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Post by pallas on Oct 20, 2023 19:48:23 GMT
Chiara hated having to scribe for the exiled this way, when it came to deciding which of their friends needed to be handed over to them. But she had no choice, especially after her less than sensible behaviour earlier.
So when Atticus listed his names she wrote them down, and obediently scratched Irene off the list when the exiled leader said he did not want to keep her as an option.
Theo II
Ariella II
Lucien III
Cleo III
Irene II
Dillon II
Luka II
Chiara II
Jason
Dillon didn’t rise to Atticus’ comment asking what he could do. How could he even answer anyway, without making it painfully clear he had no abilities? The boy just folded his arms, raised an eyebrow at him. As if he was trying to say he was plenty confident in what he could do. Chiara knew the opposite to be true.
Laurie’s eyes flicked to Theo when Atticus mentioned having him as a toy. His expression was difficult to read to when it came to Theo, but there was a bit of sharpness in his gaze when he turned it to Atticus. Just a little, but enough that Chiara caught it ever so briefly.
Ripley told her not to consider River as an option, and Chiara didn’t have a name to cross out. She’d never written it down, hesitating because Atticus had looked at Ripley as if for some kind of confirmation and she hadn’t wanted to write it down until both men were agreed.
She was angry enough about Atticus’ mocking of River’s awful encounter with Ripley.
When Cleo questioned Laurie, Chiara’s attention returned to him. He hadn’t said anything about the situation but she couldn’t say he looked… comfortable with the topic of conversation at the table. The exiled’s proposal. Chiara was willing to bet he hadn’t known about any of this before the meeting.
”You’d be surprised what I would choose.” he said. Laurie has refused to answer the question with a definitive yes or a no, but had still suggested his position lay with the exiled regardless.
Laurie’s eyes were on Cleo, and moved over the different occupants of the table. They paused longest on Cleo but also stayed for a beat on Guinevere. Chiara didn’t know why, perhaps because Laurie’s attention was drawn to the girl with her being physically ill after Fenrir’s brutal attack on Esme.
The moment passed then, because Ripley began talking about returning Pascal as a show of good faith. That seemed kind on the surface, but Chiara knew it trapped the ascendants in the deal. And then Gwen piped up to make matters worse.
“Well, if they’re to go away and think about who to send, perhaps we ought to take someone in Pascal’s place.” the girl suggested, twirling her own pen in her fingers. “As a guarantee that the ascendants will approach the deal in good faith too and not try to shortchange us. We swap Pascal with another ascendant, and then they only need send us two more.”
After she made the suggestion to the other exiled leaders, she turned her gaze to the ascendants to see what they thought of the suggestion. No doubt they wouldn’t like it, but it seemed reasonable. They could hold the safety of this initial offering and Echo and Daniel over the heads of the ascendants to ensure that they did not try to trick them or otherwise get around this deal.
Dillon had been silently listening to this whole discussion, an expression of quiet resolution settling on his face before he leaned towards Cleo.
”I should be one of the people we send.” Dillon murmured in a low voice to them. ”We don’t even know if I have powers. It’s obvious.”
Maybe that was exactly a reason it shouldn’t be him. Because it wouldn’t please the exiled. But he was the most logical choice for a leader to offer. He’d accepted the idea, anyway, that he was the obvious least damaging option to sacrifice to the exiled.
Besides, he wanted to offer because it made it less awkward. Less awkward if he said it himself than if anyone else said it.
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CHARACTER PROFILE IMAGE CREDIT: ElenaA via Picrew
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Post by pallas on Oct 20, 2023 20:39:01 GMT
Lucien let out what could only be described as a yelp of surprise when Luka pulled him into a sudden hug, but he hugged her back just as hard.
He didn’t know much about her life before she’d come to the pantheon. He didn’t know if someone loving and accepting her for everything she was was new to her, but he was her best friend and he would be damned if he didn’t do that.
But just when he thought everything might be okay, their phones pinged. He didn’t need to pull his out because Luka had her phone out in a flash, clicking on a message from Haleema and holding up her phone so Lucien could see the video that played.
He stepped back a little, having to brace a hand against the wall to keep steady. The girl wasn’t anyone they knew, but the video was brutal. Gory. And it was a clear threat, too. Ripley toying with them by dangling Fenrir’s violence in front of them.
