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Post by pallas on Oct 16, 2023 22:47:20 GMT
Chiara did an admirable job of not reacting to the insults levelled at her. When Gwen mentioned her arm, her eyes flicking to her right arm as if she could see the scars under Chiara’s jumper, the girl had simply fallen silent.
When Ripley insulted her, tapping her notebook, Chiara kept his gaze as steadily as she could. Once he was done, she calmly moved her notebook a little further back so it was out of his reach and gave him a smile that would look mild and accommodating if it reached her eyes.
Oh, she could give him two words. But he wouldn’t like them.
But his warning was explicit now. Before it has been obvious but she had been too stuck in her own head to see it. She’d been too angry. Too angry at the mention of River, who they’d all let down and hadn’t been there for or defended when he needed it. Too stressed by the constant presence of Fenrir.
And Ripley. She hated him. He was manipulative and slippery, and she hated people who were like that. She’d had more than enough experience of it with her father.
She never should have agreed to go to the meeting, because she should have known she wouldn’t have handled it. Her danger senses had been all but constant since the kidnapping, and she’d spent far too long in the library rather than sleeping. She hadn’t processed her trauma with Fenrir, and she knew she’d been making bad decisions lately because she’d been fraying at the edges.
So she made the best one she could now and shut up.
But when the attention was off her again, she gave a grateful look to Theo for his attempts to stick up for her. She wasn’t entirely sure she’d deserved his support given that she’d gotten herself into this.
Gudrun did in fact shut up too when Theo told her not to speak if all she had to say was insults. She sat back and folded her arms, revealing a tattoo of an stylised wave design on one arm, and muttering something about her name being Gwen.
But then things began to escalate. An exchange involving all parties at the table about Esme and the crown and who she was in fact a champion of. Chiara did get a brief flash of the girl’s brooch before she put a hand on it, taking note of the design. She made a quick note of it - if it was her key it was information worth knowing.
It was at that point that Fenrir got involved, and Gwen finally spoke up to try and prevent any bloodshed at the table. She looked between Fenrir and the girl, settling on addressing the wolf.
“Fenrir, later.” she said to the wolf before looking to the other exiled and biting out in a pointed tone “We will deal with this later.”
She was clearly concerned about saving face and about the meeting getting derailed. And clearly the ascendants had already figured out too much for her to be happy.
And they were figuring out more, because between the brooch and Fenrir’s reaction it wasn’t hard for Chiara to put two and two together. She glanced over to Theo and it seemed obvious he’d figured it out too.
Odin.
Laurie was returning to the table at this point, eyes clearly trained on the furious Fenrir and giving the ravenous wolf as wide a berth as possible as he approached the table to settle himself back beside Ripley.
”I step away for a moment and all the fun happens.” Laurie joked quietly to Ripley with a smile that Chiara couldn’t determine the genuineness of, but the way he looked at Fenrir with Esme said he did not think that situation ‘fun’ at all. Clearly he was nervous.
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CHARACTER PROFILE IMAGE CREDIT: ElenaA via Picrew
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Post by 𝕄𝕖𝕣𝕔𝕦𝕣𝕪 on Oct 17, 2023 0:00:06 GMT
Esme backed up further as Ripley focused on her. Everyone was looking at her, and she froze as she heard Fenrir growl, her gaze going from slightly panicked to full on fearful. Her powers were similar to Pascal's and she wasn't talented in the other parts Odin had gifted her.
With her hand there, her eyes narrowed, and she went to pull at the pin on the brooch, the one that allowed her to to turn into a shadow. She could escape then. She could run away like she should have done long ago and she could go back to drinking in her stupid condo of a home and finding ways to spite her rich parents. She could pretend this was all a fever dream and never deal with it again. Forget all these psychos and forget it all and just go about her life.
Except, as she went to pull the pin to melt into the shadows, her feet fell out from under her, a vine wrapped around her ankle and dragging her in a quick motion to Atticus. She smacked the ground painfully and her hands instinctively fell out to claw at the ground around her for purchase. The leader stood from the table, leaning over Esme who was now being held down by vines, her hands held together away from the brooch.
With Esme held in place and struggling, the leader glared at the girl, and looking up at Fenrir then at Ripley and finally back to Esme, he leaned down, plucking the brooch off the cloak, inspecting it in his hands. The girl struggled against the vines which had coiled around her wrists feet digging into the ground and struggling to try and pull away.
