Morose

Ω Heroes of Olympus: the Stolen Muse (Nallore, Morose & KazAlkemi) Ω

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🌈 Leda Storm 🌈

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Location: Cyclops Manor - Kitchen -> Outside
Skills: N/A

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Leda gagged, smelling the soup the cyclops had been cooking and getting a look at it. It was utterly disgusting. She didn't even want to think about the fact that her bones could have easily ended up in there. "American food. So gross," she teased. Despite having spent a few years at camp, Leda still identified strongly with her British culture and heritage. The day her accent faded and she started referring to football as soccer would be the day she'd die. "Though I don't even think Zeke would deserve to chow down on this," she then said. She didn't like him - but she didn't completely despise him. She soon regretted that though, hearing him honking the horn and exclaiming for them to hurry up.

"Aces!" she exclaimed, happy to hear they had a truck. It'd be easier to avoid monsters - or at least, she hoped - if they just drove themselves to Texas. Maybe after they finished the quest, Apollo would be nice and give them a lift back to camp in the Sun Chariot. "Yup, got it in December. I'll drive." She was rather proud of that accomplishment. The driving test itself had been easy - the written test had nearly been her downfall. Leda had been practicing with Argus in the camp vans. She liked to think that he hadn't totally hated teaching her. "Can you navigate, though? I can lend you my compass."

That was another thing... It was dangerous for demigods to use phones, which meant she couldn't just ask Siri for directions. Her compass ought to work, but if it needed to be fiddled with, she'd rather the person sitting shotgun do that. Leda reached into her bag and retrieved the magic item. It looked like an ordinary compass, but its enchantment worked so that way it always pointed where to go, as long as a question was asked. "Here," she said, handing it to Kristin. "Don't lose it." None of the food in the kitchen looked good enough to steal or loot.

Leda then left the house, heading out to where Zeke was in the truck. "Kristin's sitting shotgun, I'm driving. I don't care if you sit in the bed or what."

Ω Heroes of Olympus: the Hidden Gem (Nallore, Morose, Kirah) Ω

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☀️ Nancy Parker ☀️

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Location: Camp Jupiter - Deccumanian Gate
Skills: N/A

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Nancy glanced into her wallet. She probably did not have enough money, but they'd figure it out. She wasn't sure how far $50 would get you these days - it was different in the 80's. Everything had been cheaper back then. Of course, everything had been free at the Lotus Hotel and Casino as well. The reality of having to pay for things with real money and at higher values? It was horrid. "What did Chandler want?" Nancy asked Niah as they walked to the bus stop. She couldn't help but be a little bit curious. "Rachel and I said, like, less than five sentences to each other before I motored." Her fellow Centurion for the First Cohort was Rachel Jefferson, daughter of Victoria - the goddess of victory. That was one useful demigod talent to have - winning.

She looked at the fauns that they passed on the sides of the road, wondering if any of them had been involved in stealing the gem. She wasn't sure what the fauns responsible for the theft had intended to do with it anyways. Maybe they were going to sell it to some sorcerers. Actually, the more she thought about it, the more it bothered her. "So let's say you're a faun, right? You steal a gem, you're probably trading it for something or selling it... I know the dragon has it now, but where do you think the faun was going to take it - is there a black market for stolen demigod goods?"

Ω Heroes of Olympus: the Hidden Gem (Nallore, Morose, Kirah) Ω

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☀️ Nancy Parker ☀️

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Location: New Rome - the Senate Building -> Temple of Diana -> First Cohort Barracks -> Deccumanian Gate
Skills: N/A

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"Deccumanian Gate. Got it." Nancy gave Niah and Madalyne a smile and she left the Senate House. She walked with the others to the Pomerian Line, grabbing her daggers back from Julia and Terminus. Nancy couldn't remember who Julia was a child of, and she had to wonder if Terminus was her godly father. "See you all then," she said, waving at the other two in parting, before she turned left rather than head on to Camp Jupiter. She continued to walk along the path, crossing the Little Tiber with the stone bridge, before finally arriving at Temple Hill. The temples were impressive and she took a moment, just staring at all of them.

