Mutants & Masterminds: Divine Intervention - [DI][ANS] ...Will Be Below

[Sandman XI]

Whatever you were doing is interrupted by a warp of darkness. You and your companions now stand on a raft floating down a sickly green river. The air is stale with death, but breathable. You find whatever you were wearing is gone and replaced by ankle length sleeveless togas.

A skeletal being in a black robe appears on the raft and it stops. "You," it rasps, "the Fates have assigned you to find Apollo. He is in your realm. If you do not find him the world will stay dark."

"Any questions you have will be directed to the gods themselves. They wish not to participate in the hunt directly, but they will assist you in any other way. As for now, I am The Ferryman, I can take you anywhere you wish to be."

[Karren Gaunt]

Coraline paused, adjusting to the sudden change, taking in a breath of the foul air. A trip to what seemed to be part of the underworld and an audience with Charon himself was new, but she had background enough to not let it over-awe her. Too much.

"Three questions imediately comes to mind," she volunteered with a hand on her chin, "I know enough that Apollo doesn't spend alot of time in the mortal world and when he does... It's always the last place to see the sun. So that would be... what, somewhere east of Australia? Anyway. Whatever. One, did he return to the divine realms after finishing his duty aboard the sun? Two, have there been any problems that would cause him to want to vanish? Three, much as I hesitate to consider the idea, have any foes strong enough to capture Apollo by surprise appeared or reappeared recently?"

The Scionette of Eris sounded confident and in her element, thoughts turning a mile a minute behind her pleasing features. She was used to troubleshooting. After all, you didn't leran how to make messes withotu learning how to clean them up.

[Sandman XI]

"He did not return," the ferryman speaks, "Problems, if there were any were not spoken of. It is quite possible that in this day and age that Apollo would have enemies."

[Sylvia Normanson]

It stunk... he was wearing a toga... and he was probably in the underword from what things looked like. Another sudden turn. An annoying one at that.

"Where is Nyx in all of this? Has he been cleared of any wrongdoing?"

He scratched his chin. "Being in charge of the night and all...."

Sly has a flash of realization... "Wait! Charon here said in our realm... We all are from Manhattan... well at least that is our current residence. The sun hasn't shone for 7 days! What happened Seven days ago? New Years!"

"I wager Apollo has a bit of a reveler in him, how much you want to bet he was at Times Square? That is a good starting point..."

"Then again, if Realm means the mortal world the first and last place to see the day's sun is some islands in the south pacific... can't remember their name..."

He sighed..."Where was Apollo last? Does anyone know?"

[Maia]

Maia's eyes narrowed. Her father was a known lech, that was no secret, but if for nothing more than the more human ideal of defending the honor of one's parents, she seemed to still herself as she tried not to bridle at the words.

Then they were whisked away and clad in classical togas. "Well, that was unexpected." She looked to Val and nodded. "Still think I'm a mole?"

She looked at Sylvester and shook her head. "No, I don't, though The international date line might be viable too, if we're gonna go with the edge of the west."

[Sylvia Normanson]

"Not sure how much time we have... I need to at least get my gear back home before we start being big damn heroes. Particularly if we are going to go island hopping."

He stretched out. "So guys, either the international date line or Times Square... of course after I hear about if Nyx is a suspect in this."

He looked at the raft. "So this goes anywhere? Hmm..."

Sly affords himself a moment of scheming some new idea...

[Valentine Cormack]

Then they were whisked away and clad in classical togas. "Well, that was unexpected." She looked to Val and nodded. "Still think I'm a mole?"

Val sighed seemingly unphazed by the change of location. "I shall investigate this matter once we're done with this... task.", he proclaimed with a flourish befitting their new clothes but it was clear he didn't really consider her a mole. He did enjoy the tease, though.

Looking at Charon he sniffed the air, although he didn't really smell anything and looked once to the left and right as if there was some kind of conspiracy going on. "You're being serious or is this some kind of early April's Fool prank? Otherwise it appears to me highly unlikely that Apollo is where you expect him to be - because if that was the case you'd be already all over him. And it took you seven days to figure it out?"