Esme's breaths came shocked then, panicked and full of fear. Short and much too quick. Atticus looked down at her, shaking his head a bit, and leaning over her as if he was cooing at a misbehaving child, "Now, now, why would you have done that?"
Esme's wide eyes blinked a few times at him, full of terror, plain and simple, and she struggled again. At her silence, Atticus clenched his fist, making the vines tighten around the girl's wrists, causing the girl to cry out. She could feel the bones practically cracking under the pressure, sending waves of pain and terror through her body.
"Answer me, Esme," He said calmly for the situation, eyes unwavering, and the girl then yelled out.
"Okay! Okay!" She agreed, and the vines retreated, leaving the cloaked girl powerless on the ground. Her key had been taken and she didn't have access to her ability to go into a shadow any longer, at least, she didn't know how to do it without it. Her limbs were shaking now, "I-I'm the Chosen of Odin," she admitted, "he didn't send me to the Pantheon. I was just meant to be a wanderer...a traveler."
Atticus stepped closer to her, glaring down at her, and she flinched at that, "Odin just told me to hide! The wolf...he's insane! You have to understand! I just-well Hades is like Odin! And-And Baldr's boy is right! No one got hurt! It's fine! I was just doing what Odin told me to do!"
Atticus shook his head at her, and Esme paused, a deep unsettling realization cutting under her skin. She looked up, past the leader, and stared right at Theodore. She started shaking her head, backing up more and her breaths coming in short gasps of terror. Atticus snapped to get her attention back, and Esme looked at him, still curled on the ground from being dragged.
"You know, I actually liked you," He said, shaking his head a bit, sighing, "But you lied to me."
"I had to!" Esme shrieked back, voice full of fear. "I had to lie. Or-or-" her voice cracked as she looked away from Atticus to look at Fenrir, her eyes flooding with tears from terror.
"Oh I know, I know," Atticus cooed, voice filled with understanding and sympathy. He leaned down a bit, offering the girl his hand, "Everyone makes mistakes, Esme."
"I-" Esme 's voice wouldn't come out though, her breaths fast and panicked. For moments she stared at his outstretched hand, but then she grabbed it, uncertain and he helped her to a stand. Her legs were wobbly under her, so he kept one arm out for her to stay stable on.
"Now, we've learned that lesson, haven't we? We don't lie. I hate lies. Don't you agree?" Atticus commented softly, as if admonishing a child and not a grown adult, and dusting Esme's shoulders off as he stood before her, offering her a disappointed look.
"Atticus, what are you-" Cleo butt in, voice ringing an edge of nervousness as they watched the interaction.
"Don't you agree?" Atticus pressed, interrupting Cleo and staring right at Esme. The girl stared back, fear still in her eyes. Still, she nodded. One of his hands tightened, the one on her shoulder, and she winced at it and quickly went to speak.
"Yes," She said softly, looking down. Atticus guided her head back up, and gently, he put his hands on both sides of the crown on her head, gently taking it off.
"Good," Atticus said, officially stepping back from the girl, taking the crown and her brooch with him. "You shouldn't have tried to trick us, Esme. You shouldn't have lied. Sooner or later, you get caught in that lie. Let that be a message to everyone. You do not trick us and get away with it."
Atticus looked towards the group of onlookers, and Esme glanced over at Theo then, her limbs still shaking, still terrified, and she looked at him with an understanding that spoke louder than any word she said could, "Thanks for trying, Golden Boy." Her voice shook at the words, a collection of tears falling from her eyelashes at the words. Acceptance was in her eyes, and she tried to offer a small, but terrified smile to the boy. It didn't last long, overcome by worse fear which was so strong it almost choked her.
With the crown taken off, Atticus turned back to the Ascendants, and he sighed, eyes flicking to Gwen, "I know you wanted to stay on topic, Gwen, but we can't allow for lies and distrust to exist between us. Worry not, everyone, we will deal with it accordingly."
