
This was his friend. But Lorenzo had a habit of driving people away and facing one of those people made him realize what he could lose.
When Dillon offered to talk, the words started spilling out against Lorenzo’s better conscious.
“It’s just,” he started, glancing away into the mist, watching as water fell from the sky and landed on the concrete slabs and pavement, “I have this habit of disappointing everyone,” the words were softer, and he swallowed past the lump in his throat, “My parents, my brother.”
At the last word, a choked cry escaped him. He lost his brother, he hadn’t done enough for him. It hurt, and it stung.
“I disappointed her too,” Lorenzo commented after a moment, a broken voice breaking through the sound of the rain.
Dillon frowned at Lorenzo’s last words, clearly not willing to accept that statement.
“She cheated because she’s a cheater, simple as that,” Dillon said firmly “not because you disappointed her, that’s bullshit. She didn’t deserve you anyway.”
He didn’t want to let Lorenzo believe for a second longer that it was his fault that Felicia had cheated on him. That was so completely messed up, and sad. It made him physically feel a pang.
“You don’t disappoint us. You could never do that, and you could never disappoint me either.” Dillon continued “We all care about you, and we love you for exactly who you are.”
“But that’s the problem!” Lorenzo went from that depressive spiral to almost a panic, his eyes wide as he backed away from Dillon. “I thought that about everyone else. But then I chased them away. I wanted more, or maybe not enough.”
The words seemed to burn deeper in his mind, and soon more followed them. “I pick the wrong people to love, and I thought I was done with that! But I’m not. And I’m scared. I don’t want to fail anyone else. I finally have people who care and I don’t want to disappoint them or chase them away.” He finally had friends, Irene, Lane, Griffin, Guinevere, so many others.
A breath, stopping and glancing at Dillon with wide, panicked eyes, “And I’m scared because I didn’t want to make that mistake again. But it’s too late, and I don’t want to lose you too.”
Dillon listened to the panicked words, all ready to console Enzo if he needed to. But when Enzo said he didn’t want to lose Dillon too, all that was gone. His heart seemed to stop for a moment, then it was suddenly going all too fast.
Hera, for being a goddess of marriage, had told him very little about what love felt like. Maybe because whatever kind of love she had for her husband had changed irreparably so long ago it was like another world. Not that he didn’t think Hera and Zeus still loved one another. It took a kind of love to hate one another so fervently.
Anyway, Dillon suddenly felt as if there was only one thing he wanted to do. Only one thing he could do.
So he leaned forward and kissed Lorenzo, interrupting his anxious rant. He didn’t even notice the rain anymore, the way it ran in rivulets down his face and soaked his hair.
All there was was Lorenzo. The boy who was like sunshine and honey and everything bright.
When he finally pulled away, he smiled a little, resting his forehead against Lorenzo’s.
“Too late, or right on time?” he asked, his voice so quiet it was little more than a whisper “The thing is, Enzo, I’m a little bit harder to get rid of than you might think. You’re not going to lose me.”
He leaned back a little now, so he was able to look Lorenzo full in the face again.
“You worry too much, you overthink.” he said understandingly “that’s okay, I do too. But not everything has to be so complicated.”
When Dillon kissed him, Lorenzo smiled, for real. Despite the storm clouds, it was like he had his own little sun right before him, shining bright and chasing away the dark.
Lorenzo had been in love before, but there was something new and sweet and better with Dillon. His friend, his more than friend, it didn’t really matter.
Resting his forehead against Dillon’s the softest of laughs escaped him at Dillon’s first comment. “I’m glad,” he responded, pressing a kiss to Dillon’s cheek.
Despite the rain, Lorenzo wiped the tears that were on his cheeks away when Dillon pulled away, nodding at Dillon. The spiral of panic was like a wave, but now that the tsunami passed, the water was returning to a state of being level. No longer tampered. Once again steady.
His beacon was there, guiding him back.
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Post by 𝕊𝕙𝕒𝕕𝕠𝕨 on Mar 9, 2021 14:09:03 GMT -5
When Luka came up with this idea, she did it to rebel against Cleo and their dictatorship over the Pantheon. She did it to have fun, and to be fair, she did hand Lucien a closed box full of a princess costume with a rainbow wand and pink tiara.
She quite literally yelled out some profanities when she opened her own box, she had taken it to her room to change, and yeah, it should have been expected. It was Lucien, after all.
"You f*ckin b*tch," Were the first words out of her mouth when she left her room. She stormed into the hall, heading through the Norse wing and into the meeting place, already looking around for Lucien. Two large bunny ears perched on her head, one tipping due to the weight of them, and folding over slightly. Her shirt and pants were covered in fluffy pink cotton, with a larger pink cotton ball on the base of her spine.
Guinevere, who was nearby, broke down in hysterical laughter. "Luka, what are you, un petit lapin?"
"Shut up, giganta, I'm kind of having a moment," Luka snapped, face red in either mortification or pure fury. Guinevere's response of breaking into more guffaws was not helpful. Luka rounded slightly, the cuffs of her sleeves fluffy and annoyingly soft. She was about to leave again, though Guinevere snagged her arm quickly.
"What kind of costume is it without makeup?" Guinevere asked, and Luka glared back at her. They weren't quite to the meeting area yet, and already Guinevere had snagged her.
"No."
"Yep!" Guinevere replied, for the first time ever seeming a bit mischievous, which was horrifying and absolutely scared Luka.
After several minutes of literally fighting Guinevere, Luka was curled up in the hall, frowning at the icky feeling of the pink and black makeup Guinevere had added to her face. Guinevere was good with makeup, and yet this was the absolute worst thing ever.
"I hate you." the comment was soft, scarred and broken sounding, sea green eyes narrowed at Guinevere.
Guinevere scoffed, but pushed Luka forward into the meeting room.
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Post by ƤαƖƖαѕ ✧ on Mar 9, 2021 14:52:12 GMT -5
Lucien should have known what to expect when Luka said she had her own plans for the costumes. Really, he should have predicted this from the start.
And in all fairness, he had dressed her up like some sort of deranged cartoon character. So really, he deserved it.
Which was why he only had one thing to say when he opened the box with which Luka had presented him.
”Touché, my Aussie friend. Touché”
Still, he wasn’t going to pretend he didn’t hate it. Pink really wasn’t his thing, and neither were puffy sleeves. If he was going to wear a dress for the first time he’d rather it be something more his style. And a little less generally glittery and nauseatingly flouncy, preferably.
Still, if he’d learned anything from the more chaotic members of the group in the time he’d spent with them, it was that you just had to make it work. Maybe he could carry it off with a little confidence - not that he’d ever really had all that much, so he’d have to develop some pretty quick.
Hey, at least the tiara and rainbow wand added a little something, and the makeup he’d let Guinevere do (still not allowing her to touch him with the demonic devices known as eyelash curlers), really tied the look together. Though he wasn’t even sure at this point whether the look being tied together was something he wanted or not.
The wolf-whistle from Lane when the rest of the group saw him didn’t really help, but to be honest her costume was amusing enough anyway.
