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Post by Nari on Nov 11, 2023 4:08:16 GMT
Ever since the leaders decided to kidnap half a dozen people, Penny was not allowed peace. What used to be missions where she’d go out and wrecked shit turned into her being forced to hunker down and play babysitter to prisoners she didn’t even want. Worst of all was watching Ripley tote his new pet around while Atticus seethed the whole time. It was a nightmare.
The past week, the young exiled was made aware of a meeting most would be attending. Atticus, Ripley, his pet, Gwen, the new girl, and Fenrir would all be gone, and since Styx was MIA, that left only Penny and Nathan to watch over the base. Since the other boy would be on prison watch, it meant she’d have all the time to do her own shit.
Suffice to say, she was ecstatic. The second everyone was gone, Penny left for the next town over and returned with a whole trove of snacks. She plopped down in front of the TV and consumed all she could while an action movie played ear piercingly loud.
As she munched on one of her bags of chips, she got a text from Atticus indicating they were on their way back. Rolling her eyes, she turned down the TV and waited for them to make their way in.
What she saw made her less than pleased. For starters, Ripley wasn’t dead. She hoped the meeting would go bad and he’d somehow end up dead. Briefly she caught a glimpse of some guy getting ushered to the prisoner quarters, and when she took another head count, she realized they came back with less people than they left with. Where was that new girl?
When Atticus walked by, she shot him a puzzled glance, “uh, where’s Esme? Didn’t she go with you? Did she get fucking lost or something.”
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Post by pallas on Nov 11, 2023 19:14:56 GMT
Laurie had never dreamt it might come to this.
But he didn’t know what else he could do. He didn’t even know what he believed or what he was fighting for anymore, but he had lost his faith in the gods. The exiled were right in one thing; the gods were using them. And what good were they?
What good was Dionysus here, to him? Laurie felt no less vulnerable or powerless for the wine god’s patronage. Either Dionysus was weak or he was uncaring, because otherwise Laurie wouldn’t still be in the exiled base.
Because otherwise Laurie wouldn’t have to suffer everything Ripley was putting him through.
Either way, he couldn’t go on like he was. Something had to change. And the fact was that his best shot at coming out of this whole ordeal was to give the exiled what they wanted. He felt awful about it, certainly, but if he didn’t he knew it would be worse for him.
So he tried to push from his mind the words of Dionysus, who seemed unable to decide on whether he wanted to shout at Laurie and be angry or plead that he think this through, that he not betray him. He couldn’t silence the god completely, but he could force him into a quiet corner of his mind, somewhere he couldn’t make Laurie feel so guilty.
He took a deep breath before raising a hand and knocking softly on the door. Behind it was the key to the problem he faced. The key to him being more formally accepted as part of the exiled. He knew he’d suffer for what he was about to do, but he also knew that the only way to save himself was to draw himself further into this hell he was in and let his boyfriend isolate him even more from his former friends. He had to be irredeemably, unsalvageably Ripley’s. He knew Ripley would become impatient soon. If Laurie wasn’t all in, he would be all out. And he didn’t want to know what that might mean.
He prayed Styx could help.
When the door knocked, a few moments passed, before it was opened slightly to a boring and plain room. There were some books neatly placed on shelves, and a drawer of clothes, but no other decorations were present.
Styx herself looks up at Laurie, backing up and gesturing for the man to enter her room. She dismissively turned afterwards not waiting much as she entered her own boring and plain room. “I’ve been expecting you,” she admitted, voice soft, “took a bit longer than I predicted, but well, you’ve shown yourself to put things off, haven’t you?”
She laughed a little under her breath at the jab, before sitting neatly and primly on one of her desks, leaving a chair open which was already facing the desk. It was like she had been prepared for him. Placing her hand on her chin, she offered an emotionless smile, “I have a feeling I already know, but why have you come to find me, Laurent?”
God this girl was creepy. The ‘I’ve been expecting you’ felt a little Bond villain for his taste but coming from her it was still more than creepy enough.
He hesitantly entered her room as she invited him inside. It was so… plain. Lacking in personality. It made him feel more creeped out that this room told him absolutely nothing about the occupant. It was almost impossible to have a bedroom with absolutely zero personality in it at all. No decorations, no clutter. The place didn’t even look lived in really.
He also didn’t like that she had a chair set out ready for him. She really had been expecting him, it would appear. Ready for his arrival.