Offering a cruel smile, he moved two of his fingers, causing the vines from earlier to twine around Esme's legs and drag her off to the jaws of the hungry wolf awaiting his meal. Esme screamed out when her leg was caught up again, her nails digging into the ground before her as she was dragged towards the wolf, screaming for help, for mercy. Atticus himself stayed facing the group with an overly friendly smile as his eyes locked onto a shocked and horrified Cleo and Dillon. Guinevere's hands flew to her mouth, eyes wide and horrified. Cleo's mouth hung open, words unable to escape them. The leader's heart was beating wildly in their chest, a fear worse than one they'd ever experienced was there. Atticus seemed unaffected though.
"Now that that's handled, I'm sure you're dying to discuss the terms of your friends' return." He said, staring at the crown in his hands and then throwing it to a stunned Cleo, who caught it belatedly, wide eyes flicking to it, "and I believe that belongs to you."
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Post by Leo/ Clundy on Oct 17, 2023 0:00:23 GMT
HEAVY Trigger Warning for graphic descriptions "Shh," Ripley hushed the table putting a finger out towards them and then touching it to his lips. He smiled and glanced at Gwen. "Just let it play out," he muttered to her.
And quietly he watched, twisted in his seat to get a better look of Atticus and Esme. He leaned his head against Laurie's shoulder when he sat back down next to him but didn't say anything to him otherwise.
Fenrir in the meantime started pacing, spittle ejecting from his jaws his his growls got angrier and angrier. His hackles were raised and his eyes bore into the back of Esme's head as she pleaded her case. Every snarl was another warning for Atticus to move if he wanted to live. He did not obey any of these children's rules. They were not in control of him. They were simply a means to an end. And right now one of them was in his way.
At the mention of him and Esme being told to hide, Fenrir paused and towered over the girl, drool dropping from his open mouth onto her. "Spineless rat!" he snapped angrily. He wanted to bite down on her head but the other child was still there. And he didn't want to ruin such a delicious meal with the taste of ash and dirt mixed in.
Starving, he suddenly felt starving all over again. For flesh, for blood, for bones, for revenge, for the end of all these mortals in front of him.
He continued to stand there, jaws gaping open as he panted feverishly. He still hadn't blinked, unwilling to take his gaze off of his prey. "Move, gnat," He spoke dangerously low to Atticus. But, he wasn't listening. He was still on his speech about trust and lies.
Then he finished and she came launching into his mouth. Fenrir snapped his jaws shut and shook his head violently. He hadn't managed to kill her yet. He didn't right down in the right spot. But that was quickly amended.
Opening his jaws again he bit down harder, this time on her neck before she could scream too much and annoy him. Over and over and over and over again he bit down on her. Chewing. Blood gushed down from his food and dribbled down his face turning his dark fur a deep red. Putting his muzzle down to the ground and stepped on the corpses leg, he pulled and pulled until the body tore into two.
Licking his jaws, Fenrir's throat released a cruel and ragged chuckle as he dropped the body half in his mouth and shook out his fur. "For such a high and mighty attitude, you seemed to like hiding behind poor little mortals."
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Post by pallas on Oct 17, 2023 9:21:03 GMT
Dillon and Chiara watched in horror and shock as the scene with Atticus, Esme and Fenrir played out. The boy had suspected, had an awful feeling, that Atticus hadn’t intended any mercy for Esme when he released her and helped her up. He’d just been toying with her.
And he hated that he was right.
Gwen simply sat back when Ripley told her to let it play out. She clearly hadn’t wanted the meeting to get off track but obviously didn’t care enough to try and prevent what was happening. In fact she made a neat little note of her own about who knew what, neither bothered by nor revelling in the gruesome violence occurring.
Chiara’s enhanced senses meant she missed nothing of the gory, horrifying scene. Especially not the sounds. The girl flinched at the awful crunching and tearing of flesh. She had to lay down the pen she’d been using moments before to write now useless information about Esme’s key, moving her hands to her lap under the table so the exiled couldn’t see the shaking. Her face was bloodless, her breath shaky.
Dillon was sure that he’d called out some kind of interjection at some point, a ‘stop’ or ‘don’t’, but it had been more out of instinct than thinking it would help anything. He knew there were none among the exiled who would listen. And as the wolf finished her off he sat in a terrified silence. He’d only been in one fight against the exiled, with Gwen, and therefore hadn’t been witness to the brutality of the exiled much. Here he was getting it in full force. He felt like he couldn’t breathe, like a clawing animal was ripping apart his chest.