The boy felt like his body had been doused in ice water, but he had no time to deal with his own shock at the awful scenes of the video. Because it only made Luka more resolute in the mission that only moments before Lucien had been successfully distracting her from.
He rushed to catch up with her for the second time that night, but this time aiming to get past her and block her route to the weapons room. He managed to push past her, getting in front of her and clearly having no intention of letting her past.
”Please, Luka. End the call and stay here. This is still as bad an idea as it was two minutes ago.” Lucien pleaded. ”I know how…horrifying that was,” the boy had to swallow down bile at the thought of the video. ”but you’d be putting them in worse danger by going, especially with that thing there. Good fighters like Griffin are there if anything goes wrong. If you go you’re only going to get them killed if they catch you.”
He could already feel how pointless it was for him to be trying to convince her to be sensible about this. Apollo’s champion was overwhelmed by the feeling that he was very much fighting a losing battle here.
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CHARACTER PROFILE IMAGE CREDIT: ElenaA via Picrew
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Post by Nari on Oct 20, 2023 22:28:50 GMT
Theo’s brows curled into a frown at Ripley’s comment, and laid his arms crossed over his chest. The impulse to gag at his words was there, but he didn’t get the chance to when Atticus spoke about what he wanted. Specifically, how he wanted Baldr’s chosen for himself. His eyes bugged out and he had to clench his jaw to stop it from hanging open in disgust. It shouldn’t have been surprising, given how he called him a ‘trophy’ earlier, but the sheer audacity of the statement was enough to make the boy feel unclean.
At that moment, Theo pushed himself closer to Griffin and stared at the two leaders. His pulse started flaring up again, and the uneven feeling of his heart palpitating was enough to make him nauseated. He wanted to scream or cry, but kept his expression as firm as he could.
However, for a brief moment, he caught Laurie’s expression. He was frustratingly hard to read, but there seemed to be a glimmer of something there. Recognition? Sympathy? They were only assumptions on his part, but he didn’t know how else to rationalize it.
His speculation seemed to grow at the boy’s dismissal of Cleo’s question, and how he almost immediately looked over to Guiney. It was strange, and it kept him wondering if there was more to it. There had to be. If there wasn’t, it would mean admitting that their friend would really betray them like this.
Soon the conversation shifted to a deal. For Pascal’s return, one person would have to be sent over in exchange. It was not a good trade, trading one person for another. They’d be left in the same position they started in, and based on what they’d seen, it's unlikely they’d budge. If they refused the deal, it was unlikely they’d see the other three again. However, if they took the deal now… it meant the rest would be able to return and mull over what to do.
Theo turned to face the leaders, catching Dillon muttering something to Cleo. He didn’t catch what was said, but based on the current conversation, the subject seemed obvious; deciding who to potentially send to their death. A morbid thought, but was still a possibility based on what happened to Haleema. Even what happened to Esme, one of the Exiles’ own. The idea of losing anyone like this weighed heavy on his mind.
Slowly, he looked at the other Ascendants in the room. Dillon and Cleo talking in hushed voices. Poor Guiney hunched over a garbage can. Chiara writing stuff down with a silent intensity. Griffin behind him trying to make sure everyone was safe. His final stop was on Laurie, who he didn’t want to believe had abandoned them.
With an exhale, Theo made some space between him and Achilles' champion. He gave the much larger boy a pat on the arm and pointed over to where Guiney was stationed.
“You should see if she’s okay,” the boy expressed calmly, “I’ll be fine.”
He waited until Griffin walked away before turning his attention to the Exiled Leaders. “How about we make this quick then.” Theo stated with gravitas, crossing one leg over the other as he spoke, “If you need someone to take Pascal’s place, then I’ll do it. How does that sound, boys?”
Despite his disgust at what they said to him, he knew he’d gotten himself into this situation. However, since he did have their attention, why not use it to benefit someone else?
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Post by 𝕄𝕖𝕣𝕔𝕦𝕣𝕪 on Oct 21, 2023 4:53:51 GMT
Cleo couldn't stand this. The words these Exiled were saying. They wanted to refuse, that lives weren't something to be traded away or played with. But if they refused, Atticus had already made it clear just what would happen to Pascal, Echo, and Daniel.
"The people we...give you, what are you going to do to them?" They asked, looking at Ripley, their eyes wide and reluctant.
Guinevere was shaking like a leaf, and she stood up, feeling wide eyed and her eyes felt wet from terror, "We can't actually be considering this...can we?"