Theo had said that her costume was ‘an actual respectable adult’, and he’d even given her a wig to hide the blue hair. Lane as a brunette was really not something he’d ever expected to see, and it was a little uncomfortable. Like an uncanny valley effect. The rest of her outfit was a navy business suit, complete with tie and skirt down to just above her knees.
”My costume is ‘depressed corporate slave’, apparently.” she had commented ”I look like the greatest joy in my life is someone bringing oat muffins into the office or some shit.”
She didn’t seem that upset though, because apparently she’d presented Theo with something as obnoxiously bright and colourful as Lane herself was. The two of them had such different fashion senses that it had been obvious they were going to clash. Lucien just didn’t know they’d clash this severely.
When the group entered the meeting room and he saw Luka, Lucien couldn’t help but smirk.
”Looking good, Babs Bunny,” he commented
With that, he even graced the group with a little twirl in the princess dress, raising an eyebrow at the Australian girl.
”This what you had in mind?” the boy asked ”I hate you, by the way. I look like candy floss.”
Lane sniggered then, folding her arms over the navy blue blazer, her new brunette ponytail swinging behind her.
”Aww, look, the pretty pink princess can talk to woodland creatures. Just like real fairytales.”
Lucien shot her a look over his shoulder. She was meant to be on his team, and while he appreciated how difficult it must be not to make fun of his costume, he didn’t need friendly fire right now. Lane didn’t seem fazed, just shrugging unapologetically.
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Post by 𝕊𝕙𝕒𝕕𝕠𝕨 on Mar 9, 2021 19:10:25 GMT -5
Esmeray followed silently after Pascal, almost feeling bad for the frightened boy. How he seemed to stray in directions, looking for the solace of loneliness.
She too would rather be at home, curled in her cozy room with her books and dark poetry and music. But alas, the option wasn't there.
The whispers and chatter of spirits reached her ears, and she stepped closer, figure framed in shadow, a cloak of darkness. Befitting to the King's manner of hiding. As she passed some of the spirits, she raised a hand, as if commanding them to remain in place, to follow her.
"G'day, lads," she commented, turning a disinterested eye to the spirits, before stepping closer to Pascal, shadows seeming to bound around her feet from her cloak. "We'll handle this issue quickly enough." She informed, softly, nodding her head in respect. Odin had been sure to remind her to not offend spirits, unless she wanted disrespect and vengeance thrown at her.
Approaching Pascal, footfalls soft, dark eyes locked on the boy. "The same sorcery as you," she said slowly, raising an eyebrow at him, she paused for a moment. "Stop playing games!" She finally snapped, voice echoing softly.
She stepped closer, agitated, "I've told you what I want, and we don't have time to waste," thrusting out her hand again, she held an open palm towards him.
Realizing he may try to run again, she stepped back ever so slightly. Dark eyes flickering between him and the spirits, she decided in his case, he deserved at least a reason.
A kinder approach may work.
"You're scared," bluntly put words escaped her lips, and she restrained the urge to roll her eyes, "My name's Esme, and for the purpose of our safety, I need the crown." Looking around, despite the fact that no one living could see them, she sighed out, long and tired. "If not, Fenrir will be after us. He doesn't know yet who I am truly the chosen of, none of them do."
Looking away, she debated on if she should say anymore. She shook her head at the idea, "For the safety of us, I need that crown. It's up to you on if I take it, or if one of them does." Pausing, she gave him a sympathetic look for once, "You guys won't be going back. Atticus, Ripley, and Gwen want you in the Exiled. You'll be safer if they don't see you as the chosen of Hades."
She tried to keep it secretive, but didn't really know how successful it was. Regardless, they were running out of time.
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Post by 𝕊𝕙𝕒𝕕𝕠𝕨 on Mar 9, 2021 19:34:24 GMT -5
Atticus smirked at Naida, a dangerous green glow reflected in his eyes by his staff. Cruel, darkened.
As lightning hit outside, light reflected into the darkened factory through a hole above them, small, enough that it just highlighted some of the floor.
"Do you think I'm that low in self-esteem and that damaged to think even a fraction of the garbage that just came out of your mouth was true?"
Her works caused him to snort, looking at her as he wiped a thumb over the cut on his cheek, "Actually, yeah."
Research, she had mentioned. That smirk lit up his face, and he tipped his head, "Oh yeah, research, right? Funny that you should mention that."
Pulling something out of his satchel, he threw it in front of her, letting it hit the dampened ground with little care. It seemed to just be a small article with a picture.
As lightning struck again, the picture became a little easier to see. A picture of Naida's sister. An article about how Naida had went missing.
"I don't think I'm the one who needs a therapist, Miss Hollick," Part of him felt dirty, digging up someone's family. But one must use advantages when they could. "I must commend you though. 'Only Seren Hollick, breached the water with Naida nowhere to be found'. Interesting the water goddess chose you, and not the swim star."
He inspected his nails for a moment, before straightening his fingers, lookin back at her. "Your sister seems to miss you. But look at you, off gallivanting on some magic mission that you don't know anything about." Amusement was on his face, spinning his staff slightly as he sauntered closer, "Playing in the dark, you don't even know why. You don't know what they want from you. What they truly want."
The foreboding words were ended when he raised his staff, aiming it to swiftly knock her out.
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Post by ƤαƖƖαѕ ✧ on Mar 11, 2021 9:41:52 GMT -5
FUTURE POST — NOT CANON
Laurie was home. Home, and safe. And he should have been happy about it after all the time he’d spent in that hell. Alternating mainly between fear and numbness.
But he wasn’t happy. Not yet.
He’d arrived back at the Pantheon on a starless night, welcomed back into the building by the others. Some had been happier to see him than others, unsurprisingly. He’d experienced everything from hugs and happy tears to cold distance to worse. River had asked for a moment alone with Laurie after his return and he’d made his feelings abundantly clear. Laurie knew where he stood with him, at least. Say what you like about River, but he was straight with his feelings when he was angry.
Laurie was on his own, that much he knew. Even those who accepted him back, even those who’d been kidnapped along with him, couldn’t understand exactly what he’d gone through. Nor did he want them too, which was why he’d made such an effort to hide what he’d gone through.
Now, though, he needed to take some accountability.
He stood in the leaders’ meeting room, the one time he’d ever been in that room and the first time in a while so many of the leaders had been in one room. Cleo sat in their usual position in the centre, Dillon at their left hand and Naida to their right. Lucien sat on the far left. The empty seat on the far right that had once belonged to Luka was glaring, and Laurie couldn’t look at it without feeling a song of guilt for what she’d sacrificed for his sake. That being said, it was the person who sat between Lucien and Dillon that Laurie couldn’t bear the most.
River. The boy he’d loved and the boy who’d left him. The boy who had a far more selfless heart than he’d ever let on, who protected those he cared about and would fight to the end for those he loved. Unlike Laurie who’d thrown his friends under the bus the first chance he got to keep himself safe.
The boy Laurie had hurt so badly he didn’t know if it could ever be repaired.