And he couldn’t help but think, with a sickening churn of his stomach, that what had happened to Haleema might have been awfully similar to what they had just witnessed.
Laurie couldn’t watch, from what Dillon could see. He closed his eyes, swallowed briefly, and then averted his gaze as much as he could. There was fear in the boy’s eyes even as he reached to put an arm around the shoulder of Ripley, who was leaning his head against Laurie’s own. Dillon wasn’t sure if the light circles Laurie’s thumb was tracing on Ripley’s shoulder was more to to with affection between the two of them or nervous energy on the part of Laurie.
And then Atticus casually threw the crown to Cleo, and they caught it. The exiled leader started to get the topic back onto the purpose of the meeting, so casually. As if nothing had happened. As if the meeting hadn’t taken an irreparably terrifying turn.
It took a while for Dillon to find his voice.
”Please.” the boy said, and his voice was quiet and not steady. ”Just tell us what you want.”
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CHARACTER PROFILE IMAGE CREDIT: ElenaA via Picrew
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Post by Nari on Oct 17, 2023 12:37:22 GMT
“Thanks for trying, Golden Boy.”
“W-wait a second!” Her words bore into him, barely giving him time to process before the girl was dragged off. Theo tried to run after her, stop what was about to happen, but he was much too slow. In an instant, Esme was killed, and he’d only managed to get himself close enough that some of her blood had sprayed on him. Splashes of red colored his hair, face, and sweater, staining his normally pristine appearance.
What was Oden’s champion laid in a heap before Fenrir. The boy could feel his legs locking up as every inch of his body shook, trying to keep him upright in the face of something so horrible. The overwhelming scent of blood mixed with his own fear caused an involuntary retching. No vomit but he was close to it.
“Stop! Walk away, she isn't food!” Baldr’s champion exclaimed, however his words were weak and pleading, nothing that could actually convince him to stop. The wolf’s cruel laugh echoed through Theo’s head, a reminder to every previous encounter he’d had. In the moment he felt fear and horror, but something else seemed to be building. Something he didn’t like feeling.
He remembered how useless he felt, how injured Chiara and Ariella got, how this beast killed Haleema, and how the image before him reminded him of Luka nearly meeting the same fate. All of his pain and anguish, the sleepless nights worrying that something was hunting them, and the concern for his friends’ lives boiled his fear into an all consuming heat of fury. He took one step towards Fenrir, digging his heels into the ground as he glared up at the animal before him with wild eyes.
“I SAID STEP AWAY FROM HER YOU PIECE OF SHIT!” What released from him was an awful screech, one that was amplified by his billowing rage and his magic. While his words were usually smooth and sweet, these ones were jagged and sharp, and were as painful for him to say as they were to hear.
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Post by pallas on Oct 17, 2023 18:11:23 GMT
Lucien rolled his eyes lightly at his friend’s affectionate teasing.
”Wearing leather jackets and being able to play guitar doesn’t make me emo,” Lucien joked, ”and you’re talking big about my fashion sense for someone who has at least three articles of my clothing in their closet right now.”
Luka ‘borrowed’ Lucien’s clothes from time to time, and he was using ‘borrow’ in the loosest sense of the word because he hadn’t yet gotten any of them back.
But he was her best friend too. If felt good, knowing that. It didn’t change anything between them that they’d both said it, and he’d always known that she was there for him just the same as he was there for her. But saying it made everything feel just a little bit better than it had before.
He gave a sarcastic ‘ha ha’ when Luka joked about him being obsessed with her, but folded his arms when she called him Romeo and joked about not being able to ‘return his affections’.
”Don’t flatter yourself,” Lucien teased in return, ”we’re more platonic than those stupid philosophy books in the library,”
Lucien had never felt anything else for Luka but friendship. They had a strong connection but it was nothing more than that, and they both knew it or she wouldn’t be making that joke.
But he hadn’t missed Luka’s comment about sexually identifying as a mistake, and the blond raised one eyebrow.
”Also did you just somehow, like…come out?” Lucien questioned in confusion, because it was an out of pocket joke but on the other hand if Luka was going to come out, that seemed like the way she’d do it. She’d made it clear that she wasn’t straight anyway.
