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Post by 𝕄𝕖𝕣𝕔𝕦𝕣𝕪 on Dec 24, 2023 17:15:52 GMT
Luka glared hard at him. Who was River to come in here, after all this time, and decide he finally wanted to be involved again!? What gave him the right to leave her and Lucien to deal with Cleo and Dillon by themselves, then come back and act like he had any right to lecture people.
...She kind of missed it.
She deadpanned at this man when he said she needed to explain before he gave her the bag back. "That's kind of why I need the bag," she said, raising an eyebrow at him, "But fine, whatever."
A deep breath escaped her, looking around again, and diving into as much of an explanation as she could give. "River, the only way we're getting any of them back is if we do it from the inside," she said, "We've tried scoping out their base, scoping, and we still had several injuries because of their wolf."
"Cleo and Dillon, they'll never agree to another mission like that. They'd rather be rid of what they consider baggage before they risk their own skins," she commented, tapping her fingers into her palm to keep herself patient. "The only way we get them back, is if someone plays the Exiled. No fighting, no shows of powers, just good ol' fashioned espionage."
She offered up her classical grin at this, "I'm the Chosen of Loki, whose known for being a traitor. He literally helped cause Ragnarok. If the Exiled are gonna believe anyone had a change of heart...it's going to be me. Plus, they know I don't follow Cleo and Dillon, They've even commented on it." She paused, she needed River to understand this, understand why she had to do it.
"I wasn't here last time, when you needed me, and we lost Laurie, Echo, Daniel, and-" her voice choked off for a second, guilt in the words, "and Haleema. We almost lost you, and I treated you like you were at fault when we both know it wasn't. I'm not saying it was my fault, because it wasn't, but things...maybe they would have ended differently, if I'd been there when I was needed." She said, crossing her arms. She hated being open, but if she was about to leave, it seemed like it was about time, "But this isn't even about making things right, this is about making the best strategical move, and I can't bring that up to the others because they...I need them to be convincing, because if they aren't, I'm going to get killed."
She looked at him then, "And this is our chance to get someone on the inside who can do it. Before Cleo or Lucien gets sent off and killed by the Exiled." She then looked at the bag, sighing, "In the bag, there's another, smaller black pouch. Could you at least get that out?"
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Post by Leo/ Clundy on Dec 24, 2023 17:57:52 GMT
He rolled his eyes. "Because you tired scoping out the building too closely. You never get that close," he scolded. It wasn't so much that he was angry at her. He was angry with the plan and that they didn't account for anything going wrong. He was angry he wasn't there to stop it since he stepped away.
"Jesus, you're gonna be the death of me," he hissed with a heavy sigh. "Lucien is not going. Dillon is not going. And you've done nothing but constantly antagonize them at every drop of the hat," he corrected. She'd antagonized the exiles to the point of being yelled at to stop and having her phone taken away.
Their friends were threatened if she spoke again it was so bad. Where exactly in her head did she think this was going to go well if she went?
"When we have a chance to get some of our members back now you suddenly agree with what they're doing? After you've just threatened them again and nearly died, now you suddenly agree with them? Now you want to join their side? It looks desperate and false.
"You're gambling that they'll release the last person if you join them. We might have to send someone over anyway because they won't consider you a trade. So, Cleo ends up going to the exiles any way.
"Let's also add that they do not like you. The wolf hates you the most and we all saw what happened to Haleema and that girl Esme. What is to stop him or any of them from doing the same thing?"
He hated to bring up Haleema as an example. But, he needed to get his point across. Same for that Esme girl. She was begging and pleading for forgiveness. There was nothing to stop them from killing Luka once she showed up. He refused to listen to that again. He refused to carry Luka's corpse.
River reach into the bag for the pouch she wanted after a moment of hesitation. He dropped the blade she'd dropped into the bag onto the ground first and then tossed her the small bag. "Loki is a traitor, sure. To everyone. He serves himself. Just be cause you 'turned' on us doesn't mean they won't think you'll turn on them too."
He rubbed his freehand across his face and then dropped his arm down to his side with a scoff. He glared at the ceiling. This is what he got for being alone for so long. Now suddenly everyone has something to say.