He didn’t look like he wanted to be there, and that was an understatement. Laurie wasn’t sure what exactly was keeping him in the room. Maybe the others had provided him with some sort of comfort or encouragement, Laurie couldn’t say.
Either way, Laurie had to speak for himself now, and everything he’d done.
“I’m more grateful than you all will ever know that the others and I are back here,” Laurie began “and I know, considering everything I’ve said and done recently, that might not be especially believable.”
He cleared his throat, clasping his hands in front of him so he wouldn’t be tempted to fiddle or pull at his sleeves. He needed to focus.
“I hurt a lot of people. The other people I was kidnapped with, Theo, River,” he continued, eyes settling on River just for a second when he said the Ares champion’s name “and I know you’re going to want an explanation for it. Why I did what I did only for Cleo to figure out that I was lying. I’m sorry, so sorry, that I can’t give you one. At least, I can’t give you one that you’re going to want to hear.”
He wasn’t going to say a word about Ripley’s abuse of him. It felt too real, too raw, and too shameful. Because it was his own weaknesses that had allowed Ripley to manipulate him. Because he didn’t want to admit what had happened to him, even to himself. He’d have to process and deal with it then. Because it was hard even now he was safe for him to truly feel that Ripley didn’t still have power over him.
”I’m not making excuses, I own what I did and I understand that some of you might never trust me again. I’m not asking for forgiveness either. I could never ask you to forgive me when I haven’t even begun to figure out how to forgive myself yet.” he clarified, his gaze once again landing on River for the final words.
He didn’t want forgiveness, it felt wrong for everyone to forgive him so easily after the damage he’d done. The hurt he’d caused the others wasn’t less because he’d been manipulated and abused, and so he wasn’t going to expect their feelings to go away. They’d need time to process and deal with it, and if they never forgave Laurie he wouldn’t blame them for it.
“I don’t ask anything of any of you aside from a little understanding. I know that seems impossible when I haven’t explained anything, but maybe one day I’ll feel comfortable sharing the details. Either way, I want to apologise to everyone. I’m sorry. I know it doesn’t change anything, I know it’s not gonna magically fix everything, I know it’s not a get out of jail free card. But it’s worth saying.”
He didn’t feel comfortable yet telling the whole story, maybe he never would. It didn’t matter anyway, because he had a feeling their next encounter with the exiled would almost certainly lead to more of the story coming out whether Laurie wanted it to or not. They were bound to use it against him.
He’d keep as much of it a secret for as long as he could. He knew Luka knew, he knew some of the others he’d been kidnapped with possibly knew. But he trusted them not to share that information knowing Laurie wouldn’t want it to get out.
Still, he knew people would want to know why he had nightmares now. Why he’d withdrawn, why he acted so differently.
“I have no right to be making demands, I know that,” he sighed “but Luka saved my life. I was slowly falling apart and she’s the one who came to save me and the others. She doesn’t deserve to be exiled, she doesn’t deserve any of this. I know she’s rash and bullheaded but she’s also got more guts than anyone I’ve ever met. She did what she did because she cared.”
His gaze landed in Cleo then; he knew the kind of stuff they’d said to Luka. Of course he did. And it was them he wanted to address this to in particular.
“You were wrong about her. She does care. She’s brave and loyal to her friends and she didn’t get anything for that but judgement and being overlooked. I deserve to be exiled infinitely more than she ever did.”
He knew that what he was suggesting was potentially going to cause the leaders to erupt into possibly the most controversial debate they’d had yet. But it needed to be done. Someone needed to defend Luka. And he owed everything to her right then.
“You need to bring her back.”
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Post by ƤαƖƖαѕ ✧ on Mar 19, 2021 7:29:53 GMT -5
FURTURE WRITING - NOT NECESSARILY CANON, SUBJECT TO CHANGE The Australian Pantheon, 2045. Two days before the Spartae attack
"This is on, right? Stupid thing"
The red light that flickered to life assured the man that the camera was indeed recording. Satisfied, he set the camera down and sat in front of it, raising one knee and laying his arm across it.
"Honestly, I have no idea why I'm recording this," he began with a sigh, his free hand reaching to touch the lyre pin on his jacket "Nerves, I guess. Everything feels a little too perfect right now and I've never been able to trust when things feel like they're going well."
One only had to ask his sister to know that. Or any of his friends, really. They knew him well enough after all these years to understand what he was like. He'd irritated them for more than twenty years, after all. And god how much he missed their younger years after all this time. He hadn't realised at the time that they were some of the best years of his life. Of course, he hadn't met Claudia at that point, and she was the best thing in his life. So they weren't perfect. But he'd never been happier than he had been back then.
"My life has been a series of mistakes, of what-ifs. Not getting there fast enough, saying the wrong thing. Wondering what my life would have been like if I'd made different choices. Not taking chances I should have taken. I'd resigned myself to the idea that I wasn't good enough." he explained, swallowing as his eyes flickered to the ground.
Not getting there fast enough to save those they'd lost. Barely being able to save River. Those things stuck with him. And it was true that he'd spent his life asking questions; what if he'd been able to save them? What if Apollo had chosen someone better? He'd always been like that, as a kid asking himself what would have happened if his father had stuck around and he'd made different choices.
"When Apollo chose me I felt like I was the wrong person. How was I supposed to heal others, help put what was fragmented back together, if I was broken too? Why did I deserve it? When I was elected as leader, the doubts got even worse. I wondered if I'd deserved it, if I'd been voted in as a joke. If I was capable, if I was good enough"
It had seemed the strangest decision to him. Not only Apollo's decision to choose him, but the choice of the others to elect him as a leader. He couldn't have thought of a worse choice for a person to help save the world. He'd felt broken himself, as much as he would have hat"ed to admit it at the time. Shattered shards that he didn't know how to put back together.
The thing about healing people is that you learn that not every broken thing needs to be fixed." he continued "I doubt anyone will ever actually see this but if any of you assholes from the first and second waves find this, you were the ones who made me feel like I was good enough. You also annoyed the shit out of me but this isn't about that right now"
He supposed now was the time. He'd said he was recording because everything felt too perfect. If there was any moment to say this stuff, it was now.
"Elara, I never give you enough credit for everything you did for me. You're my big sister and I love you. River, you're like a brother to me and I'm so happy things worked out the way they did for you. Cleo, I know we don't always see eye-to-eye, and we especially didn't when I was younger, but I know you saw the potential for a good leader in me and I appreciate that you didn't give up on me. I love all of the Ascendants, and that's the only time you'll ever hear me say that," he said, chuckling lightly with those final words
The man reached into his jacket pocket then, drawing out a small box. He held it in his hands, fiddling a little nervously with it.
"Here's the thing I'm nervous about. As you know, I met an amazing woman years ago. Claudia is the most incredible person I've ever met. She's fun but she keeps me grounded, she doesn't take any of my shit, and she loves me for who I am. My life is pretty much perfect now, but I look at what the others have and I want that too. I want what River and Laurie have. And I'm sick of missing chances that I should take. So I'm proposing to Claudia."