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CHARACTER PROFILE IMAGE CREDIT: ElenaA via Picrew
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Post by 𝕄𝕖𝕣𝕔𝕦𝕣𝕪 on Oct 18, 2023 16:49:08 GMT
Trigger warning: Descriptions of corpse mutilation and mentions of vomiting.
Guinevere stared in horror as Esme was brutally murdered right before them. Her eyes couldn't leave the scene, couldn't stop echoing with the sounds of the poor girl's screams. Is that what happened to Haleema? Is that what Atticus planned to do to her if Cleo and Dillon didn't acquiesce?
She felt sick, and covered her mouth with a hand before the squelching noises and the corpse being torn in two caused her to turn tail and barf into a nearby bin.
Meanwhile, Cleo themselves stared with wide eyes at Atticus, they stood from their seat. Their breaths came quick and shallow, and they watched a bit distantly as Theo ran to stop the wolf, yelling at the creature. Their eyes wondered from the Champion of Baldr to the corpse Fenrir had in his mouth. The gore was terrible, a bloody mess that filled them with dread and nausea. Just a minute ago, that girl was alive. They looked down at the crown in their hands then, fingers tightening around it and staring down at it. Within their hands, the crown morphed back into the pen state it had, light and easy to hold.
The stared at it for a few moments as Dillon asked what the Exiled wanted. They looked up at Atticus when he began to speak, glare withering.
"What we want? Glad you asked!" Atticus said, approaching the table again, steps slow and deliberate. Because of his proximity to the wolf as he ate, he did have some blood splattered across him, some on his cheek. He just wiped it away with a finger as he approached, and he reached across the table, tapping Dillon on the nose as if toying with a child, smearing it across the skin there. "We have a list of terms," he looked to Gwen, gesturing to Cleo and Dillon then, silently requesting that the girl retrieve the paper with the requirements on it for the leaders, "In order for the return of your precious friends, we expect a high price."
Cleo seemed somewhat hopeful at that, snapping out of their shock and focusing onto the words, "what do we need to do?"
"We want a trade," He remarked, arms crossed, "If you wish for the safe return of the Nephthys Champion, the Sobek Champion, and the Champion of Hades, then you need to give us people in return."
Cleo began shaking their head as that sunk in, slinking back, "No, you want us to...what...trade people? Give you people in return to get our people back? What kind of deal is that!?"
"One you're going to make. It's either that, or we start killing them one by one until there's no deal left for you to make, just like we did to Haleema," Atticus stated, and Cleo shivered. He wasn't lying. They'd kill them. "We have a list of names, so your little note taker should probably focus back on the topic at hand."
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Post by 𝕄𝕖𝕣𝕔𝕦𝕣𝕪 on Oct 18, 2023 17:45:35 GMT
Luka rolled her eyes at him, shaking her head, "You have no proof of that," she stated, and glanced back at him, "also, big words from someone who I'm fairly sure has some of my clothes in his closet too."
She was referencing, of course, to nothing. She wasn't missing any clothes, given that she constantly locked her door and she knew Lucien didn't know how to pick the lock. She was missing some blankets though, and she highly suspected either Lucien or Theo was responsible for that.
She raised an eyebrow at Lucien as he questioned whether he joke was her coming out. She paused, not necessarily nervous, but curious all the same, "and what exactly would I be coming out as?" She questioned, "Because last time I checked, 'Mistake' isn't an actual sexuality."
She paused before shrugging, "But I guess you could say I don't really feel that. I'm like...sexualn't."
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Post by pallas on Oct 18, 2023 18:08:29 GMT
Lucien chuckled at Luka’s comment about him stealing her clothes. ”We both know that isn’t true.”
Of course they both knew it. Luka’s clothes didn’t fit him and so he hadn’t taken any of them. One or two of her blankets, however, that might be a different story.
It was true that he didn’t know exactly what sexuality ‘a mistake’ might correspond to, that much he had to concede. But he did know it didn’t seem exactly like she was saying she was straight. And she all but confirmed it when she elaborated in a more serious way.
”Asexual.” he said with a nod. ”You mean you’re asexual.”
He knew what she was talking about. One of his bandmates back home in Chicago was asexual, and Lucien had known him for years.
”Cool.” Lucien said with a smile. ”Thank you for trusting me with that.”