"The core idea is not a bad one. But, you cannot trust that whatever this plan is-" he pointed at the bag he'd tossed to Luka, "-is going to get you to sail through. You have to have at least five more plans just in case."
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Post by 𝕄𝕖𝕣𝕔𝕦𝕣𝕪 on Dec 24, 2023 18:48:33 GMT
Okay, valid points Gellis. But she'd thought this through, more than he thought she did.
"What about someone that's bringing the Exiled a prisoner?" She questioned, looking at him with a raised eyebrow, "Here's the narrative: 17-year-old just wants to have fun and is constantly shut down and told to behave by a group of leaders. She fights against the Exiled's pet wolf and almost dies, and sees a video of another girl suffering the same fight. Desperate not to die herself, and seeing an opportunity to join the winning side where the people she actually likes are, she finds one of the other members the Exiled want, and she 'brings' him to the Exiled with a nice shiny silver bow."
She smiled then, "and she tells them some of the plans the others have. The issues within, they can't get along, I know their weaknesses," inspecting her cuticles then, she shrugged, "Selfishness isn't all that hard to believe, and it's not all an act either. I need to get away from here, and I can't stand Cleo, Dillon, or Irene. I may antagonize the Exiled, but I antagonize everyone. It isn't about them believing that I won't turn against them or that I'm on their side, it's about them believing I'm on my own," she pointed out, and she looked at him, right in the eyes, "and I am."
This wasn't being done for anyone else, sure, she was going to rescue her friends, but she knew for fact if it happened to be Cleo, Dillon, Irene, or some of the others, she wouldn't be doing this. It was because it was the people she loved that got dragged into it.
But she had more plans. When her threw her the pouch, she caught it easily and held it protectively to her chest, glaring at him for a moment, before realizing he had no idea what she had in there.
Sighing, she opened the pouch, and grabbed on of the contents within it. Theo's key was held up for him to see, then Daniel's, which she threw to him, she'd need him to have it for this to work anyways, and finally she grabbed out a golden chain with dove-like wings made of metal on the sides. Echo's key.
"I have the keys we got back with me, and as soon as I find Laurie's, we come back," she said, but she was smart enough to know it was much more difficult than that, "But you're right, that plan alone isn't enough. That's why I got this."
Gingerly, and much more gently than she handled most things, she lifted the hair clip from the bag. The silver snake had tiny green jewels for eyes, and the two green beads that hunt from it's tail swayed as she lifted it. Looking at him with a rising smirk, she said "Now you see me," she lifted it to her bangs, pinning them back, and letting it clip right into the hair.
As soon as the clamps hit the strands, the girl disappeared from sight, almost as if she'd never been there in the first place.
"Now you don't."
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Post by Leo/ Clundy on Dec 24, 2023 19:46:54 GMT
River shook his head after she finished explaining everything. His grip on the bag tightened as he ran through the mental notes he made.
"Find him? No, you took him and forced him to come. Finding him doesn't make any sense when you live in the same building as him and we are actively in talks with the exiles. Fix that line. Use the fact that he said he didn't want to go to your advantage.
"Desperation is good. Spite is good. But, don't say you want to be there for the other kidnapped people. Not at first. They may take that the wrong way and we don't want room for them to do that. If you're gonna be desperate don't be too snippy. They already don't like your mouth. You're angry be angry but not at them. You want their help to get away from here,
"Giving information is good. Telling them we're fighting is useless. They know we're fighting amongst each other so you have to give them details that would give them an advantage. In return you could trade it for someone but there is still the chance we'd have to send Cleo anyway. Are you going to take that bet?" He asked after a rapid fire of corrections and agreements.
He stopped to think if he missed anything and found himself closing his eyes tightly. This was all still rushed and too much of a gamble. He was breathing a little harder now. Trying to calm himself down but the more he thought about it the more upset he got.