Valentine shook his head caught between laughing and despair. He refused to believe the story they've been told. "If you asked me Apollo is beyond this realm but lets check out those places and proof me wrong. Anyone of you related to him?", that question was the only reasonable that came to his mind.

[Maia]

"I think we're looking at this logically."

"When have things been such when dealing with deities? We all went West, but what about east? That's about the last place people would look with what we know."

She shook her head. "We simply need more information, we can't yet make a truly informed decision, and I'd prefer not to act until we're doing so based on abit more fact."

[Maia]

(double post)

[Sandman XI]

"Nyx's power grows greater now that there is no day time. She dances all over the sky now. She does not care if either of them come back, yet she has no idea about their disappearance."

"As for where we are going: Everywhere. The River Styx connects to all places. If you can die there, it's connected here."

[Sylvia Normanson]

Sly straightened out his Toga... "Once we have gone somewhere, is it possible for us to acquire your services again, Charon, after we have investigated a location?"

"Also, Maia, you go far enough east and you end up west anyways. Apollo is in our realm. Just unclear what "Realm" means. Does realm mean the Environs of Manhattan or the entire planet? Heck it could mean the entire universe... we are talking about gods here."

[Karren Gaunt]

Coraline rolled her eyes when Nyx was brought up, managing to supress the urge to mutter anything untoward about the shortsightedness of her Divine Grandmother. That way smiting lay...

"Slyvester brings up good points, Charon," she added in support of the gadgetry-inclined youth, "Very important points. Are we expected to search beyond the Earth? If we guess wrong as to where to start a logical hunt, will we have your aide again or will we have to depend on... alternate transportation?"

She smiled at Slyvester on that last point, making it very clear she remembered their last conversation. A little bit over-eager he was, but useful none the less. He was making her nostalgic to simpler times when there was a pay off ot helping their Parents.

[Sylvia Normanson]

"Again, illustrating the fact that I need to get back to my gear. If we are going to end up in a fight with something it may all come into play. I can defend myself, and even fight... well at a bit of range, but I can fire some shots for the team. That and I can help patch up any of us that fall."

He sighed. No answers but questions everywhere. "Why do I got the feeling we're completely lost..."

[Valentine Cormack]

"Yeah, ignore me. Everyone else does.", Val nodded to himself and let his gaze wander over the barren landscape. He knew this place and was quiet familiar with most things related to the Netherworld or Underworld. If anything at all this seemed rather like a test to him or an elaborate plan of silly proportions to get rid of the unwanted offsprings of the Gods.

The absence of the Sun had no effect to his existence. If at all, everything had become quieter which he preferred - if he had any preferences to begin with. He was used to having these kinds of internal monologues and started ignoring the others. The living usually didn't pay any attention to the dead. Why should these divines be any different?

"Maybe he doesn't want to be found? Who knows, he might be fed up with his daily chores and thought - 'Hey, the world didn't end on the 21st of December 2012, fuck it. Then I'll end it.'. Turning off the sun obviously wasn't enough.", he shrugged and kicked an imaginary stone away.

"You guys probably won't need me, so I'll go back home."

[Maia]

Maia reached out quite uncharacteristically and laid her hand lightly on Valentine's shoulder, or she would have, had it not passed through. "Wait." She managed, before her brain processed exactly what had just happened. "That's new for me..."

She nodded. "You were called, same as us. The Gods have a purpose for your being here. I doubt any of us are related to him, save as half siblings and such, and if you can think of somewhere else he could be, then I would at least listen. Right now we're grasping at threads. We all want more information."

[Valentine Cormack]

If he had felt her "touch" he didn't show it but he stopped nonetheless and slowly turned around looking at her with clear, unreflecting eyes. They were like deep ponds which could go on forever.