He didn’t know if it was a big deal to Luka to tell him or not. She’d said it pretty casually but Luka had a habit of covering big things and big feelings with humour so that was no way to judge how she’d felt inside about sharing that information. It might have felt massive to her, sharing that. So he thought it was best to thank her for sharing it. Whether it was a big deal or not, it felt worth saying.
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CHARACTER PROFILE IMAGE CREDIT: ElenaA via Picrew
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Post by Leo/ Clundy on Oct 18, 2023 20:52:59 GMT
Griffin had lunged forward to shield the other champions at the table with his arms, just as Fenrir snatched Esme out of the air and devoured her. He stayed there with half his mind focused on the gruesome sight in front of him, the other focused on making sure he didn't come and try to attack them too. Then he'd have to launch them backwards so he could take the bite.
But nothing of the sort happened. Instead, the wolf started to strangle out that distorted and cruel laugh as he stood over Esme's body. Griffin did have to catch Theo from going too far, grabbing his arm and pulling him back to the table. Sparingly he managed glances at Guinevere and how she was doing, but he couldn't check on her just yet. He needed to make sure they were all safe first.
Fenrir didn't cease his cruel laughter as Theo screamed his order at him. But, he did obey, backing away as he shook the blood from his fur and licked his muzzle again. The wolf looked oh so pleased with himself and held his head up high as he kept backing up. He glanced between Theo and Chiara deciding that when he got that chance, he'd no longer play. Then he turned and went back to the flesh he had left unattended.
"And sent."
Ripley muttered not so quietly. He smiled softly to himself and held up the phone in his hand. Haleema's phone. "Had to show the other leaders what they were missing."
Pocketing the device, Ripley nodded along with Atticus's words. "We have a bunch of people for your consideration. But, You do have to pick some of them if you want your people back," Ripley said in a sing-songy tune. Putting his arm around Laurie's shoulders he leaned his head against the top of his and glanced down at the notepad in front of Chiara. How's hands were all of a sudden under the table.
"My list will include, Pretty boy right there," Ripley pointed towards Theo. Griffin glanced between Theo and Ripley, the latter of the two he gave a furious glare and shook his head. Though the second in command was already moving on. "That really strong girl, Ariella I think you were shouting outside the base the other day. Lucien, you over there Cleo, and Irene because what else is she gonna do?" He chuckled and shrugged. It was funny. All of it was just funny.
He leaned forward a bit to look at Gwen two seats away and flashed a sweet and charming smile at her. Well aware she wasn't in the mood. "Princess, who are you looking at converting to our side?"
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Post by pallas on Oct 18, 2023 21:56:06 GMT
As Atticus began to explain, Gwen pulled out a piece of paper from within her notepad when her leader indicated for her to do so. It had printed, in Gwen’s neat handwriting, a summary of the demands that the boys were outlining. That they required people to be handed over in exchange for the ascendants, and that they should be chosen from among suggestions given by the exiled. Alongside stipulations for how they should be handed over - in a neutral place, with no weapons.
She slid it across to Cleo.
When Atticus approached Dillon and touched his nose, Dillon recoiled rapidly. He was apparently both taken aback and a little horrified at the sudden contact. Unfortunately because he hadn’t been expecting it, his reaction was too delayed to avoid the smear of blood on his nose. When Atticus left him alone, Dillon wiped away at the stuff with the sleeve of his hoodie. The ‘thou shalt not try me’ felt so stupid now.
Atticus suggested that Chiara start taking notes, and then Ripley began to make his demands. When he too looked at Chiara’s notepad, the girl began to write, though somewhat hampered by using her non-dominant hand. Names began to appear in a less neat than usual version Chiara’s usually elegant swirling cursive as she noted down each name. She felt sick as her pen clumsily formed each letter.
Theo Ariella Lucien Cleo Irene
Then Ripley looked at Gwen, who couldn’t look like she was less in the mood for this but obliged him by giving her own list of names.
“I will accept your remaining active leaders. You couldn’t even get half of them to this meeting so I doubt you’ll miss them.” she began “So that’s Cleo, Dillon, Irene, Luka and your little healer boy.”
She was sure Ripley could have a lot of fun with someone who could heal himself.