He swallowed, approached the seat, and settled himself in it as Styx fixed him with those disconcerting red eyes. Taunting him first, though Laurie had more than enough experience at this point not rising to the taunts and insults of the exiled - doing so just amused them. Then they asked him what he wanted from them.
“I heard you could help me,” he began, taking a heavy breath, “with a problem I have.”
She could get around this issue, he’d been informed. He didn’t enjoy that she was his only option, but he’d do what he had to.
“Dionysus made a deal with the other gods when he gave me my powers that I wouldn’t be able to use them on the other ascendants.” Laurie explained, knowing that it was pointless to do so because Styx already knew all of this apparently. “You can see how that’s become an obstacle.”
He needed it gone. He needed to prove his loyalty to the exiled for his own survival.
Besides, he’d felt his own fury towards the ascendants ever since Cleo had revealed to him the true reason he and River had broken up. He was angry about that, yes. The ascendants didn’t deserve his loyalty and Cleo clearly had no problem burning bridges. Why should he? He could never go back to the ascendants anyway. They hated him. Would never accept him back. What did he have to lose?
On the desk Styx sat on, she picked up a cup full of a sloshing red liquid, raising it to her lips and sipping as Laurie spoke. She could tell he was disconcerted, her eyes tracking his movement, specifically the fidgeting and the looking around. The way he took a heavy, labored breath when he admitted he came for help.
Spinning the liquid within her cup, the color close to the same as her eyes, she looked bored honestly. “How unfortunate,” she said with a voice suggesting she didn’t care at all. Instead, she looked back over at him, shrugging slightly, “I don’t see how Dionysus’ deal with the others is anything to bother me over,” she stated.
She seemed amused by the situation, expecting Laurie to spell it out in excruciating detail, legs crossed over the edge of the desk, one hand rested flat on it, and one hand around her glass.
With a smirk quirking at her lips, she offered up a counter to her earlier words, “unless… you’re here to disobey your very own patron.” She stated it simply, peering at him with those scarlet eyes, “but surely you’re not that brave. You can’t even stand up to Ripley. It’s what makes you the perfect little pet.”
She said the words with a mocking bite. She tapped her fingers on the table as she stared at him, waiting to see just what he’d say in reply.
Styx was toying with him. That much was obvious to Laurie, and he did not particularly enjoy it. These days it felt like everybody was treating him like that. But he had a job to do here, and talking to Styx was not particularly pleasant. He intended to get it over with as quickly as possible.
“Stop me if I’m wrong, but I thought disobeying the gods was par for the course here, no?” Laurie questioned. “You know what I want, Styx. Don’t let’s play these games. I’m rather sick of them.”
She teased him about Ripley, and he shrugged. “Brave is great when it works out. Not so great when it doesn’t.”
After all, what would the kind of bravery Styx was suggesting get him? Nothing good, that was for sure. Not in standing up to Ripley. He had other priorities than being brave these days.
He wanted this over. The deal made so he could move on and try and forget what he’d done. And hopefully never have to talk to the girl sitting in front of him sipping her blood red drink ever again.
“Will you help me or not? I need to know if I’m wasting my time.” the man said, trying to get to the point of the conversation. Trying to spell it out so the girl would have to either agree or refuse. She could talk them in circles if she wanted to, he was sure of that. He didn’t want to let her have the opportunity.
Stick to the point, get what you need, get out.
Styx watched him as he spoke, her smirk turning to a grin when he spoke of games. Yes, everything was a game, wasn’t it? What else would life be but one big game?
She laughed as he spoke of bravery, her gaze on him, “That would sound mature and smart from anyone else. Maybe someone who had a spine at least once in their lives. Let’s not pretend you’ve ever been a brave person, Laurent. We both know you never have been and never will be. That’s how you got yourself into this position after all, isn’t it?” She cocked her head a bit, her hair moving as her head did, shifted into a new position, eerily similar to a curious owl.
Still, she let him say his piece, and she appraised him for a few moments, before shrugging. “Whether or not I help you depends on what you can offer me,” she stated simply, looking him over once more, a look of disgust on her face as she lifted her stagnant hand and waved it dismissively at him, “and I don’t see anything you have that I’d want.”
Styx looked at him then again though, suddenly hopping off her desk to stand up and walk over toward him, steps slow and deliberate, she stopped about a foot away, looking down at the Frenchman sitting in her room.