He didn't know when, but soon. He had a plan. He was going to hire out the place where they'd first met, just for them. They could dance and talk and he could ask her then. That was the idea, anyway.
"So Clauds, I'm filming this for you. I don't know if you're going to say yes or no yet, I don't even know when you're going to be watching this. I just know that one day you're going to need an explanation for everything and I can't guarantee that I'm going to be there to give it. You deserve to know, and you deserve to hear it from me. Not my sister or one of my friends.
"The truth is that, yeah, at first, marriage wasn't my thing. But later I wanted nothing more than to be married to you. The reason I never asked before, the reason it's taken so long, is because I had to keep you safe. My life is dangerous. I couldn't let you know who I am, and I couldn't make you easy to link to me. But you deserve to know the man you're marrying, or at the very least you deserve to know why I kept you at a distance. I can't live a lie with you. So, I know you're going to think I'm totally crazy, and you might not believe me. That's okay, I wouldn't believe me either. All that I ask is that you hear me out."
There was no way to explain all of this where he would sound sane. Luckily he and the other Ascendants had proof should Claudia ever ask for it, but that didn't make him any less aware of how unbelievable the whole thing sounded. No matter how many times he rehearsed the speech in his head.
So he took a deep breath and looked into the camera. He just had to rip the bandaid off. She would see this one day, and she needed to know. It didn't matter whether she said yes or no to the proposal, Claudia deserved this. Needed this. He might lose her, she might not want to stay for the proof, but not telling her the truth was unthinkable.
Here went nothing.
"The old gods are real." he said, grave and serious by now.
That was it. He'd started the explanation and now there was no going back. He'd passed the point of no return, had sailed past the event horizon into the messy black hole of shit he now had to somehow help Claudia understand.
He had to go into the tales of the gods and the champions they'd chosen, the messed up kids they'd united from around the world and given powers to help save the world. The stories of the leaders, who now lived their lives as guardians of the world's seven Pantheons.
He had to explain the story of the Ascendants.
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Post by ƤαƖƖαѕ ✧ on Mar 20, 2021 17:51:18 GMT -5
Dillon watched the flash of the disappearing girl. She was certainly the right woman. Gwen Anker was officially in Venice.
Enzo seemed to take charge then faster than Dillon did, and he hated himself for the way he froze up upon seeing Gwen. Leaders were supposed to be people of action. They were supposed to know what to do. He was meant to be in charge of this mission; it might be his first fight but that was irrelevant. At least Cleo had thought it of little importance when assigning Dillon to lead the mission.
”Let’s move,” he agreed
Thankfully Enzo knew the city, and seemed to know where Gwen would be heading. All Dillon had to do was follow, and he prepared for whatever they were about to face.
So he followed the boy, hand drifting toward where the scabbard containing his sword lay. He’d concealed it as much as possible and mainly just relied on nobody taking any notice in a busy place like this. Either way, he hadn’t planned on coming without a weapon, especially when he didn’t know what his power was.
”Frying her sounds ideal,” Dillon agreed as they moved, before clearing his throat ”So, for the record now feels like as good as time as any to clarify that I may not exactly... know what my powers are yet?”
He was hoping they were worth it. Because if they weren’t and Hera didn’t have any useful abilities to offer, Dillon was in serious trouble. In fact, he was fully prepared for the possibility that he might not survive this mission.
It terrified him a little, but hey, he was here now and he was kind of in too deep.
It wasn’t long before the group came across a building near to the water - well, everything was close to the water in Venice, but that was by the by. It looked abandoned, all rotted wood, but Dillon could tell instantly boats had been made there. Seemed like an ideal place for the champion of Ceto to hole up.
Dillon gestured for them to stop outside the building, holding out a hand to keep his two friends back for a moment.
”Lucien and River said to go for the stone in her forehead when she’s in her monster form. We don’t know if that’s the only thing she can do though, so be on your guard. It’s likely she might have made some upgrades after the last fight.” he explained ”Other than that, good luck, loves. Oh, and no pressure but I’d really like it if none of us die. You know, if at all possible”
With that rousing, truly inspiring speech, the British boy gestured for the trio to enter.
This was not ideal. He had unknown powers and was fighting the champion of a water deity in a city famed for being built over water.
When they entered she was already waiting. Standing, backlit by the light streaming through a window frame. The windowpane itself was long gone, the only remnants being some jagged teeth of glass.
Light caught the dusty air around Gwen as she stepped further forward into light, that same smug smile spreading on her face once more.
”You know, I’d think your asinine, incompetent little group wished to bore me to death if the pitiful excuses for opponents they send after me are anything to go by.” she commented, looking over the trio
Her eyes settled first on Irene.
”Oh good, Zeus has chosen another champion after long last. I’ll bleed you dry, bitch. Just to make him pay for the first.” she began, before fixing her gaze on Dillon ”Oh, and the champion of his other half, if I’m not much mistaken. My, my, what have I done to deserve such a royal audience?”
Dillon’s hand latched now onto the hilt of his sword, drawing it swiftly. Gwen eyed it, raising an eyebrow and letting out a little laugh.
”Impatient, are we? Hera always has had a certain appetite for blood, hasn’t she? A little overeager.” Gwen continued “We’ll get to the big show soon enough, don’t worry. Ceto likes to savour her revenge; I think we can all agree she’s waited long enough to bring Olympus toppling down.”
Years of being overlooked. Her and her children relegated time and time again to being labelled monsters. Good only to be canon fodder for the glory of some hero. Her children dying to the children of the likes of Zeus time and time again. Ceto wanted blood, and Gwen was more than willing to provide it.
”Uh, so heads up, hate to ruin your speech and everything, but Irene and I aren’t exactly besties with our guides? So bringing them into it isn’t really doing it for us, FYI.”
Gwen seemed almost delighted Dillon had said that, he’d expression somehow becoming even more smug and self-satisfied than before.
”So what you’re saying is you’d like some more personal stakes in the fight? Very well.” the girl answered smoothly
She had so far pointedly ignored Enzo, but there was a reason for that. She hadn’t lured them here for nothing.
”Welcome to the City of Masks.”
She finally pulled off the mask from her face, instead producing from a satchel at her side the circlet that was her key. It only took a moment to nestle it safely in place, the stone secure over the centre of her forehead. Just in case.
Now she finally turned her attention to Enzo.
”Or I suppose I should say welcome home, shouldn’t I?” she asked “Lorenzo, isn’t it? I read about you, it seemed like you’ve got some issues to work through. Some complicated feelings to figure out. And you know, I get it. I thought maybe it might be nice to help you with it.”
She stepped back then into the shadows only to return a moment later with another figure. Gwen stood behind a young woman who had her wrists bound, one arm wrapped around her waist while another held a dagger to her throat.
”What a nice reunion, huh?” she smiled ”As you can see, Felicia here isn’t hurt. Don’t worry yourself about that. Pretty little thing, isn’t she?”
She leaned away a little from Felicia as she said those last words as if to see her better, looking over the girl for a second before flickering her gaze back over to Lorenzo.