Chiara put marks next to the names of people who had been mentioned multiple times and added the names of new mentions. She felt like she was signing a death sentence each time.
Theo Ariella Lucien II Cleo II Irene II Dillon Luka
”Lucien and Luka are children.” Dillon pointed out, apparently caring more about that detail than about the fact that his own name had come up. Chiara doubted that what seemed to be an appeal to the better nature of the exiled would have any effect.
Gwen just shrugged.
“If they’re old enough to play the game, they’re old enough to lose it.” was her simple reply, as if this were a simple and obvious rule everybody knew. As if she wasn’t talking about asking them to sacrifice teenagers to the exiled.
But then Gwen levelled a little smile at Chiara herself that chilled the girl to her very bones.
“And congratulations. You’ve earned yourself a spot on the list just based on today.” she said as if she were giving some sort of compliment, and then looked at Chiara expectantly. “Go ahead.”
With a deep breath, Chiara looked down at the page and added one more name to the bottom of the list.
Chiara
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CHARACTER PROFILE IMAGE CREDIT: ElenaA via Picrew
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Post by Nari on Oct 18, 2023 22:43:24 GMT
Fenrir’s laughter at the situation only seemed to enrage the boy more. While the wolf backed away, Theo released what could only be assumed was a growl and boldly stepped towards his enemy. He was about halfway through rolling up a sleeve before he was suddenly tugged back towards the table. A string of curses started filtering through his head, but the second he realized it was just Griffin, he clamped his mouth shut and stared back at the hound.
With his adrenaline starting to cool, the boy could feel his muscles start to shake from exhaustion. There was a soreness emanating from his throat, a result of his shouting from earlier. He caught the wolf’s gaze for a moment before looking back at the much taller boy.
“Th-thank you,” he croaked to Griffin, dejectedly, before sinking down in his chair.
While Atticus spoke, Theo didn’t so much as utter a word, instead letting his mind wander as he stared down at the table. However, his attention snapped back to the present when he realized Ripley had acknowledged him. For a moment he blinked, confused and shocked at getting picked, but his eyelids lowered to a squint as he stared at the exiled boy.
“You can’t afford me, bucko,” he responded, dryly, emphasizing the last word through gritted teeth.
He refrained from commenting more as other names started getting listed. Compared to who was missing, it was almost doubled. Really sounded like they were trying to wring them out of anyone they could, with very little the rest of them could do. A certified scam if he ever saw one.
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Post by 𝕄𝕖𝕣𝕔𝕦𝕣𝕪 on Oct 20, 2023 17:08:07 GMT
Guinevere shook after she heaved up everything she had for breakfast and subsequently dinner the prior day. She was tuning the others out right now. Her emotional abilities were picking up too much, Laurie's twisted affection for that asshole, the asshole's affection for...someone.
Cleo opened their mouth to argue back against these psychos as they started suggesting names. Lucien and Luka were only 17 years old. They were not even legally adults. Dillon pointed that out, and Gwen only shrugged at him and blew it off.
"I'd like the Golden Boy myself," Atticus commented with a twisted smile on his face, glancing at Theo with sharp eyes, "If Ripley gets a new toy, I want one too."
Cleo opened their mouth, terrified at that idea. Luka would actually kill them, they were sure, if something happened to Theodore or Chiara.
"But take off Irene," he commented, crossing his arms, "We have no need for a guideless brat. Though if you insist, I can always kill off another of your leaders...not that she's doing much for you right now."
Plus he had some plans regarding that front. It depended on who they got in return.
"I guess any of the other leaders could work. Clemence's abilities are handy. Lucius is a healer, I mean, we have one. But you guys not having on would be fun and well, imagine what we could do to him. Luka could be fun, we could keep Fenrir in line better if we had something to appease him. Chiara could work too for that, or Golden Boy. Wils-Dillon wouldn't be very useful," Atticus glanced at the boy, scoffing, "What does he even do anyways? But he's a leader, so I guess he'd work. Oh! And well, Cutthroat could be fun to toy with." He looked at Ripley at that, knowing the boy would have fun with the boy. They'd have to be careful about that, given Laurie's whole conditioning. The dumb lamb was like Pavlov's dog at this point. But still, they could do it. Laurie was sectioned off elsewhere, so they was hypothetically no reason they couldn't handle River separately. Let Ripley finish what he started.