"How are you still so fucking blind?" he finally spat out, his voice raising slightly. "You are not alone. You never have been. Just because you can't stand three people doesn't mean the rest of us don't like you. What about Chiara or Ariella or Lucien? Griffin, Pascal, Enzo, the ones who can't come home? Fuck it all of us, Luka! We love you, here, whether you like us or not! We care about you but you keep pushing us away!" his voice cracked and crackled as he kept speaking and he winced. Was this not the exact same conversation he'd just had with Lucien. No wonder they got along. Holding onto his throat, he cleared it and continued.
"If you keep thinking like that, thinking you're alone, and keep running off without telling someone one day you really will be killed. One day it's going to catch up to you and I hope if it ever happens that I'm long dead, buried, and in the ground never having to see it. I never want to have to see you that bloody again you fucking stubborn idiot."
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Post by 𝕄𝕖𝕣𝕔𝕦𝕣𝕪 on Dec 24, 2023 23:14:59 GMT
When he started giving advice, Luka took of the clip, appearing once more and putting the precious token back in the bag. She was surprised he was actually giving advice to her, real advice that was helpful.
When he starting breathing harder, her smugness over her hairclip fell away, and she looked at him in poorly hidden concern.
She opened her mouth in shock as he kept going. This wasn't calling her stupid, childish, or giving her a lecture. He was worried about her. Her eyes softened a bit, especially at his last words. Her hand fell to her side, where the skin was scarred, still in the process of healing from the raw state it was in.
"I-" her voice broke off. She thought most people here couldn't stand her. That it was just kindness thrown in her face. She though they all though she was incapable of leading them, but perhaps it was some of that self hate she didn't want to admit to having.
"I'm not very used to people caring," she finally mumbled, rubbing at one of her arms. Being vulnerable was hard, but he deserved that much, "And this isn't running away. Every person the Exiled has is part of our family, and if I can do something to help them, I have to do it."
She suddenly felt like crying, she felt the watering in her eyes, hugging her arms to herself then, "River, I told Theo I wouldn't let him die, and-" she looked down for a moment, at the pouch, at his key, "and if I don't go, what if he does?" It broke off, her voice cracking a bit.
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Post by Leo/ Clundy on Dec 26, 2023 18:22:40 GMT
He sighed heavily. This one calming himself to the point where he could think before speaking again. he raised his eyes from the floor to Luka as she seemed to curl into herself. Looking so much smaller than she already was.
Vulnerable. She finally looked vulnerable and honest for once.
She was insistent on going. That she had to do something to help. They all were. All of them self-sacrificing and ready to jump on the bomb to save the others. It was infuriating to deal with on the daily. Because then they fought and disagreed. And then they were forced to deal with the aftermath of someone's bullshit plan that wasn't run by anyone else or too few people.
But yes, they all were family. No matter about feelings or the complicated situations connected to them.
Dropping the bag in front of her, he stepped forward and pulled her into a hug. Tight and understanding in why she was doing this. But, angry he wasn't going to stop her.
There were still so many ways this could go wrong. So, many ways that she could die and he couldn't get to her. But, he'd rather she go with someone on her side than feeling like she didn't have that. Even if he was still extremely angry with her for now multiple reasons.
"Go," He muttered. He wanted to keep her here longer to come up with a better story or even just a different plan. But, then he'd be stalling. "I didn't see you."
He stepped back and picked up his journal he'd dropped somewhere between him walking in and snatching the duffel. Then River, walked around her and started flipping through his notebook as he made his way to the whiteboard.
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Post by 𝕄𝕖𝕣𝕔𝕦𝕣𝕪 on Dec 29, 2023 18:44:40 GMT
Luka was starting to feel more and more like one of that cats from those sad cat videos with the sad music playing over it. She blamed Theo and Chiara for that thought. Theo was insistent on comparing her to a cat, unlike Lucien who stuck to making fun of her for the snake thing (and the issue with the damn Ssssss sound).
When the bag dropped in front of her, her eyes widened, startled out of her moping from the sound of it landing, and shocking even more-so was the hug she was dragged into. A hug with so many emotions. Her first ever hug with River Gellis.
Her arms hung limp at her sides, shocked by the action, and her eyes felt even more watery. Quickly taking her hands around the ginger, she buried her head into his shoulder, hiding the few tears that she let drop there, hidden from sight. Her returning hug was equally tight, tighter than it had been for even Chiara or Lucien.