”I thought we could make it a little game, up the stakes a little. What do you say?” she asked, first looking at Lorenzo and then at Felicia, as if asking them both.
Dillon looked with panic between the girls and Lorenzo, fear flickering in his eyes and catching the light as his grip on the sword tightened. He barely even knew how to use this thing and he knew it wasn’t going to be an easy fight.
”Enzo, what’s going on?” Dillon asked, the uncertain wobble in his voice sounding infinitely louder in the silence ”what do you want to do?”
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Post by 𝕊𝕙𝕒𝕕𝕠𝕨 on Mar 22, 2021 15:20:10 GMT -5
Luka grumbled as she looked at all the fluff Lucien had decked her out in, she looked like a sparkly bunny disaster, and to top it all off, a sparkly pink flower was curled around the right bunny ear, giving her a stupid flowery look that juxtaposed with her dark hair. When she spotted herself in a mirror, though, she laughed a little. It was ridiculous, but sadly looked...kind of okay.
That's why, when Lucien walked in with hiss group, she broke into borderline choking laughter, snorting at him. He called her Babs Bunny, and in spite, she stood up, crossing her arms and stepping closer, ruffling at his hair, "Looking good, Princess." Her sea green eyes narrowed in humor, "Pink's definitely your color."
When he twirled, she laughed some more, nodding when he asked her if that was what she had in mind, pretending to wipe away a tear drop before Guinevere swatted her hand away (for toughing her face, "don't wanna mess up the makeup", she had grumbled).
When Lane spoke, Luka simply glanced at her with a raised eyebrow, "Yeah, alright Miss Capitalism, it looks like the closest thing you've seen to a fairytale is that dystopian novel where Big Brother watches your every move."
Guinevere snorted, dressed in a flowy white dress, a rosy gold circlet set upon her hair, which was styled into an ever graceful flowy look. "Okay, Cottontail, we get it."
"What did you just call me?" Luka questioned, aghast, before scoffing. "Look, giganta, bully Lucien instead. You're like, his Majesty's servant now."
Though, most people were there now, it was time to get to business. "I know it's a blast making fun of Princess, but we can continue that after we pummel him into the ground. Tonight is about who can give it a burl and collect the most," she commented, mimicking Cleo's voice for a moment, posture all prim and perfect and poised, before she channeled a wolfish grin, looking over at Lucien for a moment.
"Which means, there aren't any rules. Once we pass over, we'll begin our collection, and return afterwards. Ariella, Theo, Chiara, you guys are with me on team Brolly. The rest of you are on team Loser. "
Mocking a curtsy, she pointed her umbrella at a wall, hitting the release and letting the light of portal fill the room, "After ya, Princess."
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Post by Lioncl on Mar 23, 2021 0:26:38 GMT -5
Daniel couldn't help but wince at the sudden immense pressure the giant wolf put on his shoulder. Even if it didn't pierce his tough hide, it was still extremely painful. "You call that a bite? I was expecting more from the big bad wolf" he taunted through clenched teeth. Right now, he needed to keep Fenrir's attention away from Echo and if that meant angering a wolf god, so be it. "Let's just see how you like mine" he said as he stretched his head forward so that he could snap at Fenrir's forearm. Daniel's jaws opened as wide as they could before they snapped shut at full strength.
(gonna let you decide whether or not you want it to hurt Fenrir or not)
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Post by Lioncl on Mar 23, 2021 0:52:37 GMT -5
Nathan couldn't help but laugh at River's initial statement. He could tell that he was going to have fun with this one. "Very cute but you could stab me just about anywhere and it isn't going to do much in the long run" he said as he watched River launch his spear at him. Nathan didn't bother moving as the spear pierced his shoulder. Nathan looked over at the spear and let out another laugh "Good! Good! Though try to work on your aim next time. I was hoping you'd hit my heart after all" he said as he grabbed the spear and ripped it out of his shoulder. Nathan tossed the spear back towards River before he place his hand over the wound. His hand emitted a golden light and the wound quickly closed after a few seconds. Nathan was about to make his own move when his phone buzzed in his pocket. He let out a loud groan "God of course someone has to ruin my fun now of all times. Gimme a sec there War Boy" he said. Without even waiting for River's response, Nathan turned his back away from River before he opened the text. He quickly read it and rolled his eyes before he started typing away.
Do it yourself, I got Ares' Champion with me right now and I am not missing out on this opportunity. He replied
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Post by 𝕊𝕙𝕒𝕕𝕠𝕨 on Mar 23, 2021 14:36:19 GMT -5
Atticus flashed a grin at the girl before him as she staggered, and stepped closer when she crumpled.
"Nighty night, Naida." He cooed, a chuckle escaping him as he stepped closer to her, lightning silhouetting his shadow, throwing it against the walls as he tapped his staff on the ground. He crouched by the growing plant he has spawns, a baby blue flower which he left resting by her with a small piece of parchment that only contained a simple letter "A".
He made quick work of accessing Naida's key, pressing it into the cushion of the blue petals. He left it set in that exact location, before sending a text into the group chat.
I've secured Miss. Salty Sh*thead. Hurry up, I'm getting hungry.
He grinned slightly at the words, his eyes focusing ahead of himself. Fenrir was taking care of Daniel, it would seem. Nathan was handing...someone, and Ripley had went after someone too.
The water girl was down, and the child?
Styx wasn't there, neither was Penny, but Atticus had to assume each person was being handled. Esme went after that boy that Atticus had never seen, and presumably, everyone was being handled.
The entire plan could fail if they failed to secure each person.
Taking a picture of the blue flower and Naida's key with it, along with the signature, he posted the picture in the groupchat as proof with a simple message.
I think I might lose the bet on getting the most...
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Post by 𝕊𝕙𝕒𝕕𝕠𝕨 on Mar 23, 2021 15:13:16 GMT -5
For most of her life, Echo had been afraid of the dark. What lay in the shadows, the things that could hurt. The noises that could kill you, undetected, the darkness that stole.
She lost so much already to the dark. The darkness was cold, and scary, and unknown. But she pushed through, hoping with everything she had, that she could find River.
As thunder cracked in the distance, her eyes glistened. It reminded her of bullets, or of the violence. River was strong, a fighter, she knew that. But Laurie? Laurie was a lover. Pascal was a healer. Naida was a leader, diplomatic and true. Daniel was scary, but he had a good heart and he was a warrior.
But Echo wasn't any of those things and now people were hurt. But the dark was scary and dangerous, and distance growls clung to her skin. She left Daniel. She left Daniel.
Tears finally slipped free, her only light being flashes as lightning crashed. Just like that night. Just like that night.
She lost one family. She didn't want to lose another.
Her feet pushed off the concrete as she ran, soft droplets of water falling as she felt them claw at her eyes. Daniel told her to go, and she refused to waste his chance.
Spotting a door up ahead, one that seemed to go into a supply closet, she formulated a plan. Hide for a moment, get her phone, call River and Laurie. She'd see that it was fine and there was nothing to be scared of because it was just Fenrir lounging around a factory again like when he attacked Luka and Chiara.