His eyes then narrowed at Cleo, lips ticking up at the side, "Oh. Jason Bates too. He's shown himself to be quite the pest. Tack on Ariel too, she's shown herself to be quite formidable."
"What are you going to do to them?" Cleo questioned, eyes wide and filled with horror. They glanced at Laurie then, looking at him, "and what have you done to him? He...he wouldn't choose this. Right Laurie?"
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Post by 𝕄𝕖𝕣𝕔𝕦𝕣𝕪 on Oct 20, 2023 18:13:45 GMT
Luka was smiling at him by that point, a beam on her face. When he thanked her for sharing it and took it well, didn't ask her if she was sure or what was wrong with her she lunged forward, dragging the blonde into a hug. Her tattoo on her arm tingled slightly, she glanced at it before closing her eyes. In her mind, she imagined a thread of the forms she could shift into. All were associated with emotions. She knew the fear well enough by now (she used it to fight Fenrir the first time, as the snake), and she knew the comfort and happiness (from Theo, surprisingly). The feeling of comfort and warmth enveloped her, and she could feel the draw to shift into a cat under her skin. Her tattoo seemed to morph a bit, glowing ever so slightly green and shifting into the form a cat, circling her wrist and chasing it's tail.
The thing about this transformation was, she could choose it. She was getting better at controlling them, recognizing that the pull wasn't controlling her but that she could control it. As she closed her eyes again to transform, she heard a sharp noise. Twin ones. Notifications from both her own phone and Lucien's.
Her eyes snapped open and she stepped away from her friend. The tattoo had returned to normal, the faint green shimmer it had before coated away back to dark ink, the tattoo back in its normal form. She grabbed her phone and froze when she saw who it was from. Sitting innocuously in the leaders group chat, from Haleema.
Staring at the thumbnail, it was the wolf. It was always the damn wolf.
Not even breathing, and hardly even thinking, her finger tapped on the video. It pulled up with the whole sha-bang, and she held it aloft so Lucien could see it too.
She watched the carnage and barely breathed until the video ended. Her hand tightened on the decide, and her eyes narrowed. She had no idea who that woman was, but Ariella, Chiara, and Theo were at that meeting.
It was like being confronted by that fear again, but instead of serving to scare her, she felt her heart thrumming angrily in her ears, like a roar.
She stared distantly, obviously not all there, probably in the early midst of a panic attack, but she stayed standing. The emotions seemed to wave and leave behind a husk, "Right then," she croaked out, clicking onto Haleema's contact info, "that's not very cash money."
Without much more of a prelude to that, and oddly distant, she clicked onto the little phone icon, calling Haleema's phone. She doubted Ripley would answer, but she wasn't really rationalizing it right now.
Turning away from Lucien, she started grabbing things, making her way to the weapon room without much thought about it at all.
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Post by Leo/ Clundy on Oct 20, 2023 18:47:36 GMT
Ripley grinned wolfishly at Theo's snappy comment and angled his head down. "I could afford you and then some," He answered quickly and quietly to him. Then winked and rejoined the conversation.
He raised an eyebrow at Atticus mentioning Theo, claiming him as his new toy. He merely scoffed and rolled his eyes. He did however snap his eyes back to the leader when he mentioned River, although indirectly. His smile lost some of its touch and his eyes narrowed slightly. He didn't enjoy having someone speak for him.
"Disregard Cutthroat as an option," He corrected slowly turning his head towards Chiara and her notepad. He shrugged and smiled at her. "Not much fun in playing with something already so broken." River being alive was no problem for him. River being in their base was a problem. Ultimately, he could handle him as long as he had the element of surprise. But, he couldn't win against a recovered and well trained River. Not in their base at least.
Ripley ignored Cleo's question not even bothering to look in their direction. "Look, as a show of good faith we'll give you one of them back," Ripley offered. He waved his free hand in the air as he thought about who they could possibly give up. Who they had left that would be sufficient enough to satisfy them for the time being. "Let's say Pascal," He finally offered. "Give you another healer for the time being. That way you have one person back and only need to give us a couple of the people we're asking for as replacements. Plus having the actual champion of Hades might leave a bad taste in our mouths for a little bit. Just don't take too long on who you're going to send over."
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