“But you know how a deal works,” she said, “surely you didn’t come with the anticipation of getting your little powers freed without giving me something in return. So,” she paused, crossing her arm, the cup still held carefully in her fingers, “what do you have to offer me, Laurent?”
In response to her words about bravery, Laurie’s expression did not change. “I have never claimed to be brave. But we’re not here to talk about my personal merits.”
But then she started talking about what he could offer her. It was true that Laurie had nothing he could give Styx. He had nothing - was nothing - with the exiled. He had nothing and no one and Ripley had made sure he was entirely dependent on him.
This was where his problem lay.
“You said for yourself I have nothing to give you.” Laurie responded. “Not right now, at least.”
Maybe one day he would. Who knew what would happen in the future. Especially if this deal was made, in which case Laurie would suddenly become a lot more useful to the exiled.
“But you know my abilities are valuable to the exiled. You know that if they are unlocked, I suddenly become useful in my own right.” Laurie explained. “Suddenly I start to sound like the kind of person you’d like to have owing you a favour.”
He hated this, but what else could he do? If he couldn’t use his abilities the exiled would stop seeing the point of keeping him around fast, and that wouldn’t end well.
At least with his abilities unlocked he could become useful for something more than just parading in front of the ascendants like some sort of trophy. He could be something more than completely powerless, just there as an object to be used. Even if he would still be acting under Ripley’s orders.
“You can name your price. You know I need this to happen.”
He didn’t want to sound desperate, but he knew Styx was clever enough to know what his situation was. She could put two and two together about why not having his powers unlocked would be so bad for him.
Styx listened to him but seemed to freeze up when he admitted he had nothing to give her. Her gaze became frosty, no longer mirthful, “then why are you here?” she hissed in annoyance.
Still, he continued to go on about how his abilities were valuable. She almost laughed at him, “You think I care about how useful you are to the Exiled? I don’t even care about them. They happen to just be the winning side, which makes them the better side. Call it a state of symbiosis if you will. You probably don’t know what that means though, do you?”
She scoffed then, rolling her eyes, “It’s a mutually beneficial relationship. I go off and help kick your ex-friend's asses, and they help me by providing me a means to an end. Call that Fenrir if you will or whatever else, but they can provide power,” she stopped for a moment, taking another sip of her drink, “but I don’t care about your use. Your use is subjected down to just how pathetic you can get sucking up to Ripley. Giving you access to your powers doesn’t make you anything, it just gives him a powerful weapon. And the more powerful he is, well, the less stable that symbiosis becomes, threatens the balance and all that.”
She hummed for a moment, thinking, “And my transactions…well they aren’t an owing type situation. If we wait, you could take advantage of the deal. If you want a deal, it happens now or never.”
However, he was desperate, it was obvious. He told her to name her price, and she didn’t even hide the grin on her face. “Well if it’s a price you want, first we have to discuss what it is you can even give me. You, a mortal with no access to anything of use to me,” she hummed, “I can help you gain access to your full ability because of my access to the rivers of Styx and my own guide’s traitorous nature. Arke was known for her ability to betray those closest to her, after all,” she hummed under her breath, tapping her chin as she thought, “but what oh what can you give me? What would you even have access to that would benefit me?”
She looked back at him, as if curious to see if the man had any suggestions. He likely didn’t, she rationalized, he was so desperate to get his abilities that he likely didn’t even think of what he’d trade away to get them.
“Imply I’m stupid all you like,” Laurie answered. He was truly sick of people doing that - if they were having this conversation in French he was sure he wouldn’t sound like the stupid one. “but you’re the one missing that if I unlock my abilities, I’m useful to more than just Ripley. Why would the other exiled let him have such a ‘powerful weapon’, as you put it, to himself? They’d all benefit, so would you. Symbiose. Yes, I do know what it means, it’s the same fucking thing in French.”
But then Styx went on to explain that whatever he was going to give her, she needed it immediately for the deal to go through. She refused to wait for her debt to be paid. Fair enough.
“You’re playing with me again.” Laurie answered simply. “If you knew I would come, and you knew why, you must already know what you want. You wouldn’t have bothered entertaining this conversation if you didn’t think you could get something in this deal.”
If she truly had been expecting him and had expected this deal, she had to have a price in mind. Possibly she was hoping Laurie could offer something better than whatever she had been thinking of. Possibly she was just entertaining herself. Either way he wasn’t a fan of the messing around.