"What other option do we have?" Cleo questioned, glancing down at their own hands which were beginning to shake. How could they even bring this information back to Luka, Lucien, and River? How would River cope knowing what Laurie had done, what he was doing? When he answered their question, they felt choked up at it. They suddenly started shaking their head, "Think about...about Guinevere, Theodore, Griffin, Ariella, Luka! Your friends! Do...do you think River would want this?" They questioned. With a horrible realization, they were reminded of what drove the two boys apart in the first place. Them.
They didn't know that Laurie too thought River was dead, maybe they should have realized given Ripley's assumption, but in the moment they only tried to plead with Laurie's conscious, get him to think about River.
Atticus flashed an equally nasty look back at Ripley and his boytoy, and seemed intrigued as Gwen added her addendum. "It's only fair if one of yours comes with us. Think of it as insurance, if we do an act of goodwill, you do to. An eye for an eye and all that jazz."
Cleo wanted to snap back that in no-way was what was happening good-will. But Atticus just sent one of his own to a gruesome and bloody death simply for lying to him. Cleo didn't want to reject his offer and unleash a new kind of horror.
It still felt terrible when Dillon turned to them and said that he should be the one to go. It caused their throat to close up, and they shook their head. "No. No. Dillon, you can't."
He was 18 years old, and he was barely older than Luka and Lucien. How could Cleo let him do this in good conscious. They were about to open their mouths, offer themselves up when Theo's voice alerted them, “If you need someone to take Pascal’s place, then I’ll do it. How does that sound, boys?”
"Theo," Their voice cracked, a bit of emotion leaking through. Theo may have been a thorn in their side, may have annoyed them to wits end, but Theo was a person and Cleo was supposed to protect him. They weren't very successful in the past though, now were they?
Instead of answering, Atticus looked to Ripley, raising an eyebrow. He had no intent on having a 'toy' as he stated. But he did enjoy intimidation, and the charmer being on their side could be quite beneficial.
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Post by pallas on Oct 21, 2023 23:07:12 GMT
Lane’s attack hit only empty air as Styx teleported - unexpected and not something Lane was prepared for. However, her opponent’s growing disorientation provided Lane enough opportunity to just scarcely dodge the attack, even with the full range of her abilities available to her.
She too, though, was beginning to feel the fatigue from the exertion. Travelling at enhanced speed could disorient and tire one’s body, and the pain from her injuries were cutting through her thoughts. She just knew she had to get through this.
”And none of that will stop me from helping my friends. I don’t give a shit what you do, honestly. I only want you out of my way.”
Unless Styx had the answer Lane was looking for, the girl couldn’t care. She just needed to help those who had been kidnapped before any of the other kidnapped kids were hurt.
So she summoned the reserves of her speed and made another attack on the girl, a decisive slice with the blade.
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CHARACTER PROFILE IMAGE CREDIT: ElenaA via Picrew
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Post by 𝕄𝕖𝕣𝕔𝕦𝕣𝕪 on Oct 22, 2023 20:26:26 GMT
Luka just stared through Lucien as he spoke, but it seemed her finger moved without her own mind's consent. Almost as soon as she clicked on the call button, she hung up before Ripley could think of answering, her fingers shaking.
Instead, as she walked, and Lucien blocked her, her gaze turned cold and sharp. Her hand tightened into a fist around her phone, threatening to crack the screen, and lifted her dominant hand, the right one. A flame came to life in her palm, and her eyes almost glinted unnaturally as the light reflected off of them.
"Get out of my way Lucien," She said, flamed reflected in her eyes, and distantly she could feel the uncomfortable heat on her hand, "I don't want to hurt you."
Her body was tense, and other than the shaking of her limbs, her fear wasn't shown elsewhere. Only by the quickened rise and fall of her chest. Otherwise, it was hidden behind a mask of anger. Her joy and humor from earlier had been snuffed out and replaced by fear and not exactly anger, but worry. She wouldn't be able to hurt Lucien, not if she tried, but she desperately needed him out of her way.
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Post by pallas on Oct 23, 2023 8:18:24 GMT
Lucien was relieved when she ended the call before Ripley could pick up, but that relief was short-lived.
Because he watched as she ignited that flame, face thrown into relief by the light and her eyes growing reflective, as she find him to get out of her way because she didn’t want to hurt him.