"Look at you," she choked out, a sad little laugh that was emotional, "you've gotten so soft...I'm gonna miss you so much, Rivs."
The words were soft, and when he returned his own words, Go, I didn't see you, she swallowed down her fear from her plans. She resolutely nodded, hugging him tighter for a moment.
When he stepped back, she watched him silently. He moved on as if he had never seen her. But she had something else she had to say.
"River, wait," she said, softly, "I'll come back, with all of them, and when I do..." she clenched a fist at her side, looking back at him resolutely, "it's up to you what your relationship with Laurie is, but never, never ever let anyone ever dictate it again. You're twice the leader Cleo or Dillon could ever hope to be, and you have nothing to prove to anyone. So-" she offered him a watery smile, "when we get back, you make that choice, 'kay? Don't let anyone else make it for you."
With that, she nodded at him once, before turning around, as if she'd never seen him before, and getting back to work on her duffel. It seemed she had chosen a weapon, the little dagger her and River had fought over earlier. She smiled at it a bit fondly, wrapping the weapon in cloth and hiding it deep in the recesses of the bag.
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Post by pallas on Jan 2, 2024 21:42:34 GMT
Lane’s entire body hurt when she awoke, even her aching eyes as she opened them to blearily take in the scene around her.
She’d gotten back to the pantheon. This was the Medbay. She’d almost thought her arrival the night before had been a dream, but she realised with a wave of relief that it had been real. She was safe.
Thank the gods.
The girl sat up gingerly, head swimming. Lucien had healed her but she was exhausted and her time in the underworld seemed to have taken some sort of toll on her. Her head throbbed and her body felt heavy. She dimly registered that the IV drip was gone from her arm. Lucien must gotten up to come and remove it at some point during the night, but she didn’t remember it.
She didn’t know how she’d done it, but she’d survived her journey to the underworld. Gotten one step closer to helping those who had been kidnapped by the exiled. She took a full breath for what felt like the first time in a long time, the tightness around her ribs relaxing.
She had the answer she’d been looking for.
The girl rubbed her eyes with one hand, reaching out with her free hand to grab the object in question.
When her fingers touched only air, her heart dropped through her stomach.
She looked to the table upon which Lucien had put the helm when he’d taken it from her the night before, only to discover it was bare. Suddenly the tightness in her chest was back tenfold and she felt like she couldn’t breathe. Her ears were ringing. This couldn’t have happened. Not after everything she’d gone through to get it. Why had she ever let it out of her grip for even a second?
Oh, if there was a way for Hades to want her even more dead, she was pretty sure that was how he was going to feel if and when he found out about this. Or did he already know?
She scrambled out of the bed, her legs almost buckling beneath her, backing up slightly to get a fuller view of the room. It was nowhere in sight. She stumbled over to the sets of cupboards at the back of the room just in case somebody had moved it there to keep it safe. Her heart was pounding, hands shaking as she pulled open cupboard doors only to find neat lines of medical supplies. Nothing more.
It was gone, then. Taken from her. She felt a tide of panic rising within her, the sound of her own blood rushing in her head blocking out all thought.
The helm was gone.
“Well,” Hermes piped up in her head, “I think you might be, as you kids would say, fucked. Beyond fucked, actually. You were already fucked. This is worse.”
Helpful as always.
_____
CHARACTER PROFILE IMAGE CREDIT: ElenaA via Picrew
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Post by Leo/ Clundy on Jan 2, 2024 22:42:34 GMT
Despite all the commotion of the meeting that had happened last night, Griffin slept just as hard as ever. Like a corpse.
He never made it back to his room afterwards. He'd gone to the living area with Guinevere and did his best to cheer her up by watching mindless TV. They deeply needed a chance to the constant doom and gloom that was choking the air in this place. And, for him it worked a little bit. He was able to put things behind him for a little bit.
Eventually, he'd fallen asleep right there. He'd only woken up maybe twice during his stay on the couch. Once when the house had finally settled down and it was dark, the TV still playing so he decided to mute it for the rest of the night. He'd gone back to sleep pretty quickly when he realized it was safe to do so. Then he woke up again when someone went to the kitchen area.
