|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 Posted: Mon Nov 02, 2015 4:01 pm
 |
|
|
 |
Snakes! All through the crowd, those damn Naga slithered! How had they all gotten in here again? why were there so many? They wove in between Pae'il, scales sliding over the marble floor, narrowed predatory gazes leveled on the innocents. This could not stand. She had to stop them before someone got hurt! She would scour their foul presence from this place, ending the hunt at last. All would be right with the world again...well, perhaps not all, but it would certainly be an improvement to be rid of such corrupt, unnatural beasts. She was a protector of the wilds, kin to predator and prey alike...and yet...these creatures...there was something just not right about them. Not natural. Sometimes, one had to put a creature out of its misery, if wounded or rabid. This was no different. It was a creature out of its natural habitat and causing harm to itself and others.
She would put these beasts to rest so that they and the innocent Pae'il they harmed could be at peace.
Ignoring the horrified looks of the Pae'il who gaped at her, she tracked one of the creatures through the crowd, arrow tip following the movement. Her head pounded, likely from exhaustion she figured, dismissing it. She'd been on the hunt for seasons, but soon it would end. The haze crept into her vision again, deep purple, crowding in and blotting out her peripheral vision. Her tunnel vision focused on the Naga, blocking out her own issues for now. She could rest when this was done. Just a bit more...if she could get a clear shot, she'd take it...
Then another question occurred to her.
Why was no other Pae reacting to their presence?
Artemis' aim was steady, but the realization made her waver. What was happening? Could they really remain so calm with the giant snakes in their midst? Surely they could see them...some trick perhaps. Some strange power. At the end of the battle, Eris' return had harbored the sudden appearance of a number of magical abilities in the Naga. Could this be one of them? To move unseen when desired? But why...why could she...?
The pounding in her head seemed to grow exponentially. With a pained grunt, the huntress goddess dropped to one knee, though she kept her aim steady through the pain. She could barely see straight, yet her quarry mocked her...
*****
Oh, this was just too good! Her plan may have been foiled last time by circumstance, but it seemed that everything was coming together for her this time. It just took a little time, a little waiting, but soon she'd have her victory. And all under the pink princess' little button nose! Using the emo and the vain little twit to sow chaos among Venus' family had been easy enough. But this! She'd strike a blow at the puffball right here in her own temple!
And she'd use that animal-lover sister of hers to do it.
Eris allowed herself a low chuckle before speaking to the room again. "See? Even the great huntress kneels before me! Inevitably, Order must give way to Chaos. It just takes time, but eventually, I'll have all of you. If I have to take you one...by one...by one..." The last sentence echoed throughout the room, particularly seeming to come from just over Pothos and Aglaia's shoulders for them, before being followed by Eris' laughter.
A brilliant, but brief flash filled the room with silver-white light, and Eris' maniacal laughter sharply rose in pitch to a furious, pain-filled shriek. When the light faded and anyone could stand to look upwards, they would behold two objects...Eris, trying to remain aloft...and one of her wings, severed and falling heavily towards the floor. A glowing silver arrow was sunk deep into the marble column behind the chaos goddess and down below, Artemis was drawing another. The huntress was still on one knee, shoulders heaving from the effort, but the purple haze was gone from her eyes, replaced only by righteous fury.
Eris answered with a hate-filled glare of her own and seemed to be working on a response...which she then thought better of. With a sneer, she waved her hand, summoning a dense cloud of purple smoke to surround and conceal her. When it faded, she was gone, leaving her severed wing lying useless on the floor.
Artemis cursed sharply, needing to take a deep breath before she could release the tension safely from her drawn bow. "...I'd have had the other one too," she growled, disappointment clear beneath the anger in her tone.
|
|
|
|
|
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Mon Nov 02, 2015 4:25 pm
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Mon Nov 02, 2015 8:43 pm
|
|
|
|
 The brilliant eyes hiding in the shadows cut into slits as soon as Artemis entered the scene. They were filled with such a fierce amount of anger they could be tearing the Goddess apart with their look. They never left her, burrowing into her as if searching her soul as the scene played out before the audience. She never flinched, never turned her gaze to another. She was set on her target.
Once Eris left the scene, the eyes moved from the shadows. A figure began to emerge, the darkness doing all it could to keep her hidden away by clinging to her. Slowly their dark tendrils slipped away as if she was shedding the darkness like a cloak. She raised a tan arm, a long sinister whip in hand. With a flick of her wrist it gave off a loud crack that reverberated off of the marble walls. As she walked towards the Huntress she cracked it again, making sure the female realized it was her she was trained on. When she'd closed some distance between them she raised the whip again pointing it at her.