He didn’t know what he had to offer. He was a prisoner here, but he had nothing of his own and no power or influence. He had Ripley’s ear, perhaps, to an extent but no influence over him. He had more freedom than the other prisoners in the base, that was true. But he didn’t know what Styx might think he had that was of interest to her.
Styx stared at him rather amused as he seemed to get irritated by the assumption he was stupid. It appeared he took it as an attack on his speech patterns. No, no, Styx didn’t assume he was stupid because English wasn’t his first language. She assumed he was stupid simply because he handed himself over to the Exiled practically on a silver platter. Like a little lamb sending itself to the slaughter.
Though he saw through her, detailing that he knew she knew what she wanted. He wasn’t wrong…there were a few…options.
She paused then, contemplating, fingers tapping along her glass as she thought. After a few moments of silence, she looked at him once more, “well, originally, I was going to free your powers in return for an invitation to that Pantheon of yours should you return,” she admitted but then laughed, “but that’s not your jurisdiction. You’re just a wine guy, madness, and all that,” she pointed out, shrugging, and taking another sip before speaking again, “plus, if we’re honest with each other, why would they ever want you back?”
She finished off the rest of her drink and walked over to set it on one of her plain and empty desks. She lingered, letting her fingers tap the dark oak wood as she looked back over at him, red eyes gleaming. “But then I thought about it a bit,” she admitted, “you want freedom for your abilities, so I could just…condition that.”
It seemed that he was right about Styx having an idea about what she might want from him. She made it clear that she’d been thinking about it.
Styx told him about her original idea, to give her access to the Pantheon should he ever return. She wasn’t wrong; he didn’t have the right to grant Styx the entry she was asking for. Not to mention that as Styx pointed out, the ascendants would never allow him back. There was no reason to believe he would ever go home, even if he did survive his time with the exiled.
Then she went on, saying that she might be willing to grant him the deal in return for some kind of condition.
He didn’t particularly like where this was going but he also didn’t exactly have much of an option here. He needed to survive here. If he didn’t unlock his abilities, he would outlive his usefulness far more quickly than he was willing to risk. How could he continue to survive here if he didn’t make himself useful somehow? More than that, he needed to prove that his allegiance was beyond doubt. Especially after the meeting.
He sat back, sighing. Laurie had known what he was coming here to do but it didn’t make doing it much easier. In making this agreement, he was essentially crossing a point of no return. He was Ripley’s, and the exiled’s by extension, entirely. They’d owned him before, for all intents and purposes, but now there was no escape from it.
“Alright. What kind of condition are you suggesting?”
Styx grinned as Laurie seemed to reach a point of agreeance. He really was desperate, and it was obvious.
She met his eyes, smiling as if greeting an old friend, “nothing big really,” Styx commented, “it won’t even effect you.”
She let that sink in, dragging out the conversation. Moving to one of her cabinets then, her glass back in her hands, she opened it to reveal a pristine glass jug full of water. She continued speaking as she began to pour it into the glass.
“In return for giving you access to your full abilities, you will give me access to part of them,” she said primly, turning around with the full glass, and also a knife in her other hand. She walked back over to him, setting the tools on the side table and looking at him expectantly.
“Now, you are entitled to make your own conditions but I don’t really care, so if you have any complaints or changes you want to be made…keep quiet about it, will you?”
She then gazed at him expectantly, as if testing him.
“Why don’t I believe you?” Laurie asked dryly when Styx made her comment about this condition being nothing. Not really affecting him.
Styx then drew out a knife and what seemed to be a glass of water, placing them on the side table. Apparently ready for something. He could take a guess that they were to do with their deal, in which case with Styx’s earlier comment about the river Styx he could hazard a guess at what she was laying out.
She then explained that she wanted some portion of his own abilities. He hadn’t anticipated that. It would make her dangerous, certainly, but wasn’t she already? Besides, he couldn’t refuse her offer. He had no counteroffer, after all.
“Fine.” Laurie agreed, though he took no relish in doing so.
Then she was talking about his right to offer his own conditions.
“All I want is the deal with Dionysus circumvented. I’ll take nothing else from you.” the young man answered.
That much was true. He didn’t want to get further drawn into deals with Styx than he had to; it felt dangerous. Besides, he didn’t want to risk asking for anything more. It was safe for him to ask for the deal to be circumvented, because Ripley would want that too. But if he took anything more, took anything for himself, it could be bad.