He could hear the opening and closing of cabinets and the fridge. Griffin had looked up over the back of the couch to see who was making so much noise so early. The sun hadn't even broken the horizon yet. Distantly, he saw a mess of curly red hair stuffed under another hoodie.
River was up and awake making something for himself it seemed. It smelled like toast and coffee.
Coffee...
Griffin groaned quietly and slid back to his comfortable position on the couch, closing his eyes tightly and trying to ignore the smell.
But, he couldn't ignore the smell. So, the memories of the people surrounding that smell came back. Of better times and the lost sense of new beginnings. When they were confused but at least happy to have each other.
He missed those days. Missed having easier days when they weren't yelling at each other or watching each other get hurt or... dying.
He took the pillow from under his head and pressed it over his face to try and block the smell. He wished he could hate that smell.
All he needed were five more minutes. Five more minutes before everything erupted again.
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Post by Nari on Jan 2, 2024 23:53:09 GMT
Pascal had left from the meeting in a hollowed state, and left to his room doing one thing he hadn’t done in ages: slept all the way through the night. No waking up at odd hours for a cup of coffee, no jotting down notes for poetry he’d never written, or studying his textbooks again to make sure he remembered important information. Just 9 hours of darkness intermingled with gruesome dreams.
When the next morning rolled around, the champion of Hades was as rested as he could be. His first stop was the kitchen for a cup of coffee. To his convenience, River was already there brewing. Once he got his coffee, he gave the boy a brief nod and made his way to the infirmary.
Lucien had been left on his own for weeks, so Pascal wanted to make sure everything was organized properly while he’d been gone.
However, that idea vanished the second he got there and spotted Lane frantically searching through the room as if her life depended on it. He took in a slow breath, let it out, took a sip of his coffee, before speaking up.
“Please refrain from doing that. There’s fragile equipment in there.”
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Post by 𝕄𝕖𝕣𝕔𝕦𝕣𝕪 on Jan 2, 2024 23:53:09 GMT
 
Cleo had spent a long portion of the night unable to sleep. Haunted by memories of blood and death. Ariella’s bleeding shoulder and haunted eyes, Chiara’s arm, almost torn off, blood dripping on the ground. Luka standing on unsteady feet, blood dripping from her body, green eyes delirious and distant as she leaned on Chiara. Lane returning on the brink of death, a helmet within her hands as if it was the most important treasure of all. The mysterious chosen of Odin, torn literally in two, screaming and begging for mercy. Theo, trading himself to save Pascal from the Exiled. The meeting last night and Laurie’s betrayal. Guilt.
They finally stopped laying in bed very early on, and worked instead on trying to research more about who the Exiled were. All they found were bits about other kids that went missing around the same time. It appeared Atticus’ sister had went missing when he did, her name was Adelaide. Irene had mentioned a sister before. Their parents appeared to be out of the picture, but some articles seemed to hint that the two had been abusive to their children. There was another man who went missing that stuck out to her, because he went missing along with another man from the same school; their names were Lewis and Julien. Julien has went missing a while after Lewis had, it seemed. They found more about the once-child-star Penny and another young girl that had went missing, Evalynn Knox. They had taken notes about it all in an attempt to not drown in the guilt they had been feeling sense the realization of just how many people they alienated had occurred.
When 7am came around, they left the comfort of their office-like room and left the notebook in their room, pocketing their phone and throwing on simple clothing. They knew they looked terrible, not as put-together as normal, it at this point they didn’t care. There was a good chance that today, they’d be joining Jason on his journey to the Exiled. Cleo would not dress up for them, and they had every intent on using they research they’d done as a weapon, leaving it for the others should something happen to them.
They pondered getting coffee, but a pass by the room revealed that River was already getting himself some, and Griffin and Guinevere we in the room as well, the brunette still asleep against Griffin’s shoulder. They almost smiled at the scene, before realizing they had no right to share in the joy of that blooming relationship, and left silently to the Meeting room. They turned on the light, the first to enter the room, and took a seat in the same spot they took last night. They took note of the scorched marks on the table nearby, wrinkling their nose at the reminder of the meeting and Dillon’s now melted phone.