“Goddess of the Hunt!” her words slipped from her lips in a hiss, but rang out loudly enough for everyone to hear her calling out the Goddess. The snakes curled around her face, spitting and hissing at her, showing the same amount of displeasure the other was oozing from her words. “I am Tisiphone, Avenger of Murders. You, Artemis, have been found guilty of such an act.” her eyes narrowed daring the other to argue with her on the matter. “I hope you are ready to pay for your deeds!”
With that, she began the motion again to crack her whip, this time right at Artemis. There was no fear in her eyes or body language, no second guessing herself because of who she was up against even though she had just seen Artemis bury an arrow into the marble. She had a duty and she would see it out to the end. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Mon Nov 02, 2015 11:32 pm
|
|
|
|
 The young Fury prepared to mete punishment to the criminal, successfully distracting attention from the slow motions of the shadows. The darkness pulsed, and all of the shadows slithered and crept to join as one dark mass. Fluid and alive, the shadows writhed around an unseen force. Same as Tisiphone arrived, another dark figure emerged from the fluid shadows as tendrils reached out to pull her back, only reluctantly springing away.
"Tisiphone." The voice resonated from the dark creature emerging from the pitch. Shadow tendrils snapped back from her figure, revealing the tall, ominous and imposing presence.
Her eyes moved to the kneeling huntress, eyebrow raised as she locked gaze only for a moment to weigh and measure Artemis before looking to her servant.
"Thou mustn't trifle with the gods when thou art clearly outmatched." Her voice was deep and smokey, full of innuendo and fierce power.
Emerging from the darkness two young girls moved to stand on either side of the goddess. Each confident and poised, ready to strike.
"Where is Venus?" |
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Tue Nov 03, 2015 12:17 am
|
|
|
|
Had she not been so weary, she may have reacted on hunter's instinct at the sound. As it were, the first crack of the whip only caused the huntress goddess' ear to twitch towards the sound. She remained crouched on one knee, obviously worn by the hunt that had lasted more than two seasons. However, it seemed a great weight had been removed from her shoulders, a haze lifted from her mind. It was as if she were seeing clearly for the first time in seasons...
Before she could think on this further, the noise repeated itself. Artemis' eyes darted towards the approaching threat, its arm and weapon raised in threat. She barely registered the words being spoken at first, taking in only the physical gestures.
How DARE you?!?
The whip cracked in the air, and moving just about as swiftly, Artemis dropped to the side and rolled to evade the attack. She never dropped her own weapon, however. As she rolled, she halted herself on one knee, the other leg out to brace herself as she lined up a shot and fired.
"Consider that your warning shot, child! Do not dare to think you can approach me like some creature you hope to tame." Another silver arrow had been loosed, this one passing through the tip of the Fury's whip before burying itself in the marble floor, effectively pinning the weapon for now.
She had no idea what the child was going on about, though she also weighed this new arrival as a potential threat. She could sense power here, far above any child with a whip. Yet, it seemed she held no business with the Goddess of the Hunt. What could she want with Venus?
Having only just arrived, Artemis had no answer for the question asked, and so held her tongue. Instead, she turned back to the girl...Tisiphone, she had called herself? She had no idea what issue the girl had with her, but honestly, Artemis was in no mood to deal with whatever it was she was prattling on about. She hadn't murdered anyone...though not for lack of trying just a few minutes ago. No, somehow she didn't think that was it. But what then?
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Wed Nov 04, 2015 12:21 pm
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Wed Nov 04, 2015 3:42 pm
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Wed Nov 04, 2015 4:27 pm
|
|
|
|
|
Persephone merely watched with bored interest as Venus appeared. She did a side glanced towards Artemis and the corner of her mouth curled into a little smirk. She gave an accepting nod. "Impressive," She spoke quietly. This was the first time she'd ever witnessed the prowess of the Goddess of the Hunt.
The Goddess of the Underworld gently cleared her throat merely to return attention back to where it belonged - on her. "Venus, you and I have business ... to discuss." Persephone pulled a lovely, but dangerously adorned stave from the darkness beside her, and tapped the marble floor with the end. The dark mass of solid shadows swirled and writhed again, but this time, it willingly opened up. If one watched closely enough, it would seem the shadows spat the God of Desire, eager to be rid of him.
In all his shiny, oiled, glory, Adonis entered the battered ballroom into the center of the crowd that had been searching for clues to his murder.
"Do I win a prize?"
From Persephone's left, a young Fury moved to look around her mistress to eye the criminal Adonis. Slowly she moved her arm backwards, her wrist twitching ever so slightly as she gripped the handle of that whip.