He knew he was no match for her in a fight. He had no offensive abilities, and without weapons his only advantage was being able to heal himself. But in that moment he was in shock that this side of Luka had come out, that she’d actually threatened to hurt him (no matter how much he doubted she would), to get him out of her way. He wasn’t even thinking about the fact that even if she did hurt him, he could heal it.
She was serious about this. Deadly serious, so much so that she would do this to get him out of her way. He tried not to be too hurt about the whole thing, knowing that this was coming from a place of fear. Fear of Fenrir, fear for her friends. He could’ve been anyone in that moment, in her way.
So he nodded, a little stiffly.
”Fine.” Lucien said, fighting to keep his voice even. ”Fine, if this is something you need to do, I get it. But I can’t watch.”
Even if he could bear to see Luka put herself at risk this way, he knew somebody should say to prevent a repeat of the Hallowe’en incident. Somebody should stay who knew where Luka had gone so nobody panicked.
Besides, while part of him did want to keep his friend safe, he didn’t know if she would want him with her. He’d just tried to stop her from going, after all. She’d originally wanted him to go with her but did she now?
But he did understand it. She was angry, and afraid. He had tried to stop her and he could do nothing more. He wasn’t responsible for her, couldn’t force her into anything. She was old enough to make her own choices, and he was not Luka’s keeper. He had to respect her decision, if this was what she felt like she had to do.
So he stepped aside with a heavy heart, gesturing defeatedly for his friend to go on.
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CHARACTER PROFILE IMAGE CREDIT: ElenaA via Picrew
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Post by Leo/ Clundy on Nov 3, 2023 0:56:27 GMT
Ripley said nothing as they asked questions and argued about who should go with the exiles. Simply smiling that sly smile of his and leaning his head against Laurie's. He only perked up a little when Theo actually volunteered himself.
Griffin had started to step towards Guinevere when Theo spoke and he froze. He froze for only a moment then stepped back up to him, blocking his path with half of his body, and grabbed his shoulder to keep him for going anywhere. "Theo please don't do this," Griffin pleaded quietly. He looked stern but also very scared. He couldn't lose another friend. He couldn't take the chance that they weren't going to hurt him. "I'll go. I can take it," He begged.
"Sounds perfect," Ripley spoke loudly over him. He grinned at Theo and gestured for the boy to join them on their side of the table.
Fenrir's eyes landed on Theo as he continued to chew on the remains of Haleema's limb. The bone snapped in his teeth and crunched as he chewed it to dust.
Griffin glared at each of the leaders and let his lip curl back into a snarl as he spoke. "You're all pieces of shit."
Set's champion let his head fall back and laughed. He shook his head as he looked back at the tall man and sighed loudly. "Oh come on, beef cake, you can think of something better than that. I believe in you," he mocked narrowing his eyes and sticking his tongue out at him. Looking at Dillon he raised the phone in his hand and shook it gently.
"Text Haleema when you're ready to do the real trade. Then you can have corpse boy and crybaby back."
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Post by pallas on Nov 3, 2023 10:19:24 GMT
Dillon noted that Cleo’s mention of River’s name couldn’t help but bring some pain to Laurie’s expression, and who could blame him? After what he and Cleo had done to Laurie and River’s relationship, after that abrupt end that must have blindsided him, of course River was a painful topic to him.
In fact, after Cleo brought River up, Dillon shot them a sharp look. It wasn’t fair of them to being River up, use him against Laurie, when they were part of the reason the couple weren’t together anymore.
”He made what he wanted very clear.” was Laurie’s tight reply. So nobody had told Laurie the truth about why the breakup had happened. Of course they hadn’t, mostly only the leaders knew, aside from Enzo whom Dillon had told in his guilt afterwards.
Either way, Laurie clearly didn’t want to invite any further attempts at conversation with him, if the tone he’d just spoken in was any indication.
Cleo had flat refused Dillon’s suggestion that he should be among the group to go to the exiled, and it was clear they didn’t want to hear it. The boy had a suspicion he knew why, because he knew Cleo must have gone through the leaders already in their head, must have done the math he’d done. And if they, too, had eliminated Lucien and Luka in their head, that only left one option.
Cleo was planning that they would be among the group to go to the exiled in this trade.