"The Gods never showed any interest in my person. This seems extremely unlikely and 'out-of-character' for them. And think about it - it has taken them seven full days to act? They can't fix it themselves so they send us? Why? It doesn't make any sense unless it was some kind of stupid bet which excluded their own intervention. No matter the truth, they're toying with us - that's how it feels like and I'm not going on some kind of heroic-rescue-mission to save Earth. Tell me, if you have done this before - what's the incentive except from getting a pat on your back from big-daddy Zeus? I could care less."

Something about this was upsetting him but he was still hard to read. It wasn't real anger - that felt differently somehow.

[Maia]

"Because No one else will."

"While yes, I admit, I like proving my Father's faith in me is well-founded, It's not just because of that, that I would do something like this."

"We were all chosen, and more, we were all grouped Together, by the Gods and I'd wager, the Fates as well. They ALWAYS have a reason for such things, whatever it may be."

She shook her head. "Yes it took a week for them to act, do you even stop to consider how hard it can be to be a deity? That's not the best excuse, but we have only a taste of the power they wield and the responsibilities that come with this power. It could have taken so long because they exhausted all their options aside from sending us."

"Sometimes, only a Mortal's hands, with all our faults and failings, can turn the wheels of the world. The Gods don't decide everything, sometimes The Fates intervene."

[Sylvia Normanson]

Sly remembered his first contact with his father, Hephaestus, and Maia's words suddenly made a hell of a lot of sense.

"Maybe he was telling the truth..." Sly quietly said.

"Guys... if the Gods called us, it is a situation they cannot solve. We are the only others, they probably believe, that can solve it... If anything we are gonna need eachother to get through this."

He grinned. "We got a world to save and we're getting nowhere with the navel-gazing."

"If anyone needs anything they need to get from home, we probably need to take care of that first, then we head to the dateline and eliminate that from the list of possible locations of Apollo. We need to do some detective work."

"What say you, crew? The game, as they say... is on!"

[Karren Gaunt]

"People. Chill," interjected Coraline on the edge of irritation, smile strained as she kept her gaze evenly on Charon and tried to ignore the idiocy her two male teamates, "We've asked our host a few questions and it's only polite to wait for an answer before we run off at the mouth making emotional descions that could get ourselves or others killed. It's only respectful and without respect where would any of us be for too long?"

Gods help her. Those two idiots were going to get her killed, the moody one through blasphaemy and Slyvester through over eagerness. The Gods got what the Gods wanted. it was only a question of how many lives they had to go through to get it. Coraline wasn't going to be one of those sacrifices if she had anything to do about it...

[Sylvia Normanson]

"Or we're not getting a response because they honestly don't have any answers. If we're being left to our own devices, we must take the initiative ourselves."

He sighed. Something about Corra was rubbing him the wrong way... "If anything... Corra... sitting and waiting will most assuredly ensure what misbegotten fate has become of Apollo becomes irretrevable."

[Valentine Cormack]

"Oh wow, look here, we've got the moral police on board. Common, tell me something about respect, I'm burning to learn the truth.", Val snorted at Coraline with honest hostility. He really wanted to leave now but something about Maia's words made him stay.

He raised an eyebrow at the young woman waiting for an answer. He had time - he was already dead and had little to lose. Maybe Coraline did have an explanation for him he hasn't heard before. That would really be a welcomed change but he doubted it.

[Sandman XI]

Every one of you hear a muted scream in your mind's ear. Enough to make it noticeable. Then Sylvester and Marina disappear.

If the ferryman could frown, you could swear he was doing it right now. "There will be no entry into the underworld," he seems to be talking to himself, "for the one who has past. His soul is fragmented." He looks to the rest that are there, "Your companions are not dead. They have been taken by Hephaestud. You on the other hand are to be to be escorted to your destination."

The raft stops at a river bank. once you step off the raft, you appear in front of a temple of Aztec make somewhere in a jungle. As you look in the sky, you see the sun. lurching into the sky. it appears the be mixed with red, as if the sun itself is bleeding. The muted scream seems to stop when you get there.