"Maegara," Persephone's voice was even and calm, and she snatched up the whip before Maegara could crack and held on to the barbed rope. "Thou art forbidden to touch Adonis. It would serve thee best to memorize, recite and ingrain that into thou skull."
The third Fury, the young goddess standing to Persephone's right remained stoic, arms crossed and barbed whip in hand. She may not have appeared as an immediate threat in her relaxed stance, but Alecto was quick. Quick to raging anger, and quick to attack.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Wed Nov 04, 2015 4:29 pm
|
|
|
|
It was a horror movie, watching everything Eris was doing and being unable to stop her. Was the Goddess always like this or had she been twisted? Chaos was all well and good, it was necessary even for harmony. What wasn't was what Eris was doing. Ineffective as usual, Harmonia felt all she could do was stand by and watch the tragedy unfold.
Artemis' arrival -- and the purple haze of her eyes-- was the most torn moment she had ever had. First, it confirmed her suspicions. That was how Flexen died, Aremis did it, with Eris' help. Pride at being right, with the unexpected twist, was drowned out by the horror of it. It was not a hard stretch to picture Eris controlling the other again and turning the arrows on Venus herself.
Placing her arms around her self she rubbed the extremities as the horror of it all caused her to shiver. What could she do to stop all this? Bitterly she looked at the smoke moving around her with all the helplessness of a flickering candle trying to fight the darkness. "There is Chaos then there is Madness. You are out of Balance,twisted. There has to be a way to protect from mind control.." Speaking wholly to herself, Harmonia tried to think as hard as she could and it just wasn't working.
The shriek jolted her out of her skin as she looked up with wide eyes at Eris. As she opened her mouth, the words choked in her throat. Eris! For all the damage the other had done, they had still been friends once upon a dream. It tore at her, conflicting with her feelings for her sister and brother. Once again she was frozen and conflicted as she just stood there watching everything happen.
Just when that completed, two Deities appeared one going after Artemis. It wasn't smart but Harmonia was in no place to correct the other. Following that, Venus reappeared looking lovely as always. It was only when she saw her mother that she was able to let out a breath. It felt like she had choked on the air that was held at bay but freed to relax things flowed back. The very sight of her mother was enough to calm her and set everything close to normal.
Looking to were the wing of her fallen friend, or fallen image she had, her eyes looked back to her mother. "There has to be a way to get ahead of this." Would it be a good time to point out they should just invite Eris to an event? It was probably too late to tame her furry; however, but at least get ahead of it. This wouldn't stop, she doubted anyone was foolish enough to think it would. The only option was to get ahead of it, place the order within the chaos and find a way to stop the mind control. If for nothing else, for her beloved sister's sake.
Then..that happened. Flexie was back...yay. Harmonia looked wholly unhappy about it all.
Lillibeth hovered near Venus and Mayu the moment their Lady appeared. As soon as she was out of hiding and Eris shot down, the new potential threat appeared. Artemis was clearly the killer of Adonis, and thus completely untrustworthy around their Mistress. In addition, two new pae appeared one trying to take in the Goddess of the Hunt.
Venus asked who would clean up, it wasn't much to do but there were mortals still behind. Finding her melodious tone, Lillibeth called out to the mortals, "You are in no danger now, darlings. Do be treasures and help clean this place back up. You've done such a lovely job trying to help." Her eyes sought out her little curio foremost. For the event, she'd taken an interest him in particular and would see him helping.
Naturally the Deities couldn't be compelled to help. She and her sisters were far too pretty to do the work themselves. It was far time the mortals showed their appreciation for Venus and got to cleaning up the place. Flitting about, the harpy gave a little push here and there to encourage the assistance. In all her movements she gave the new Deity and Artemis a wide clearance.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Wed Nov 04, 2015 4:56 pm
|
|
|
|
Ah, there was her little gnome! Zooming over, careful to stay full clear of the new deities, Lillibeth caught up with the darling costume piece. "There you are, Curio! Oh I was ever so worried the little toss up would have scared you off! Are you unharmed?" The question was asked, but sounded suspiciously rhetorical. Patting the faun on the head she sweetly commented, "Dear Venus still needs your help." For once, there was real affection in her voice, no pretense when speaking of Venus.
"I can keep your darling little treasure if you need the assistance." Back to being ever so helpful Lillibeth persisted in enlisting the help. "There isn't much to do, you and your fellow investigators have be ever so helpful, just a bit more." Chipper, she raised one hand almost like holding a pom-pom to cheer on her little worker gnome. With every mortal here, it really should only be a matter of time. "I would leave the Deities be, though." About the most solid advice she ever gave, complete with that same sweet smile
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Wed Nov 04, 2015 5:50 pm
|
|
|
|
Everything was happening so fast, and Tourmaline felt the tension all the way to the marrow in her bones. Her wings trembled a bit as things got worse, and in all the panic she found that Ky wasn't by her side. Where?! Where was he?!