Fiddling with their blouse’s sleeve, they waited for the coming meeting, opening the leader’s group chat. They scrolled up, letting off a very small smile at the playful banter between Luka and Lucien about some movie they had watched, and Dillon asking the two to stop spamming the chat with it. It was months ago, when Haleema was still there, the girl asking the two to behave. It was weird to think that she was gone now.
Another thing they had to do, they had to give her a proper farewell.
Staring at the clock up on the wall, they waited for the seconds to tick by, finger tapping nervously against the wooden table before their seat.
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Post by pallas on Jan 3, 2024 12:45:57 GMT
Lucien awoke with River’s words still ringing in his head. He had nothing to prove. The conversation the night before had helped Lucien better understand his own thoughts and feelings, seeing as he’d needed to articulate them to River. That had been a big step.
He was fairly confident he wouldn’t have to go to the exiled, but in his mind he ensured he was prepared for that possibility. He wouldn’t be voted to go, but he’d rather have made sure he was prepared for all eventualities.
The only thing he wasn’t prepared for in that scenario was Luka. But who could ever predict Luka anyway?
It was early, still dark when it was time for the meeting to start at 7 AM. He’d been up only a few hours earlier to check on Lane and remove her IV line. He was exhausted, but decided not to partake in coffee as some of the others seemed to be doing. Him and caffeine didn’t seem like the greatest combination for that particular morning. He did note as he passed the living room that Guinevere was still asleep against Griffin’s shoulder, which was a sweet sight. It would be sweeter if he didn’t know how scared to death everyone was.
He noted as he approached the meeting room that the light was already on, and indeed when he entered he discovered that Cleo was already there.
”Morning sunshine,” Lucien joked with light sarcasm, trying to shift the mood even a little, ”you look like shit,”
The joke was said in a good-naturedly teasing way, but there was a layer of genuine concern behind it. He’d never seen Cleo like this. It was like everything had finally hit them, but it was happening all at once.
He took his own seat, the same as yesterday, and cast another glance at Cleo. ”Cleo,” the boy said, ”I don’t think the trade should be used as punishment. But whatever happens from here, learn from it. The doors aren’t totally closed to you here. Yet.”
They still had a chance to one day regain some trust among the ascendants, that was what he wanted them to understand. No matter how much of an asshole Cleo might be, if they left thinking they had no hope of things ever getting better between them and the ascendants then they’d have no reason to ever change. It was debatable whether or not Cleo deserved to leave feeling totally hated - there definitely an argument that they did - but Lucien wasn’t willing to let them go without at least a few mildly kind words. The exiled would prey on hopelessness.
————
Chiara’s danger sense was… off.
These days it was pretty much always activated, so that wasn’t unusual. But the blonde awoke with a deep sense of wrongness. Maybe it wasn’t her danger sense but simply her own intuition, but at this point she couldn’t really tell.
As she got ready, she couldn’t help but notice the empty space where she’d laid Theo’s key when she went to bed last night. That confused her. If it had been taken, it must have been someone with very light tread, because her enhanced senses would have woken her to anyone in her room with a heavy step.
It didn’t make sense. Unsettled, she got ready as usual. Neat as always, though it had taken her longer to look presentable because of how distracted she was about the key being gone.
The Norse wing was completely silent when she stepped out into it. Of course Theo was no longer there, but there was no sign of Luka either with her usual morning antics. Perhaps she was already up and somewhere around the Pantheon. Still, Chiara’s unease grew.
She tried to push away that feeling, because she knew she could afford no distractions today. She had to focus on the meeting this morning, and then she had her training with River that night. She needed to be on the ball.
She decided against coffee, not wanting to make herself jittery when she was already more high-strung than usual that morning. So the blonde headed straight to the meeting room.
The room wasn’t empty; Cleo and Lucien were already there. Chiara settled in the same seat she had been in the previous night, trying not to be too aware of just how empty the Norse section around her was.
No Luka.