”It’s the best solution.” Dillon started to say, voice quiet so only Cleo could hear it and rapid with urgency. ”They’ll want at least one leader and Lucien and Luka are minors and you’re too important-”
He was in the middle of trying to make Cleo see this point, to understand that they were too valuable to trade, when Theo interrupted and declared that he should go. All consultation with Cleo stopped, Dillon immediately moving his attention to Theo in shock.
”Theo, don’t,” he’d tried to say, because they hadn’t even talked about this, made a decision together. This couldn’t really be happening, they couldn’t be trading Theo as if he weren’t even a person. Like kids with collectibles on the playground.
Theo deserved so much better than that, and he’d volunteered himself with a confidence Dillon knew couldn’t be genuine. He had to be terrified. This wasn’t fair at all.
Chiara was writing quietly at this point, making notes about the deal that had just been made, but there was pain in her eyes for Theo. But Dillon could see in her expression that she also knew what he knew. That the exiled, by taking Theo and offering Pascal back, had put them in a much more pressured position to take the deal.
They had to resolve this, but how? How could they without giving up more of their people to the exiled? If they refused, would the exiled really kill the remaining prisoners? Dillon had no doubt that when they made threats they meant it, though surely if they killed them they’d have nothing to hold over the ascendants anymore - but then again with Haleema already gone they’d have thinned out the ascendants’ ranks considerably without even risking a battle and so that might make the move worth it.
Laurie didn’t - or couldn’t - look at Theo as he headed to the exiled side of the table. He just focused on Ripley, resting his head against his, and the conversation happening across the table.
Dillon nodded when Ripley gave the instructions about contacting Haleema’s phone, but he frowned when he realised that Cleo’s insistent question had not been addressed the whole time.
”What about what Cleo was asking?” Dillon questioned, looking first at Ripley and then at Atticus ”What are you going to do to the people we send?”
Gwen on the other side of the table just snorted, not looking up from her own notes that she was taking. Clearly she thought it was a stupid question, or that he was stupid for trying to get it answered, but either way it made him uneasy. He didn’t like what the lack of answer implied, especially after what they’d just witnessed with Esme.
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CHARACTER PROFILE IMAGE CREDIT: ElenaA via Picrew
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Post by Nari on Nov 3, 2023 14:55:09 GMT
Everyone’s shock at Theo volunteering himself was expected, especially the gasps of them calling his name and begging him to not do it. Truthfully it pained him to hear, so he did his best to ignore it. He only paused when Griffin had rushed forward and grabbed him, holding him in place.
The exhaustion behind his expression was obvious. He wasn’t as confident as his words made him out to be, but at this point it didn’t matter what he actually thought. The exiles had already agreed to this arrangement and it was too late to change his mind.
Part of it was because he didn’t want his friends on the chopping block, leaving him alone again. Another (more bitter) part was because the last thing anyone needed was for all of them to get in a circle and argue about who was the most useless and disposable person they could send over.
The last part had to do with Laurie. The other boy wasn’t coming back, and he wanted to know why. They were supposed to be friends, but they didn’t even get the chance to have a conversation alone. If he truly didn’t want to return to his friends, then consider him a fool for believing in him. But if there was a slim chance he needed help… he was sure the others would feel the same way.
Ripley was already beckoning Theo to the other side of the table, and the boy turned his gaze up to Griffin, “It’s ok, but you need to let me go. I’m sorry.” He was sorry for clearly worrying the taller boy, but also sorry for holding onto the Styx incident for so long. He was a kind soul who didn’t deserve that. Him and Ariella were a lot alike in that aspect.
Ariella… without another thought, the boy fished out his phone and pulled up the texting app. He scrolled to her contacts and started typing.
‘You are the most incredible person I’ve met, and I think I have a crush. Hope this doesn’t ruin anything.’
Soon, he was over to the group chat he had with Luka and Chiara, typing up another response.
‘Don’t make me worry about you, I’m not ready to be a big brother.’
Without waiting for an answer from anyone, he turned the phone off and handed it to Griffin. He peeled himself out of the boy’s grip in the process and walked over to the other side.
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Post by 𝕄𝕖𝕣𝕔𝕦𝕣𝕪 on Nov 3, 2023 17:16:40 GMT
Cleo glared at Laurie, biting their tongue sharply, enough that it drew blood. He really believed that? That River had isolated himself from everyone because of his guilt, because Laurie was gone? What had Laurie done? Chosen the Exiled? Chosen to betray them!?
"Laurie-" they started, but the whole situation with Theo quickly distracted them from flaying Laurie alive with their gaze alone.