He couldn’t change his situation. He could ask Styx not to stop him if he ever got the chance to leave but what if she passed that information on to Ripley? That information would be a powerful tool for her and she could hold it over his head or just tell Ripley for her own benefit. She could not get him out of the snare he’d found himself entrapped in.
He certainly wouldn’t let himself owe Styx anything more than he already did.
He let his eyes flicker over to the things Styx had brought out. He had to do this, as unpleasant as it was. Laurie needed to take what he needed.
“What do I need to do?”
Styx grinned at Laurie as he seemed to think over her deal. When he agreed, she grabbed the knife and the cup from the table. She approached him again, holding the knife in her right hand and the cup in her left.
“It’s a simple procedure,” Styx said, shrugging, “all I need is a drop of blood from each of us into the water of the river Styx,” she held up the cup then, “and us both agreeing to the terms. We can shake on it too if you want to be traditional about it.”
Glancing at the man with an apathetic expression, she threw the sheathed pocket knife at him, nodding to it once, “you first,” she said as if opening the door politely and not instructing him to cut open a finger or palm for a creepy deal.
“You will say the deal, what you are trading away, and what you are receiving,” she instructed, “then I will do the same. When the blood is mixed into the water, the deal will be set. Understood?”
After doing so, she held the cup out to him, hands carefully on the stem, holding it in place for him to put a drop of his blood into.
Of course blood was involved. It was Styx.
As she threw the knife, Laurie reached up a hand to catch it. He knew this decision was only increasing the influence of the exiled over him. But it also gave him some agency in a way; this was the only way he could take any kind of control over his situation. Not to mention that it would keep him safe a little while longer by making himself useful to them.
He unsheathed and then raised the blade. The boy then took a deep breath as he carefully made a small cut on the palm of his hand. The pain was louder than the doubts and turmoil in his head, paralysing all thought for a moment. Then he closed his hand into a fist and tightened his grip to encourage blood to flow from the hand.
“With this contract, I trade access to a portion of my abilities to Styx in return for the breaking of the restrictions set upon me by Dionysus limiting my access to my abilities.” Laurie said, reciting the terms of the deal as Styx had instructed.
As he said the words, the first drop of blood fell from the fist into the water, the red blooming in the clear water. The irreversibility of the situation hit him. He’d just done something he could never take back.
The protests from Dionysus, the most he’d heard from the god for some weeks now, had fallen into a condemning silence. Laurie suspected he may never hear from his guide again for this final slight.
But now his part of the deal was done, so with his uninjured hand he passed the knife to Styx for her to put her own blood into the cup.
Styx took the knife from him, wiping the blood off of it on her sleeve, and unceremoniously dragged it along her palm with little fanfare to it. Keeping her palm open, she raised it over the cup as Laurie had, grinning at the male as she did so.
“With this contract, I will break the restrictions upon the abilities set upon Laurent Bevin by Dionysus in return for access to a portion of the abilities I am hereby freeing,” as she said the words, she curled it into a fist. The water had a pinkish tint already from Laurie, and when Styx’s blood began to drip in, little red clouds bloomed in the water, wisping out in curly tails.
After quite a few drops had dripped into the cup, Styx moved her hand, wrapping it in a stray piece of fabric she had lying around. It seemed like a ripped-up portion of Esme’s cloak, dark color masking the blooming dark red from her palm.
Closing up the knife, she threw it onto a counter took the cup she still held in her hands, and placed it on a counter, “the deal is done.”
She said it as if delivering a death sentence, however, she shrugged and turned rather chipper within a few moments, spinning on her heel and pointing towards the door, “Now get out.”
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CHARACTER PROFILE IMAGE CREDIT: ElenaA via Picrew
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Post by pallas on Nov 12, 2023 22:46:57 GMT
A moment without being under Ripley’s constant watch meant a moment of peace and quiet for Laurie. Too quiet, if anything, given Dionysus’ silence. But it was better than the alternative.
Moments alone like this were something he treasured. An opportunity to try and make sense of his own head, as difficult as it may be to do so. He felt constantly like he didn’t even trust himself and his own brain anymore. The meeting had only enhanced that feeling, left him feeling more adrift than ever. He didn’t know how to anchor himself again.