After she had been rescued from the Lotus Hotel and Casino, she had met her father, Apollo, in his temple here. He had written her a letter of recommendation for the First Cohort as an apology for not noticing she had been trapped for about forty or so years. He had given her the enchanted tarot cards to help her channel her gift of prophecy. And while Nancy went to Apollo's temple about every week, he hadn't appeared to her again. It had been all silence. She continued along the path, approaching the temple of her father, yet as she looked forward... All she could feel was frustration for the curse he had given her - the "gift" of prophecy.

Nancy kept on walking, not really sure where she was going until she found herself at the Temple of Diana. Since her father was the son of Jupiter, she had a lot of aunts and uncles. Diana was the twin sister of Apollo though and Nancy always thought of her as her favorite aunt. "Auntie... It's me again. Nancy," she breathed out awkwardly. "If you could wash away my curse... That'd be great..." She paused, not really knowing what else to say. She tossed a small offering into the flames. "Thanks. You seem pretty rad, from what I've heard."

There wasn't much else to say and she didn't want to keep the other two waiting. Nancy quickly left her aunt's temple and made her way to the First Cohort Barracks. She checked in with her fellow Centurion, let them know what was going on, before she packed up a bag for herself with her belongings. She put in a week's rations, a box of matches, and some duct tape as well. They all seemed like reasonable possessions. She then left the barracks and made her way to the gate, waving at Madalyne as she approached. "Where's Niah? We gotta motor if we're gonna get good seats on the train."

Ω Heroes of Olympus: the Stolen Muse (Nallore, Morose & KazAlkemi) Ω

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🌈 Leda Storm 🌈

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Location: Cyclops Manor - Upstairs Bedroom -> Kitchen
Skills: Sword Fighting

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Leda groaned, hitting the wall after the cyclops smacked her with his club in the chest. Nothing seemed to be broken - she could still breath - but she had had the wind knocked out of her. Ultraviolet had clattered to the floor, just out of reach. She was struggling to get up to her feet when she saw the tip of a spear come through the chest of the cyclops, and it then burst into dust. Kristin had saved her. "Stupid gender role following monsters..." she groaned, accepting Kristin's help as she rose to her feet. "Why can't the male cyclops be the one cooking in the kitchen and the female can kill the demigod? It's the twenty first century after all..." She bent down and grabbed Ultraviolet.

The daughter of Iris then moved down the staircase, following the smell of home cooking to find the other cyclops. "Next time you reform, have some gods-damned self respect!" she snapped, before slicing the monster with her sword, turning her into monster dust confetti. Leda let out a little bit of a sigh, feeling exhausted. It probably would have been a stupid idea to spend the night in the house, but the beds were tempting. "Did you and Zeke find a ride?" she turned, asking Kristin. There weren't any other monsters in the house as far as she knew.

Ω Heroes of Olympus: the Stolen Muse (Nallore, Morose & KazAlkemi) Ω

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🌈 Leda Storm 🌈

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Location: Rest Stop -> Cyclops Manor - Upstairs Bedroom
Skills: Superspeed

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Leda made a clawed hand over her heart, pushing it off towards Zeke. It was an ancient gesture of warding off evil - but with the way she used it, it was more like the middle finger. "Thanks, it's vintage," she told Kristin about her hat. She didn't really care if it gave her lice or if the thing was crawling with worms. It was hiding the hideous bald spot on the back of her head. And if she did get lice, well, it wasn't like she had a full head of hair to be worried about anyways. Her compass in her backpack felt incredibly heavy for a moment, as Leda contemplated whether or not to consult it.