They stared at Theo as he made his offer, offering himself up. They protested, and several other people did as well. A horrible, twisted part of their mind chanted at them, good riddance, the darker thoughts spoke, he never listened anyways.
How could they even think such a thing? Sure, they couldn't stand Theodore, but he was still a person. A person who just traded himself away to keep them safe.
Ripley beckoned Theo over, and Cleo's hands tightened on their staff, wanting to lunge at the man. "You're gonna regret that," they growled out, "he has a way of getting under your skin. You're going to wish you never agreed to that."
They looked to Theo then, seeming appraising for a moment. Almost proud of him. They looked at him, now on the Exiled's side, "give them hell Theodore."
Guinevere stared in horror at Theo as he walked to the others. She looked to Griffin then, "We aren't letting this actually happen....are we?"
Atticus seemed amused by the situation, looking over at Theo as he texted some people. His face twisted slightly, glancing at Theo with a shrug, "now now, A final goodbye is okay," he spoke, looking at the boy, "but we don't want you feeding your old friends information, now do we?"
Theo had handed the phone over to Griffin, but the words were mocking. A further show of how the Exiled had won.
He let Ripley take care of answering Dillon's question. His attention was focused on their new toy.
"Bring us Pascal," Cleo stated, calmly and with an apathy back over their face. They refused to show the Exiled emotion. They had to be calm and collected.
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Post by 𝕄𝕖𝕣𝕔𝕦𝕣𝕪 on Nov 3, 2023 17:56:52 GMT
Luka glared at Lucien, but her gaze softened as he stepped to the side. A guilt entered her eyes and the flame quickly sputtered out. She looked between him and her hands, which were shaking, and she felt her heart sink. Why did she threaten him?
"Lucien, I-" her voice choked off. What could she even say? Sorry? She may be sorry, but she didn't say sorry. Instead she tried to chuckle a bit, unnervingly, "Ha-" she laughed, a bit shakingly and with no humor to it, "I really got you with that one."
She knew he saw through it. She wouldn't acknowledge it. She was not going to break down in front of him. Now that the anger had passed, the bravery she felt moments before fizzled out into a ball of fear. But rationality took hold. It was likely an intimidation tactic, using Fenrir attacking some poor girl to scare Cleo and the others into obeying. It was what happened with Haleema. Cleo was cowardly, they'd follow and listen, and everything would be fine.
However, after a few moments of silence, her phone went off again, and she felt her body tense. She looked down at it, breathing a sigh of relief when she saw it was her group chat with Chiara and Theo. She chuckled slightly, "It's just Theo," she said, looking up at Lucien with a softer smile this time. Theo was probably responding to one of the memes she sent them earlier or was making a horribly timed joke about Fenrir.
She still clicked onto the message, above Theo's message was a meme she sent about a dog chewing on a squeaky toy, she had texted with it, 'tag yourself, I'm the squeaky toy...don't be me.'
It was followed by the text from Theo. Oddly timed, but perhaps it made sense?
'Don’t make me worry about you, I’m not ready to be a big brother.’
"What the fuck?" Luka replied, cocking her head like a confused dog. The don't make me worry about you, made sense given Luka's whole dark joke. But the big brother comment? Where the hell did that come from? "Weird flex but...okay?"
Her eyebrows screwed up, reading it out loud for Lucien, as if sounding it out would make the text make sense, with how odd it was, "don’t make me worry about you, I’m not ready to be a big brother?"
Her words slowed as she said it out loud, especially near the end. She froze a bit, a sinking feeling under her skin. It sounded king of like a goodbye. Like something you'd say if you thought you were going to die. But surely not? Surely it wasn't like that.
Theo wouldn't...give up...right? Nothing was wrong. Everything was fine.
The phone slipped from her fingers, falling to the ground and leaving a loud cracking noise as the screen practically shattered.
"I'm sure he's fine, kid," Loki spoke, soft for once, "Baldr's boy is stubborn. He probably meant it as a joke."
Yeah...yeah, a joke. It was just a joke. Luka had frozen a bit, but laughed a bit under her breath. She let herself sink down so she could grab the phone. Cracks littered the screen, and when she went to try and turn it on, she swiped her thumb right over the cracks, cutting it up, leaving a small smear of red. She hissed, retracting her hand and glaring at the device. The screen was busted, lines of blue and red all across it, glitching out.