When he was around, Ripley had a way of making Laurie feel like even his thoughts weren’t his own, weren’t private. He didn’t know how long he’d have alone here to think and feel whatever he wanted without having to worry about policing any of it.
What he felt was a lot of hurt, fear and guilt. Hurt after the utter and decisive destruction of his relationship with his former friends. Fear because of his situation with Ripley and the exiled. Guilt because he had betrayed everyone he had once claimed to care about. Guilt because he’d spent so long thinking River had broken his heart out of his own choice. Guilt because Cleo was right, River would be disgusted by what Laurie had done. Infuriated, horrified. Probably utterly sickened by him. He’d deserve it, for what he’d done.
It seemed, however, that even this moment of peace was destined to be interrupted. He’d been having a quiet smoke break outside, with one of the exiled well aware of where he was and what he was doing. He never strayed far from the base’s entrance anyway and the exiled would come looking for him if he took too long, so nobody was worried about him going anywhere.
He’d just extinguished the cigarette beneath his heel when he saw him.
He took in a sharp inhale of breath upon suddenly noticing a figure. Leaning against a tree nearby, arms crossed. Dark hair, leather jacket. Sunglasses. Every atom of the figure seemed to positively crackle with fury, an energy Laurie could feel like a physical force. Like it could knock him back if it wanted him to. Laurie’s eyes were drawn to a sword at this unknown person’s hip.
He blinked in confusion, thinking he had to be imagining this person. He’d never seen them before, and people did not just show up at the exiled base. People did not just stroll up practically to the door of the place. But they were very real, it soon became evident, for they did not disappear. His next instinct was to freeze, shocked and unsure of the stranger’s intentions.
And when the figure spoke, the anger felt even more palpable than before. The words were sharp, forceful. Brimming with a fury which the speaker had no interest in containing.
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CHARACTER PROFILE IMAGE CREDIT: ElenaA via Picrew
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Post by pallas on Nov 12, 2023 23:21:34 GMT
”What the fuck is wrong with you?
How long did they have?
Laurie didn’t know this person, but somehow he found he almost wasn’t surprised that this total stranger was angry at him. It felt kind of like a matter of course, a fact of his life at the moment, the anger. It was deserved. So much so that even from someone he didn’t know, for some reason it almost felt like it wasn’t out of the blue. Even though, in fact, it most certainly was.
But he was definitely shaken at the sudden appearance of this new person, there for who knew what. Angry at him, yes of course, but also somebody Laurie had never even seen before in his life. Not one of the exiled, he knew them all after these weeks with them. Definitely not one of the ascendants.
Yet able to get to the exiled base without getting ripped apart by Fenrir or something, apparently without having run into any trouble at all. One minute Laurie had been alone, and the next second this person had just been there.
If he could’ve spoken to Dionysus, perhaps the god would have offered him some insight. But Dionysus was not talking to Laurie, and that was his own fault. Something else he had destroyed. He knew he shouldn’t miss Dionysus or feel bad about what he’d done, because he was better off without him. The gods had never been there for their champions, had let them suffer terribly as pawns in their petty conflicts. In the end Dionysus would have proven himself the same. But despite himself, he did miss him. He did feel bad about betraying him as he had.
He shook his head, bewildered, as if that would make this go away. As if this were a guilt-ridden hallucination of some kind and it would end as quickly as it had started. But obviously not. He backed up a step.
He could feel his heart pounding against his ribcage, hear his heartbeat in his head which was far too quiet without any sense of Dionysus’ presence. This did not make sense.
He let out a quick exhale, a sound of shock and disbelief.
”Who-” Laurie began, ”Who are you?”
Whoever it was felt very threatening. In a different way than Ripley could make himself feel threatening, but no less so. Evidently they hated him, but then a lot of people did so that was hardly helpful. All he knew was the energy coming from this person was strong, incredibly strong.
He had to know who this person was, and what they wanted.
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CHARACTER PROFILE IMAGE CREDIT: ElenaA via Picrew
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Post by pallas on Nov 13, 2023 0:53:23 GMT
At first, Laurie got no further indication of who this man was. He seemed to think Laurie was playing dumb, which didn’t help Laurie figure out who he was actually talking to since his confusion was genuine.
But as he approached, Laurie got the sense that this had to be a god. The power he’d felt coming from him from the very start of the interaction could only he explained by this man being more than mortal.