River's yell was probably because of something falling, Echo didn't see anyone else. It was just that wolf.
The nagging feeling wouldn't fade, but she settled on the plan as fear overcame her as another crack of lightning flashed across the sky overhead, making the ground rumble in it's strike.
She pulled it open, heedless, and immediately fell back, hands covering her mouth as more tears escaped. A choked sob escaped her lips, because there was Laurie. But he was so still, and he looked injured.
Scrambling into a crawl backwards, her limbs shook, but there was nowhere to cry. Nowhere to hide. "There's no where to go," she whispered in horror, heart deafening her with it's insistent beating.
Looking at her necklace, she realized there was somewhere to go. There was help. But River was still there, in that maze of darkness.
Her hand went to the necklace, glancing back at Laurie.
She had to go back.
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Post by Nariku The Avaricious on Mar 25, 2021 20:28:49 GMT -5
The ghosts seemed to mutter to themselves as Esme made her approach. A passing interest in the current event happening between the two kids.
“She has the authority of a king, but I can’t whom she hails from.”
“Rather young, isn’t she?”
“Bold of royalty to steal from another.”
“At least she has a lick of a backbone.”
“Wonder how this will play out.”
Pascal glanced between the darkness where the voices originated, to the girl cloaked in shadow as she explained her “sorcery” being the same as his. It, of course, didn’t explain why she was so insistent on getting him and his crown. It just made it more annoying that she had the same powers, yet still felt the need to steal from him.
“He doesn't know yet who I am truly the chosen of, none of them do."
At her words, Pascal seemed to stop in place, a look of confusion was plastered over his face. There was something off about her situation, how she didn’t seem to trust her group with basic knowledge as to who her god was. Everyone in the Pantheon was aware of each others’ gods, it seemed weird that she wouldn’t say anything to the people she allied herself with. He didn’t get it.
Once she finished talking, Pascal slowly glanced down at his hands, trying to process everything she told him. He didn’t know what to think when it came to his current predicament. How far ahead did these guys plan this? Even if he got away from Esme now, who knew how far he’d be able to go, especially when the others were still in danger. At that moment, it would have been really easy for him to just give up and hand the strange girl his crown. He wouldn’t have to continue scraping for his freedom futility that way.
For some reason, though, he couldn’t bring himself to make that simple decision. Nothing about it felt right. He didn’t want to be enlisted into some group who was only interested in harming people, nor did he want to give up his only way back to the Pantheon just because some girl claims they’d be in danger if he didn’t. How many of people’s problems did he have to get dragged into for being the champion of Hades? It was just like the Lane situation all over again.
He was afraid of what was going to happen to him, but he was tired of sitting by and allowing his life to crumble in front of his eyes. He already had nothing to lose, everyone who’d ever cared for him was gone. All that was left was him and what he wanted, and right now, he wanted this girl to go away.
“I don’t understand your reasoning for doing this, but I don’t intend on getting dragged into your problems,” Pascal finally said, his voice surprisingly steady and firm despite him being jittery and fearful not long before. It almost seemed like he was a different person at that moment. In that moment, it felt like all his previous fear was replaced with sheer instinct. “I’ve seen what they’ve done to the others, I’ve had to treat the damage they caused on kids younger than me because we all got dragged into this situation to do the biddings of some beings of higher power. Their grudge on us is unjustified, and I have no respect for the wishes of your superiors.”
He took a few steps back, holding his hand out as the room took on an unnatural chill. The whispered voices of the ghosts around them seemed to hush momentarily, before their pale figures closed in, passing through the rows of shelves like smoke. Their shimmering bodies stopped nearby the boy, before turning their heads to Esme, eyes glowing a putrid green alongside the jewel on Pascal’s crown. The ghosts closest to him seemed to lose their translucent sheen, and take on a more tangible form.
“I am the Champion of Hades, and I’d like for you to leave.”
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Demisexual
Leo
Surviving off Thai tea and Miguel O'hara
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Post by Leo on Mar 28, 2021 15:08:46 GMT -5
Some part of him didn't want to seriously hurt this boy across from him. Some part of him knew that this was still a human fighting a war just like he was. But, he wasn't prepared when Nathan just took the hit from his spear unflinching.
River stood there dumbfounded for a moment as he registered that the spear was sticking out of the boy's shoulder. Only when he tossed it back to turn and direct his attention away from River, did Ares' champion snap back to reality and snatch the spear out of the air.
Getting back into a fighting stance, River kept his eyes on this new boy as he assessed the situation. It seemed like this new one was able to heal himself. If that was the case then River might not be able to land multiple small attacks. He needed to strike a good big one.
But, this was only a theory. He didn't know what else this boy could do yet.
Raising his token to his lips with his free hand, River pressed a small button disguised as an indentation and started speaking. "Cleo, we need backup. Now," He ordered quietly. He started moving around Nathan, circling him carefully as he sent what looked like a text message. Seriously? Right now?
"Hurry up," He demanded then dropped his necklace, and ran at Nathan.
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Post by 𝕊𝕙𝕒𝕕𝕠𝕨 on Apr 6, 2021 13:50:51 GMT -5
Esmeray watched Pascal with some disinterest in her eyes, not seeming to acknowledge the whispers of the spirits as they commented on her ability to command and his lack of. The small pin holding her hair in a ponytail was the closest thing she had to a crown, though it wasn't her key. Her true key was the pin on the cloak that allowed her to mask her identity.
She didn't know what to fell, to be truthful, when he seemed to gain some backbone, when he started to stand up for himself. The words trickling from his mouth seemed to land on a cold statue, however, as the only thing that wavered were her pupils. Staring him down.
In all fairness, she waited until he was completely done. The control, it would appear, of the ghosts. The crown that allowed that control. But she didn't want it for control. She wanted it to live.
Her job in the war was as a spy, it would appear, as Odin had instructed that she not go into the Pantheon. The ability to hide was important, but if Fenrir found her out, it would all be over.
The chill in the room was unexpected, sending a shiver up her spine, but her calculating eyes returned to Pascal, stepping forward despite his show of power. "I think you forget how control works," the bold statement was chilling, despite the chill and dampness in the air, "For however much control you may have over the dead, you have no control over me. You may be a king of the underworld, but I? I am king of so much more."
Another slow step forward, daunting, challenging, eyes narrowed at Pascal, before beckoning to the spirits, as if waving them towards herself. "And another correction, your majesty," she pat the word mockingly, lifting her fingers to put quotations around them, "They aren't my superiors. You could do more good for your friends if you complied."
Stepping forward once more so she was practically face to face with him, her next words were a command, "The crown, Chosen of Hades, I won't leave without it."
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Post by 𝕊𝕙𝕒𝕕𝕠𝕨 on Apr 6, 2021 14:18:27 GMT -5
Echo was about to activate her portal, or find some manner to help when she heard something behind her. Not something, but someone.
She spun around, her doe eyes widening as she spotted Ripley, freezing in place like a deer in headlights.