Theo and his badly timed jokes. Ha.
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Post by pallas on Nov 3, 2023 18:36:32 GMT
The simple action of Lucien stepping aside appeared to bring Luka back to her senses. He could see her hand shaking when she extinguished her flame, could see the guilt in her expression.
She hadn’t meant any of it, and he knew that. Never wanted to hurt him, anyway. She’d just been afraid and had wanted him out of her way. This was all the more confirmed by the choke in her voice, the shakiness of her laugh. She tried to brush it off as a joke, and Lucien was willing to go along with it. He knew the truth as well as she had, but it was better for both of them if this moment was just allowed to pass.
”This is what happens when we let you think you’re funny.” Lucien responded with a teasing smile, trying his best to defuse the tension and emotion of the moment before. His way of letting her know they were okay. It was okay.
Then Luka’s phone pinged, and Lucien waited with anxious dread as she opened the message. Hoping and praying it wasn’t going to send her off to barge into the meeting like the last one had. He was aware he was holding his breath.
When she said it was only Theo, he exhaled and returned her soft smile. That was good, right? If it were going too badly they probably wouldn’t hear from Theo at all, would they? He hoped so.
Luka seemed confused, and when she read out the text Lucien understood why. Without context it was a little vague. But it sure did sound ominously like a goodbye text. As if something very bad were happening.
”Luka?” Lucien said with concern as something passed over Luka’s expression. Then she dropped the phone, and Lucien watched its screen shatter on the ground. ”Luka!”
She laughed slightly as she sank to the ground to retrieve the phone, which only concerned Lucien more; especially when she ran her thumb across the screen and appeared to cut it a little. Lucien bridged the gap between them instantly.
”He’ll be okay, Luka. He has to be.” Lucien tried to reassure her, no matter how little certainty he had of that fact. ”There’s nothing we can do but trust that.”
The ascendants had nothing but rapidly dwindling hope, really. And Lucien wasn’t going to let that go or they’d have nothing else left. They had to trust Cleo and the others and just believe that everything would be okay.
No matter what their track record might say.
He made a sympathetic sound when he saw the broken phone - he knew how much it sucked to have your phone not work - but his attention was immediately drawn to the injury on her thumb. He assessed it as best he could without taking Luka’s hand to look at it more closely, but found it wasn’t too bad. Probably looked worse than it was.
”Sorry, I don’t heal people twice in five minutes.” he joked in a gentle voice, his way of telling Luka the injury was fine. Probably stung a little but nothing that needed his powers. ”But we should probably run some water over it, make sure there are no tiny pieces of glass stuck in there and then get a Band-Aid or something on it.”
Just the basic things for something like that. After all, after all the effort they’d gone to do that Luka didn’t lose too much blood he wasn’t going to let her lose another drop on his watch.
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CHARACTER PROFILE IMAGE CREDIT: ElenaA via Picrew
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Post by Leo/ Clundy on Nov 3, 2023 20:10:58 GMT
Ripley rolled his eyes and grinned at Cleo's threat. "You're so fucking stupid," he laughed as he started getting to his feet. Did they not figure out that's exactly what they wanted him for? And even if they didn't know that, why would you reveal someone else's powers to the enemy?
Stretching his arms over his head, Ripley glanced at Dillon with a look at said 'That's who you want to protect?'. Then he turned on his heel and started walking past Fenrir who was standing and passively watching the insects under his feet.
A couple moments passed after Ripley disappeared around a corner. Then he rounded it again and he led a visibly exhausted Pascal in front of him.
"It's your lucky day, gargoyle, you get to go home with everything intact," Ripley purred quietly into his ear. He patted the boy on the back a little too roughly and grinned at him. He kept roughly leading him until he got back to the table and then let Pascal make his way back to his side.
Then he leaned forward and rested his hands on the table in front of him. With a charming snake like smile, Ripley looked at each of them in the eye. "Alright kiddies, we're done for now," he said sickly sweet. He gently hit Laurie and Atticus on their arms so they could get going. With a lazy salute, Ripley turned his back to them and started walking off. "See you soon."
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Post by pallas on Nov 3, 2023 21:29:45 GMT
Aside from finishing her own notes, Gwen watched the discussion and exchange with disinterest. She needed to know who they were taking for strategy reasons of course, just as she’d observed everything carefully for her own knowledge thus far. However, she couldn’t say she really cared if she were honest.