It was confirmed when he mentioned Laurie making a deal behind his brother’s back. In his head he listed all of Dionysus’ godly half-brothers. Apollo - this dude couldn’t feel less like Apollo if he tried, at least based on Lucien’s descriptions of him. Where was the arrogant golden child energy? Hermes - clearly not a messenger god unless the message was ‘you’re fucking trash’, nor a mischievous trickster, and definitely fucking not laid back enough to be Hermes. Hephaestus - this didn’t meet any description of Hephaestus he’d ever seen. Heracles - this didn’t seem like Heracles either, at least according to Laurie’s instinct.
Besides, he was leaving the obvious option for last because he didn’t want to consider it. But he had to. There was only one person’s description of their guide that this man could fit, and it was River’s.
”Ares.” the man breathed as the god stopped uncomfortably close. Looming over him.
The mentions first of the breakup and then the deal were both painful. His guilt for betraying Dionysus with the deal and River’s memory by betraying the ascendants was raw. He swallowed, was the first to drop his gaze when Ares glared at him.
How was Ares here, talking to him? Was he even there physically, or was this just a vision? He didn’t know, but the god’s presence felt no less real.
Ares continued to challenge him about Dionysus, pushing Laurie in the shoulder so the boy stumbled back.
”I’m sorry he’s hurt, but I had more urgent problems.” Laurie pointed out, but he did sound genuinely apologetic for Dionysus’ pain. ”I’m trying to survive and Dionysus can’t help me here, so I did what I had to.”
Probably not an explanation that would satisfy Ares, but the truth nonetheless. He couldn’t afford to spare Dionysus’ feelings if it could end up costing him his life.
Besides, Dionysus might be dramatic but surely he couldn’t mope around for eternity. Right?
But this was Ares. Where had he been when River died alone? Why was he raging at Laurie instead of avenging his champion? What about everything Ripley had said about the awful things Ares whispered in the ears of his champions? River had died because of his loyalty to this man, or so Ripley had said. That loyalty had been repaid with nothing.
”You gods had to know when you chose us to fight a war for you that we were bound to end up having to make some hard choices eventually. Did you not bargain on them affecting you?”
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CHARACTER PROFILE IMAGE CREDIT: ElenaA via Picrew |
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Post by 𝕄𝕖𝕣𝕔𝕦𝕣𝕪 on Nov 13, 2023 6:23:56 GMT
As Atticus walked back, he shot Penny a text, and he soon came back, exhausted and emotionally drained. Cleo was a funny one, but they were exhausting. All of those Ascendants were just so stressed and it was hilarious but annoying. Atticus had half a mind just to kill the rest of these kids and be done with it.
No rest for the wicked, though.
However he wasn't able to go take a well deserved nap as Penny had stopped him, looking around wildly as if searching for something. When she brought up Esme, he halted in his steps.
He looked at her, looking at her eyes and looking away rather quickly. A part of him felt a wave of guilt, horrible and gnawing. Esme was just some girl who got caught up in a mess. But he was helping her. It was either she died then or later, and it was better for her this way. Right?
He shook it off. He'd done too much to feel remorse now.
"Esme's taking a bit of a...break," he settled on, shrugging, "this wasn't the place for her, and she chose to leave."
He said it dismissively, walking towards his quarters without much more fanfare. In the past, Atticus used to fit with Gwen and Penny, even after everything, a watch movies with them, sometimes he'd cook them food, sometimes they'd bake together. But ever since the emergence of the Ascendants, he didn't have time for silly little games anymore. It was like he could feel a gap building between him and his friends he once had, like a part of him saw what he was becoming and was horrified.
All he had to do to block it out was close his eyes, see his dear sister as her powers consumed her. As Zeus let her die. It didn't matter who else was hurt by her, the boy who had almost died due to it, all that mattered was her meaningless death and the people that got to parade around without consequence.
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Post by Nari on Nov 13, 2023 15:10:33 GMT
“She left?” Penny’s face contorted in disbelief at Atticus’ explanation, eyes bearing into the taller man. Such a simple thing and he was being weird about it. Not looking her in the eye and then brushing it off entirely. Esme had been with them for about half a year at this point, so it was strange to see him so dismissive about it.
She never got to ask him any more details before he was moving on, ready to sleep apparently. Instead of walking after him, she stood in place, feeling a burning frustration rise. Enough that she kicked the couch to let it all out.