If she wasn’t in the Norse wing or the meeting room, where was she? Chiara hadn’t spotted her on her route through the Pantheon either. Still, she tried not to concern herself too much. Luka had hidden in the meeting room last night and could be doing the same today. She could just be late. Or she could have blown off the meeting entirely. Either way, no sense in worrying quite yet.
But then there was Theo’s missing key. Why?
Either way, she chose not to say anything for now until she had more information to work with. She didn’t want to jump to assumptions yet, especially because she didn’t like what those assumptions meant.
_______
Dillon’s apology to River had gone about as expected, but at least it was better than nothing at all. It was far from enough but he didn’t regret his decision to apologise.
But River was right that actions spoke louder than words. His apology would mean nothing if he did nothing to back it up. He’d done what he could to take care of the people trapped in Venice, but now more than ever he needed to get the balance right. Turn his attention inward to the pantheon while ensuring Irene and Enzo were not forgotten about.
If Cleo ended up leaving, as seemed to be likely, that put them in a difficult position regarding leaders. It left them with Irene who was trapped in Venice, the wayward Luka and Lucien who were well-intentioned but had a habit of directing those good intentions in some… less than helpful ways, River who was a good leader but rightfully angry and hurt, and him. If Cleo left, he would have to step up more. He would have to do what he could to make this work.
And hopefully learn from his own mistakes - and Cleo’s, to boot.
He awoke early and got dressed, thinking over the meetings the day before and the meeting to come. It was such a mess, and none of the options in front of them were good. They were so busy thinking about which choice was best that they hadn’t started thinking about what to do in the aftermath. The exiled were doing this to cripple them, so how were the ascendants going to compensate? Dillon didn’t have the answers yet. Hopefully together they’d figure something out, and fast.
He headed to the meeting room, forgoing coffee and avoiding the living area because his head felt too full at that moment to risk having to navigate conversation with the River, Griffin or anyone in fact.
Everything was fucked up, a good amount of that fuckedupedness stemming from his poor choices. He needed to figure out how to get them into a position where they could somewhat get through this mess before he spoke to anyone. Otherwise he had nothing to say but more apologies. Otherwise he had no answers for the others at a time when distrust of the leadership was higher than ever.
When he arrived at the meeting room, a few people were already there. He took the same seat he had the night before, gaze drifting to the scorch mark from Luka’s attack on his phone. He had to give it to her; she was holding him accountable for what he had done in a way many of the others hadn’t because they were so focused on Cleo. He’d more than deserved it, so he felt no negativity about the whole thing. Besides feeling the inconvenience of having no phone, anyway.
”Good morning,” Dillon greeted as he sat down.
”It’s by no means a good fucking morning,” Lucien shot back, sitting back and folding his arms, ”don’t be a moron. Or as you’d say, don’t be a prat.”
Oh great, Lucien was learning British slang. As if he needed more colourful ways to insult people. It seemed that Luka might not be there to be angry at him, but Lucien certainly was. Dillon ignored the insult, turning his attention to Cleo.
”Cleo, would you mind using your phone for Irene?” he asked. He knew this meeting would be stressful for them so he felt a little bad asking, but his phone wasn’t available and frankly he didn’t know if he trusted Lucien to handle the call at this point.
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CHARACTER PROFILE IMAGE CREDIT: ElenaA via Picrew
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Post by pallas on Jan 3, 2024 14:36:21 GMT
Lane hadn’t heard Pascal approaching, so him suddenly speaking startled her. More accurately, she just about jumped out of her skin. ”Jesus fucking Christ!” the girl exclaimed, before rising fully to her feet and whirling to face the new entrant to the room.
“No, I don’t think that’s him.” Hermes commented drily. Apparently after Lane’s return from the underworld her guide had decided he was a jokester again.
It was, however, Pascal. Lane’s brows drew together, surprised to see him back. Hadn’t he been kidnapped with the others? What the fuck was going on, then? Was he the only one who was back safe in the Pantheon?
She’d been caught up on nothing since her return.
”Pascal?” Lane said disbelievingly as she reached behind her to close the cupboard door and took a few steps closer to the boy, ”How are you back? Are… is-? What’s going on?”