[Karren Gaunt]

"It seems the lesson about respect will have to wait for another time. I know a cozy little Greek place on the lower east side where we can meet after we save the world," Coraline offered with a smirk and a laugh as she literally danced into the air on whisps stepping stones of curling magic that faded as she moved on upward, "For now though... I'm going to get a bird's eye view of the area. Anyone else who can break the chains of gravity, I'd apreciate the back up. Not everything can be swayed by even my silver tongue."

The Scionette of Eris offered a cocky little salute and kept going, blue eyes darting above and below her, taking in the lay of the land in swift little dancing steps and leaps, toga moving with the breeze. She kept her circle focused around the Aztec temple, certain they'd have to go in there eventually. Aztecs, Aztecs... They had a sun theme going for a lot of their stuff, right? Maybe? Eh. They'd find out soon enough...

Tell me what I need to roll next time I catch you in chat, Sand. This is gonna be fun.

Edit:

[envoy] 3:39 pm: perception for DI.

envoy *rolls* 1d20: 14+10: 24

[envoy] 3:39 pm: hmmm, not too bad.

[sandman XI] 3:40 pm: you see, that off in the distance the temple steps seem to have blood trickling down them

[Valentine Cormack]

Val watched silently how Coraline lift off his eyes barely giving away how he felt about this matter. It struck him odd, that everyone seemed so eager to prove their birthright by righting something none of them did wrong. He didn't like the feeling of being shoved into something he had no choice to decline. At least his father could've left some kind of message. 'Hey, I need you' - that would've been nice for a change.

He let his eyes wander back to the little jolly group of adventurers they've become and decided to keep his mouth shut for the time being until he could provide something more than snarky remarks and his disregard for the entire situation. The Aztec Temple did caught his attention, though. They used to sacrifice people... a lot. If he wasn't wrong there should be a strong presence of the dead just right here...

Peek-a-netherworld

Val is risking a peek into the netherworld to see if and how many dead are haunting this place. I'm expecting quiet a few actually...

[Maia]

Maia could fly, and took to the skies, looking after Coraline, but also making sure they weren't walking into an ambush. The scream bothered her, but she didn't let it show, much the same as the blood-red sunset. "This is bigger than we expected." Part of her was trying to recall what she knew of the South American Versions of the Gods, but all she could really recall was that ritual human sacrifice was a big part of it.

[Henry Milokavos]

Henry was finally processing where they were, when he saw the bloody sun. "The Aztecs were a empire rich in history and mythology. They believed highly in prophecy and human sacrifice. I hope my misgivings are wrong, but what we may be witness to is going to be bloody in the extreme. I pray we aren't too late." He then began to chant to himself in a low, murmuring voice in ancient greek.

Chant

Henry is chanting a prayer in greek to the fates, specifically atropos, not to cut the thread.

[Karren Gaunt]

Having completed her circuit of the clearing from above, Coraline paused in midair with one hand on her hip, mist coiling out from beneath her feet to keep her impossibly aloft. Her smile remained firmly in place, a placeholder against the worry she was feeling.

"Bigger, Maia? *Bigger*? Someone or something has kept the solar gods from raising the sun for a week, our Divine parents call in more of us into a single task than I can recall happening in recent history, and now that the sun *has* risen, it's the color of blood as a scream echoes in my mind if not yours, too. If this gets too much bigger, even my Mother will stop having fun. And that *never* happens. And that's before we count the..."

The Scionette of Eris forced herself to stop, pinching her nose, "Sorry. Sorry. Getting worked up despite myself. I should know better. Found a clue though. Someone's bleeding down the temple steps over there, and I'm willing to bet they're important to solving this."

She indicated the blood-trail below with a gesture, wordlessly inviting the younger girl to take point this time.