This wasn’t the place for her? Well maybe if they didn’t go around kidnapping random people, then maybe people would want to stick around! Penny thought bitterly. What even was the point of them holding people when it was such a hassle. They took up space, made so much fucking noise, and required someone to always watch over them. Half of guard duty didn’t even involve making sure they didn’t escape, it was to stop Fenrir from getting in.
Like all that effort mattered at the end, when Ripley decided to let the dog have what he wanted anyway. She could still remember the screams, the bloody viscera, orchestrated by the most vile person she knew. She didn’t want to remember it but she did.
If she couldn’t handle that, then maybe it was for the best that Esme didn't have to be there anymore.
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Post by pallas on Nov 13, 2023 17:32:31 GMT
Laurie had nothing to say when Ares pushed him again, and made the admittedly good point that maybe Laurie wasn’t letting Dionysus help. But what could Dionysus do? If he’d tried to help it clearly hadn’t worked. And while Dionysus was or was not trying to help Laurie still had to stay alive.
He’d learned he could not rely on the gods.
But Ares removed his glasses now, and the eyes beneath were blazing with such an anger he half-imagined he could really feel the heat. Like Ares’ rage could sear his skin.
He’d been around a god only once before, and that was Dionysus. He didn’t remember much about the interaction since Laurie had been far from sober. But he did remember the sense of raw power even under the lighthearted and easygoing exterior. When Dionysus revealed his true identity he had been unable to forget in the marrow of his bones that this god could destroy him in a second.
He felt the same with Ares, but it was a different kind of power. More at the surface, and his anger felt like it was making his very bones ache. A much more immediate and destructive power. He could see even how the other Olympians could find Ares disconcerting.
But amidst his angry words, Ares said something that gave Laurie pause.
”You’re hurting River…”
How? River was beyond hurt just as much as he was beyond saving. He was heartbreakingly gone, left to his fate by the god that was berating him at this very moment. Wasn’t he?
”What do you mean, hurting River?” Laurie asked, stricken, already feeling his head shake in disbelief. Already feeling denial because what a stupid fool he was if Ares said what he suddenly had a feeling he was going to say. And worse, even more of a disgusting traitor. ”River’s dead, he said-”
Whatever Ares’ answer, it would destroy Laurie all over again.
Laurie glanced briefly over his shoulder uncertainly, back at the building that contained Ripley. Would it really be such a surprise if Ripley had lied to him? It would be awful in ways he was only just beginning to understand even considering the possibility, but maybe not a surprise. Cleo had lied to him, the leaders had lied to him.
Who was even telling him the truth? Who on earth could he even trust?
Ares said the exiled were poisoning him, but the ascendants clearly weren’t to be trusted either. So where on earth was the antidote? Where on earth was the truth?
Everything in him went still as he waited for Ares’ answer. He had a feeling that he was waiting for everything to be sent crumbling down.
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CHARACTER PROFILE IMAGE CREDIT: ElenaA via Picrew
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Post by 𝕄𝕖𝕣𝕔𝕦𝕣𝕪 on Nov 13, 2023 18:39:24 GMT
 
The time was nearing 8 O'clock p.m. and Clementine Lester was sat within the main meeting hall for all of the Ascendants, not just the leaders room. The room was set up a bit like a trial room, except there were 7 seats placed in the front of the room, acting as the judges and the jury, it would seem.
It looked a bit like a lecture hall too, one you may see at a college. Except it was a circular room with a table at the very center that was completely circular.
It was partitioned off into sections with the chairs behind that. The biggest of which belonged to the Greek Pantheon. It was followed by a more medium sized section belonging to the Egyptian Pantheon. Finally, the smallest section was partitioned to the Norse Pantheon.
Clementine themselves was seated at the inner table, primly put before the Egyptian section. It would appear they were the first within the room. Standing to go to the intercom within the room, they tapped into the audio for the building. "All Ascendants please make your way to the Meeting Hall," they said, voice tired. For a few moments the intercom buzzed, but they found they had nothing else to say and let the device click back into silence, turning it off and walking back to their seat, notepad in hand, list before them of names.
After a few moments, in came Guinevere, makeup she typically wore around her eyes smudged and dark from her tears and her furious wiping at it. Simply put, Guinevere wasn't look as sharp as she typically did. Without much fanfare, she looked to Cleo for guidance, and Cleo pointed her towards the Greek section. Taking a seat in the second row, she put her hands in her lap, and waited.
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