She was trying to ask if the others were back. But she couldn’t get the question to form. She was almost scared to know whether Daniel was safely back or still with the exiled. What the hell was going on, that was what she wanted to know.
She shook her head slightly, trying to get back on track after the initial shock of seeing Pascal back. It was like seeing a ghost. Even though if either of them was more like the ghost here it was probably her given that two of the beads on her necklace had gone white already.
Shit, the helm. Did he know about the helm being stolen? Had Hades told him? Was Hades after her for that already?
She couldn’t tell Pascal what she was looking for, just to be safe. She at least needed time to find the thing first just in case Hades somehow did not in fact know yet that she had taken the helm. If she’d stolen it and then lost it that was worse than just stealing it.
”I’m looking for something, it was on my bedside table last night. Did you move anything maybe, or?” Lane questioned hopefully. Please don’t make me tell you what it is.
She really shouldn’t have pissed off Hades twice over. Though in her defence, the first time was not her fault.
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CHARACTER PROFILE IMAGE CREDIT: ElenaA via Picrew
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Post by Nari on Jan 3, 2024 15:02:27 GMT
Pascal’s expression didn’t change as Lane was startled by his presence. It was a frequent occurrence with her, he’d noticed. The normalcy with that was almost comforting. However, not comforting enough for him to forget everything that was going on.
She started asking questions, and the champion of Hades turned his head over to an unkempt bed, the end of which had a clipboard with a sheet and writing.
Ah, she was the injured party from the day before. He knew someone was injured, but he was too distracted to think about looking into it more. At least she appeared to be fine right now.
“Yes, I returned yesterday,” Pascal’s attention turned back to her as he spoke, his voice not showing much emotion, “... I have Theodore to thank for that.”
He didn’t want to dwell on the other boy’s sacrifice too much, since he wasn’t sure how much she was aware of. It was an uncomfortable subject, and he hoped his straight-forward answer was enough for her.
Lane had other questions too. What was going on, and then asking if he’d seen anything of her’s. He gave her a puzzled look.
“I wouldn’t know,” he replied, “Lucien would have been in charge of your recovery, so you’d have to ask him.”
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Post by pallas on Jan 3, 2024 15:27:51 GMT
So he’d gotten back yesterday. The way he said it, it sounded like he was the only one of the kidnapped people who’d returned. She couldn’t be sure. Either way, she got the sense he didn’t want to talk about it. Especially with the way he talked about Theo.
Had Theo gotten him out of the exiled base? Maybe, but it didn’t seem likely anyone would rescue only one prisoner. That was too risky, especially for the other prisoners who remained in exiled hands. Besides, she remembered Lucien and Cleo acting strangely when they spoke about Theo yesterday too. From there she was able to put the pieces together.
It sounded like Theo had taken Pascal’s place.
She offered Pascal a smile, because truthfully she had no problems with Pascal. It was just his guide had problems with her. And Pascal had an unfortunate habit of sneaking up on her. She didn’t dislike him at all, even if she didn’t know him that well.
”I’m glad you're back and safe.” Lane responded. ”Are you settling back in okay?”
That felt better than asking Pascal if he was alright, because she strongly suspected he wasn’t but that he probably wouldn’t want to talk about that. She had things she didn’t particularly want to talk about either, so she understood. This was just her way of checking in on him as best she could.
Then Pascal said that Lucien would have been in charge of her medical care. Of course, she knew that. But it did raise a thought.
”Lucien.” she repeated. ”Right.”
There were only two people who definitely knew about the helm. Lucien and Cleo. Pascal could in theory know if Hades had told him but after speaking a bit to him she strongly doubted it. It seemed very possible that Lucien could have taken it. Really, it had to be him or Cleo and Lucien had a lot more excuse to be in the Medbay than Cleo did.
”Thank you, Pascal.”
Now that Pascal was back and Hades could keep a closer eye on her than she’d anticipated, she had to find the helm and quickly. And maybe get the leaders to agree to make use of it sooner rather than later so she could return it before she got any further in over her head.
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CHARACTER PROFILE IMAGE CREDIT: ElenaA via Picrew
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