Not even able to move a step back, she closed her eyes to will the remainder of her tears away. Crying wasn't going to help. So instead she stood in place, eyes on the floor as he stepped closer, biting her tongue to keep from panicking.
Her eyes closed in a wince when he called Laurie a gift, worried for her friend. But then Ripley had the audacity to pat her head like she was some dog, and he leaned towards her.
Darting backwards, she reached up, grabbing his wrist and forcing it away from her, ducking away from him in the process. A newfound anger entered her eyes, a new emotion, it would seem.
This was the man who was chosen by Set, this was the man who hurt her friends and herself.
"He's not your anything. You don't have ownership over him or anybody else." The words were hissed out, venomous in sound, the soft-spoken girl glaring at the man, "And you never will."
The issue was that Echo didn't have weapons, after all, this was just supposed to be an exploration mission, no fighting involved. All she had was some experienced with fighting from her family and...old situation.
Standing in front of Laurie, protectively, she scooped up a stray pipe sitting on the ground, holding it out towards Ripley in a vaguely threatening manner, hands shaking lightly from where she held it.
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Post by 𝕊𝕙𝕒𝕕𝕠𝕨 on Apr 6, 2021 15:03:44 GMT -5
Sitting at a desk as time flew by, Cleo was reading a book, one specifically about the history of Ma'at, and her story. Reading glasses perched on their face, peaceful as could be.
As one of the three leaders still at the Pantheon, they sat by one of the communication sets, a radio, ready to hear any updates or input from Irene, Dillon, River, or Naida.
They didn't expect anything though, if anyone needed to have any communication, they'd just call on their cellphones and call Cleo. All the leaders shared numbers earlier, so there wouldn't be any need for anyone using the hotline, as it was dubbed.
That didn't really stop Lucien and Luka at first, but anytime Cleo heard them they just elected to ignore them.
That's why, midway through a passage, they were shocked to hear an order, a plea for help, come across the line. Their eyes shot up, returning to the radio, and they frantically pushed themselves over, knocking some things down along the way. Papers scattered.
River was asking for help. Why would he need help? It was just an easy mission, check out whatever was going on, come back. There was no reason for it to turn into a big deal. Did something happen with the weather?
Cleo froze then, looking at the tracker of the keys, the factory, on the giant globe before them. "It was a trap," they whispered, standing up and slamming their book to a close as they went to man the communications system to the Pantheon.
Irene left with Dillon, River and Naida were on this mission. They'd have to stay behind to see if any emergencies came in from Italy.
"All Ascendants to the meeting room, I repeat, all Ascendants to the meeting room." and slammed their hand on the alarms, a blaring red light washing out through the halls of the Pantheon.
A few minutes later, a handheld radio from the Control room in hand, they rushed to the Meeting room, bright red light casting their silhouetted on the wall. By standards of this being an emergency alarm, they should likely be one of the last to arrive.
Imagine their surprise as they entered a nearly empty room, with a lot less occupants then originally expected. There was only about 5 people in that room, not nearly close to the 13 or so that should have been there.
Even worse...
"Where's Lucien?" Cleo commented, horror dawning on them, had they been infiltrated? Had they lost everyone? They looked at the occupants of the room, specifically Jason, eyes wide, "Where's Luka?"
They had no idea that elsewhere, far from the Pantheon, those eight missing kids were on a treasure hunt for sugar.
All they knew is that they couldn't lead the remaining Ascendants to help River.
"I want everyone on lockdown, keep your guard up, we have 8 missing Ascendants, and 7 more in danger. Be on the lookout for danger!" They ordered.
That's when the series of calls began to the missing, ending with voicemails.
When it all fell apart.
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Post by ƤαƖƖαѕ ✧ on Apr 7, 2021 16:33:45 GMT -5
The Hallowe’en festivities so far had been eventful. It had included everything from Lucien complaining that he looked like Pepto-Bismol approximately every five seconds, to Lane swallowing an entire bag of jellybeans, to Theo almost nervous vomiting when Luka tried to convince him to charm people into giving the group candy. Lane had been rushing from house to house blindingly fast with her super speed, while Chiara had been extremely hesitant about joining in.
“Chiara, you ring the doorbell and say ‘trick or treat’, it’s not rocket science” Luka had insisted
“I know how it works, Bitch Bunny, I just have no desire to partake in your tomfoolery.”
”And I have no desire to lose, either you ring that doorbell, or I'm going to tell Jason who stole his books 2 weeks ago."
”We’re the only two people in the building who read, he been knew.”
”Chiara, some of us read, we just don't live, eat, and breath books. Now go ring the doorbell, damnit."
“I’ve never seen you read anything but cereal boxes, don’t fool yourself. But fine, only if it’ll get you to shut up for give goddamn seconds and get us back home faster.”
It hadn’t all been bad. The only injury had been Chiara getting shoved over, and she was only bleeding a little. Otherwise she was obviously enjoying it was more than she pretended to, even smiling once or twice. Lucien had been called ‘Luci’ and for the first time hadn’t objected to it. Luka had even shared some candy with Chiara. Lane was having the time of her life, as always. It was honestly kind of fun. Ariella had been able to mother the entire group, and Guinevere and Griffin were having a good time together.
Until Lucien was heading towards a house only to make eye-contact with Luka and realise she had her eye on the very same house. Lucien froze for a moment, but it was obvious what was going to happen. Only seconds late both kids were rushing to the same door, and arrived at the same time, clashing harshly as they tried to shove one another with their shoulders. Somehow, the doorbell was rung somewhere among the chaos.
”Move, I swear to god I’ll rip those stupid bunny ears off,” Lucien threatened as he tried to push the other teenager away from the door.
Neither of them seemed to notice the way Chiara froze. Her skin suddenly felt icy cold, the hair standing on end as a shiver rushed through her body. Her stomach was filled with a heavy, churning dread, an anchor of fear. It felt like an itching under her skin, a dreadful nagging feeling that something was very very wrong.
Luci was in the middle of whacking Luka with the stupid wand she had given him with the costume when the door to the house opened, not that that appeared to do anything to stop the fighting.
Chiara didn’t even react when Lucien launched said wand at Luka’s head, even though it sailed past and almost hit her and Theo.
Something was wrong, something was very very wrong. Her senses had grown stronger, as if the entire world was screaming at her and she needed to be on alert. The shouting of Lucien and Luka was unbearably loud, like the roaring engine of a plane. The colours of the costumes and the candy became unbearably bright, the cool air of the Hallowe’en night swirling with its chill across her skin.
It made her want to cry, or scream, or collapse in on herself just so it would all stop, just so the world would shut up for once since Heimdallr had chosen her.
Something was wrong, and she didn’t know what. But this was the worst her danger sense had felt yet. And she kept feeling her gaze snap to where she knew Luka had put her phone, praying the other girl might check it
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Post by 𝕊𝕙𝕒𝕕𝕠𝕨 on Apr 7, 2021 17:04:30 GMT -5
The night had been an interesting one. Full of laughter and grins and secretive smiles. For once, it wasn't being scared of disappointing and proving someone else right about who they thought she was, for once it wasn't being looked down upon by Cleo and their gang of followers.