[Sandman XI]

As Valentine scans the area there are definitely some dead people here. They are not from this era either, all Aztecs. They seem to be waiting on something. As you see them they see you and they're definitely not happy you have peaked into their home. Some angrily shout in a language that is dead to time. Others approach, but go through you and disappear. Though something stands out, two Spanish-looking men. They certainly don't 'belong' here.

Henry does not get the Fates per se. What you do get is a vision of a face, a perfectly beautiful face with long flowing blonde hair and suntanned skin; the face is grimacing in pain. Opening it's clinched eyes - which appear to be suns - It looks at you. "You are near," the most awesome voice you've ever heard comes from it's mouth, even though it is still in pain, "You, Henry Milokavos, shall be the one to lead." The face grimaces and swallows before speaking again, "lead them inside the temple. My story is about to end."

Maia and Korra fly towards the bloody trail that leads up to the top of the Aztec temple. You get a deep sense of primal foreboding as you approach it. It seemingly wants you to go away.

[Karren Gaunt]

Well. This was a simple choice. Someone or something important was hurting, and she could make them stop hurting. At least long enough for them to get some answers and back to their lives. Coraline liked it when things were all too rarely simple. They'd get chaotic again soon enough.

,,

"Let's see what's putting out the bad vibe, eh? I'll go first," she volunteered with a chuckle and a dancing descent through the entrance above the bloody steps, careful to never touch the ground.

,,

What she found... She wasn't expecting. Painfully bright light instead of darkness. Pristine conditions instead of dusty ruins. No one and nothing insteady of a mutliated body. Huh. that last one wasn't actually *bad news*. The Scionette of Eris paused at the first cross-section of corridors a hundred feet in, arms crossing over her chest as she looked both ways and hovered an inch or three above the stone floor, eyes narrowed against the glare. Huh. Hopefully the others would catch up soon. This could be an even worse neighborhood than where she lived, much as she doubted it.

,,

[envoy] 4:48 pm: okay, cora goes diving into the ominous ruinosu in search of the source.

[envoy] 4:48 pm: perception test.
envoy *rolls* 1d20: 17+10: 27

Yay, dungeon crawl

[Maia]

The teenage scion of Zeus followed Coraline's gesture, and took off, descending rapidly to the steps, though the blood seemed to come from near the summit of the pyramid, and she began looking in earnest for whoever was that was bleeding and in pain.

,,

"I'm not scared of some blood and stone."

[Henry Milokavos]

Henry shakes his head as if to clear the cobwebs, then begins to make his way towards the entrance of the pyramid. Every step of the way, Henry is taking mental notes of his surroundings and the carvings on the temple walls and steps. He begins to make his way into the labyrinthine tunnels through the pyramid, shading his eyes as he does so. The light in the tunnels, much brighter than the sunlight outside almost makes Henry think twice about the adventure he's about to embark on. Instead he focuses on the voice and face he heard and saw earlier. He moves next to Coraline and points down a corridor. "Apollo is telling me it's this way. Follow me, please. And be careful not to touch anything. The Aztecs liked to play with poison and drugs."

[Valentine Cormack]

Valentine followed Henry without hesitation and tried to figure out what the presence of those two dead Spaniards could mean. Maybe someone had a clue so he simply reported what he saw as he kept close to Henry ignoring his advice to avoid touching anything. Probably because he couldn't touch anything...

,,

"There are many angry dead Aztecs around here but two of them stand out. They are not, for a lack of a better word, 'Locals'. I could investigate but I can't tell how dangerous that might turn out. This is one of the Places that screams 'Don't wake the dead'"

,,

He looked at the girls and shrugged. He didn't care much but at least someone was playing guide and he had no reason to object, yet.

[Karren Gaunt]

The Scionette of Eris took Henry's instructions literally, keeping aloft and one mental finger on her magic to waylay any potential danger.

,,

"Well. If He is still in a shape to guide us, that's a good sign for His recovery if we're in time," Coraline offered with a smile, trying to filter out the glare and following closely behind the older demi-god, adding with a chuckle, "Guess the natives got some of the Spanish before they got taken out. Good on them and useful to know."