She watched as Theo said his goodbyes, apparently sending some texts on his phone before handing it over to his friend, the big blond guy. She didn’t much like the texts being sent herself, but she was fairly satisfied by the fact that Atticus spoke up on the issue.
Chiara’s phone pinged, obviously from Theo. Gwen watched as the blonde pulled out her phone, apparently unable to resist reading the message. Her eyes skimmed across the screen, eyes growing sad and her brows furrowing as she took in the words.
”Theo.“ Chiara said, the name coming out almost a whisper, as she looked to her friend. A friend she never would have assumed she would have made back when the ascendants first met, because they were such different people. But a friend she valued deeply regardless. There was a lot in the word, everything that had been in Theo’s text; a goodbye, an affirmation of their friendships, a sadness.
Although Laurie had been unable to look at Theo as he approached the exiled side of the table initially, a moment or two after he joined them the man looked over at Theo. There was a sadness or sympathy in his eyes, but he offered Theo a flicker of a smile - he allowed himself no further acknowledgment of the new addition to the table. Gwen thought that was probably sensible of him, because she didn’t expect Ripley would be a fan of any interaction between the two.
Ripley then departed only to return with Pascal, at which Chiara and Dillon’s expressions brightened. Chiara looked relieved, but Dillon’s expression turned to a concern as he looked over the boy.
”Pascal. Come on, over here.” Dillon’s tone was gentle, because he had no idea what Pascal was going through and he had to be prepared for any reaction. Laurie had taught them that. He gestured over to their side of the table for Pascal to join them. ”Are you okay?”
It was the first time Laurie had seen Pascal since the kidnapping, so he couldn’t help but look at the boy the same way the ascendants had. Glad he was okay, trying to take in his condition. But he didn’t let his attention linger on Pascal for too long.
He didn’t have time to, anyway, because Ripley declared they were done and lightly hit Laurie and Atticus’s arms to indicate it was time to leave. Laurie rose immediately, and Gwen rose to her feet shortly after and grabbed her notebook.
”See you soon, tabere” she said over her shoulder as she departed with the rest of the exiled.
Once the ascendants were out of sight and earshot, Gwen headed over to Ripley and Laurie as they walked together. First she fixed her gaze sharply on the former ascendant.
”Fuck off for a second, I need to talk to your boyfriend.” she said, indicating with a tip of her head for Laurie to leave them if for some reason her words hadn’t made her point clearly enough.
Thankfully the ridiculously obvious hint was taken: Laurie stepped away, and waited a short distance away. Far enough to be out of earshot for their conversation, but staying in Ripley’s line of sight so he knew he wasn’t trying to go anywhere.
With that taken care of, Gwen turned her attention to Ripley. She looked at him with a little more warmth, as her friend, but she still clearly wasn’t especially pleased with him. Her fingernails tapped against the hard cover of her notebook for a few seconds as she formulated what she was going to say.
”I didn’t like what I saw today in the meeting.” Gwen began. ”Frankly, I don’t give a shit what you do with Bevin, that’s none of my business. Nor Golden Boy.”
It was true, she didn’t care. He could kill Laurent for all she cared, and she didn’t care about Theo either. Laurie particularly was Ripley’s special project, and Gwen refused to involve herself where that was concerned. She would not tell Ripley what he could and could not do with him.
But there were things she wasn’t going to let him get away with.
”But if you hurt Atticus,” the girl continued, ”I promise you I’ll give you a problem you won’t like.”
She didn’t want Ripley to think she hadn’t noticed how Ripley was using Laurie and Theo to make Atticus jealous. And she certainly didn’t want him to think she was going to stand for it.
Atticus was like a brother to her. When she’d been a young teenager, first chosen, he’d looked out for her. When everyone was dying and she was terrified, who had she gone to but Atticus? And when she was first given her powers from Ceto, filled with terror about becoming a monster, it was Atticus who had been there for her and comforted her.
She was loyal enough to him that despite the fact that she had never wanted things to go as far as they did, she has followed him. Because she was not going to sacrifice the closest thing she had to family so she could continue to be a pawn to the gods. She would stand with him because without him she’d have nothing.
She was friends with Ripley, of course. Loved him in her way. But what she had with Atticus ran deep and she wouldn’t let even Ripley hurt him.
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CHARACTER PROFILE IMAGE CREDIT: ElenaA via Picrew
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