It was competition, fierce and true. But even Chiara had smiled when she thought no one saw, and for once it wasn't just fearing some giant wolf or dreading whatever relationship drama River and Laurie wanted to spew.
It was chaotic, but it was fun, to say the least. Though it was also a competition, and thus the reluctance of some of her party to do their jobs was infuriating.
For one thing, Luka didn't appreciate being referred to as Theo little sister who was apparently just begging her big brother to take her Trick or Treating. What Luka hated more than that was the fact that she was referred to as "little" and the fact that he was basically right about why he was there.
Lane was on Team Idiot, but she was a speedster and thus a threat and apparently Luka had to make up ground. After aggressively insisting that her team spread out, Luka had staked out a house of her own, which looked like it belonged to some rich people who just wanted to give kids those full size candy bars. Which obviously meant Luka wanted their entire stock.
Except, she wasn't the only one to see it apparently. The flash of a pink dress caught her eyes, and her left eye literally twitched as she spotted Lucien. He seemed to freeze, and she took her chance to charge forward, but he did too.
Which is why she quite literally pushed into him to gain some ground, glaring at him, "Back of, Luci, I saw it first!"
Which resulted in a series of shouting and pushing, but inevitable they reached the door at the same time. He threatened her ears, pushing at her, and she pushed right back, "I'll set you on fire if you get near my fookin' ears, bucko."
Except, this fighting resulted in Lucien whacking her with his stupid wand that he gave her. The freaking idiot threw it at her and missed. She didn't even watch to see where it landed, instead rounding on him and raising her eyebrows, "Oh, you wanna f*ckin' go, mate?"
The door opened, which was honestly kind of funny because the poor people looked confused but Luka wasn't acknowledging that either because her fists were already raised and she was already in a fighting stance.
So obviously, she didn't notice Chiara's little meltdown. She was a little preoccupied.
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Post by Nariku The Avaricious on Apr 7, 2021 21:19:43 GMT -5
Theo sat on one of the many benches along the street, taking sips from a water bottle as the rest of his group scoured for candy. With much convincing from Luka, he’d been going door to door and using these persuasive powers of his to get candy. For the most part it was successful, though there were times he’d have to drag Luka next to him and pretend she was his little sister. Easier for them to believe a 20+ year old was getting candy for his sister than thinking it was for himself. Lucky for him, Luka was rather short and dressed in something pretty childish, which made her seem younger than she was.
Though, after a few dozen houses, Theo could feel a burning sensation in his throat. For a bit, he tried to brush it off as something getting caught in his throat, but when his voice started sounding scratchy and a bit pained, he knew he had to sit down. He was grateful to Ariella for getting him something to drink at the very least.
He wasn’t sure why his voice hurt so much, especially since he was used to talking for longer periods of time than that. Did it have to do with his powers? It was possible, especially since he wasn’t exactly used to using them… Whatever the reason, at least he didn’t have to embarrass himself in front of strangers for a while. He wouldn’t deny that he took off his garish jacket the second he was on break.
So, Theo sat in nothing but a tanktop and vibrant sweatpants, staring as Luka and Lucien started to fight over one of the last houses on the block. Honestly, it was so immature that he almost didn’t want to associate with what they were doing, but when Lucien’s wand was flung in his direction, Theo had to duck his head to avoid the object hitting him in the eye.
Okay, no.
Theo stood up from where he was sitting and marched over to the two, grabbing them by the shoulders and cast the owner of the house an apologetic glance.
“So sorry about them, it looks like they’ve had too much sugar for one night.” Theo explained before dragging them away, his voice sounding extremely pained and scratchy, “Come on Princess Buttercup and Bunny Fu Fu, you two are done for the night.”
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Post by ƤαƖƖαѕ ✧ on Apr 8, 2021 2:07:56 GMT -5
”Oh, I think not,” Lucien had responded when Luka ordered him to back off, her calling him Luci only spurring him on more to try and shove her out of the way.
Her anger about the threat to her ears was pretty funny, since Luka apparently hated the costume. Looked like she wasn’t that unhappy about it feet all if she were that protective of the bunny ears.
Lucien had matched her fighting stance instantly, not missing a beat. This was going to be interesting certainly.
”I like my chances,” he responded with a raised eyebrow.
He still had no regard for the confused couple behind the door. Thankfully before either teen could make the first move, Theo had run in to separate them, grabbing them by the shoulders and pulling them apart, dragging the pair away
”What’s your problem with a little healthy competition, Theo? Lucien asked ”everybody knows Halloween is a blood sport.”
If anyone got hurt, that wasn’t Lucien’s issue. You knew what you were getting into with Hallowe’en.
As the group walked away though, Chiara had stayed frozen in place.
”What’s up with Lassie over there? Timmy fall down the well?” Lucien had questioned, nudging Luka
It was at that point Chiara broke out of whatever strange trance she was in and fixed her eyes on Lucien.
”Check your phone.” she said, urgently
”Why? We’re having fun,”
”Something’s wrong, check your phone.” Chiara said, a note of distress in her voice now as she rubbed her goosebumpy arms rapidly
Lucien sighed, looking to Luka with exasperation.
”I can’t, I- I can’t with her danger senses,” he complained ”can you please deal with Spidey Senses, please? You’re the one who brought her with us.”
”I’m telling you,” Chiara said, looking to Luka now, voice low and insistent ”something’s really really wrong, I just know it. I need you to check your phone right now before I beat you with it.”
Chiara didn’t generally make threats, but it was clear that she was very agitated. She wouldn’t relax until she knew nothing was wrong.
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Post by Lioncl on Apr 9, 2021 19:17:51 GMT -5
Daniel felt a sense of relief when the pressure on his shoulder released after his bite on Fenrir's leg. But that relief was short-lived as he let out a loud groan when Fenrir once again bit him, this time in the neck. Even though Fenrir didn't break the skin, especially since the back of his neck was the most heavily armored part of a crocodile, the pressure from the bite was still extremely uncomfortable. With Daniel's jaws locked on Fenrir's foreleg, it was going to be tough to try and get out of Fenrir's bite. Daniel raised his arms above his head and tried to grab Fenrir by his jaws to try and forcibly open Fenrir's jaw. Daniel figured it would have been a bad move to release Fenrir's leg because then he could just be tossed around like a rag doll by the wolf.
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Post by Lioncl on Apr 13, 2021 1:54:05 GMT -5
Nathan let out a sigh as he heard footsteps hurriedly rush towards him. Nathan should have figured Lil Ginger here would have been in a hurry when he heard him yelling for his friends. "Hey, hey, hey. No need to be so hasty. After all, this concerns you and your friends. Don't you want to know what happened to them?" He asked as he turned towards River with a wide smile on his face. He wanted to see exactly how River's face changed when he heard what Nathan was about to tell him. "At least three of your friends have been captured already and I'm sure it won't be long before the others are too." After finishing that sentence, what appeared to be golden metal started to roll up Nathan's arms and legs
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