Her red eyes searched the croud as her heart hammered in her chest, looking for the purple demon that had come with her. A flash of purple from the corner of her eye caught her attention and her head snapped in the direction. There! She was about to take a step when suddenly the Goddess of Hunt had appeared and notched an arrow, and instinctively she froze in place. Her muscles itched to run to Ky, but she dare not move an inch while that arrow was pointed at them. That terror that froze her in place only grew when Eris appeared in front of them all.
A blinding light filled the room, and Tourmaline covered her eyes to protect them. It was so bright she could almost still see through her lids. Once it faded, she hesitantly opened her eyes once more to see Eris distracted by the wing that Artemis had shot down. Timidly, she wove through the crowd until she found Ky, her hand slipping into his and grasping it tightly. She moved even closer to him as more Goddesses filled the room.
That was when Adonis appeared, and Tourmaline felt confusion hit her once again. It wasn't every day that the dead rose again.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Wed Nov 04, 2015 6:12 pm
|
|
|
|
One minute chaos was happening....and the next.... Ky felt irresistible urges he had no choice but to obey. He wasn't even sure what had happened to make him feel that way, all he knew was that was one hot piece of fin and he needed some.
Right now.
Time had passed, his head felt like fog, all blurry and confused. He was panting, out of breath, his hair disheveled. Running his hands through his bangs to try to push them from his face, he scanned the crowed.
What was he doing here again?
OH right! There had been a murder! A hand met his and he turned to see Lee sliding closer to him, clinging in fear of something. "I'm so sorry... I.. I don't know what came over me.... what did I miss?" he blinked at her, confused yet concerned. Ky tried his best to follow her gaze over just in time to see a purple puff of smoke, Venus, some new chicks and... "Hey.. isn't that the dead guy?!" he asked aloud, pointing towards Adonis.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Wed Nov 04, 2015 6:45 pm
|
|
|
|
With the gracious smile plastered on her face, Venus sneered on the inside only. It figured that Perse-PHONY would want a piece of whatever she was into at any given time. It was hard to be loved, respected, and oh so pretty without goth thot's honing in on her territory. It'd take awhile to wash the underworld stench off of Adonis; she definitely had no plans to hit that until he went through several cleansing rituals. Lots and lots of bubble baths. And showers. Maybe some dry cleaning. Oooo! And some fire...
"Whatever do you want to talk about, dearie? That you were creeping on my sidepiece hiding Adonis and scaring everyone with his absence? I mean really, if you were just going to deposit him back considering you had sloppy seconds with us, you didn't have to sic one of your pets on Arty. You know your children are no match for her. Such a sadist, darling." Venus interrupted her diatribe to laugh melodiously in as sincere a tone as she could muster given the sarcasm she was rolling through.
"And you Adonis," she purred, scooting up to him but leaving a gap as if he really did smell bad. "You really can't keep it in your loincloth at all, can you? made these mortals panic. Quite shameful."
Sweeping back and away from Persephone and Adonis, Venus looked back over her shoulder and winked. "Now that everyone is for the most part alive and in one piece, may I suggest a feast and orgy... but just with the cute ones to celebrate? You know, before our guests 'poof' back to Avernus..."
The love goddess was smart enough not to take the underworld brat's bait and tried her hardest to keep her answers in the realm of tame... ok borderline tame. In the end, she knew the high road would make her look the most awesome. She was pissed, though. Inside Venus boiled a tantrum the likes of which would terrify her retinue later.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Wed Nov 04, 2015 6:52 pm
|
|
|
|
Serendipity felt like she'd come in at the wrong time, because as soon as she'd stepped up to begin searching for clues, the metaphorical s**t hit the metaphorical fan. And it was still raining down everywhere.
A small scream had escaped the fae when Artemis arived and was brandishing an arrow at the crowd, and she attempted to keep out of the trajectory path of the lethal weapon. That wasn't even the start of this crazy circus though, and it only escalated when Eris arrived.
Serendipity remembered Eris. She had made an appearance at the first party she'd attended: the one that had been after that dancing contest where she'd been paired with Iordanes.
As more and more deity appeared, Serendipity wondered where her friend was, if he was ok. She looked for him in the crowds, but found herself mysteriously unable to locate the Erote. She hoped he was alright, especially since the appearance of trouble Eris.
As Persephone, the three smaller Goddesses, and then suddenly Adonis had appeared. Serendipity forgot about her search for her friend, finding herself staring in complete shock at the 'dead' God.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