Instead, she went forward with Kristin through the pasture. They ended up in what looked like a hoarder's version of a haunted mansion. Junk was all over the place, with a bunch of cars that probably had never been driven in ages. It was probably a monster's lair. Knowing that didn't stop Leda's heart from hammering. "I'm going to scout the house real quick." She didn't wait for an answer. She raced off as fast as she could - it wasn't anywhere near her maximum speed. She tried to be as stealthy as she could. She was lucky - she wasn't seen. But in the upstairs bedroom, she spied the monsters that called this home - two cyclops. She was about to run off, to warn the others, when the cyclops saw her.

She ripped down on her necklace and Ultraviolet turned into a celestial bronze sword, glowing yellow - Leda was afraid, anxious. "Is there a chance you two are nice, non-demigod eating cyclops?" she asked, her British accent dominant.

Ω Heroes of Olympus: the Hidden Gem (Nallore, Morose, Kirah) Ω

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☀️ Nancy Parker ☀️

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Location: New Rome - the Senate Building
Skills: N/A

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This was one of the things that really frustrated Nancy about democracy. Only six of the ten voted in favor of Nancy, Niah, and Madalyne undertaking this quest - despite the fact that the Augur had a prophecy confirming they were supposed to go. It reeked to her of favoritism and politics. She liked being a Centurion, yet she doubted she'd ever go any farther with Camp Jupiter than that. The Senate was a great idea in concept, but it baffled her how people could just vote against facts and logic like that. Maybe that was why there were no demigod children of Minerva. "Tubular," she said, getting up from the seat she had taken next to Madalyne. She was itching to go. She shook out her legs slightly, trying to get the blood flowing again after what felt like eternity watching the Senate deliberate.

Her weapons were back with Terminus at the boundary line. She'd need to grab her daggers. Her hip flask was filled with nectar, enough to hopefully last an entire quest. Her walkman would have been nice to bring, but she doubted it would come back in one piece - and a working walkman was hard enough to get these days. She'd leave it in the barracks. The only thing she wondered was whether she should exchange her daggers for her sword, but at least the daggers would return to her hands. She then laughed a bit to herself. Everything she'd want to bring on a trip, she essentially already had with her. A bag with extra rations in it would be the only other thing she'd want. "Let's get some bags, fill them with rations and medicine, grab whatever we need from the barracks, and roll out. We can take a train as close as we can get to the Dakotas."

Ω Heroes of Olympus: the Hidden Gem (Nallore, Morose, Kirah) Ω

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☀️ Nancy Parker ☀️

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Location: New Rome - the Senate Building
Skills: N/A

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Nancy always felt that the Senate was dreadfully boring. Ten demigods served on it, deciding pretty much everything for the legion. She could hardly imagine sitting on the stone benches for hours at a time, debating the finer aspects of quests and the possibility of war. She liked to keep moving if at all possible. The only time she ever slowed down was to get her coffee from New Rome - and even then, she could hardly resist gulping it all down at once like a shot. She peered at the letter, squinting her eyes as she tried to make her dyslexic brain focus on it. It was in English, but she got the gist of it pretty quick. They were summoned by the Senate.

She made her way to the Senate House with the other two, taking a moment to look around. Of the two praetors, one of them was from Nancy's cohort - Maggie Ortega, daughter of Venus. The other, Jasper Moon, son of Bacchus, was from the fourth cohort. It wasn't a terrible cohort to be from, but it definitely lacked the shiny reputation of the first and second. Yet even though she was a centurion, Nancy didn't know too much about both of them beyond just that. She had no idea if they would get pedantic about things, if they would try to give this quest to someone else, or if they would be reasonable and give them the green light to go. "So do we sit anywhere?" Nancy asked, standing and feeling a bit awkward.

Ω Heroes of Olympus: the Stolen Muse (Nallore, Morose & KazAlkemi) Ω

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🌈 Leda Storm 🌈

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Location: Rest Stop
Skills: N/A

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Leda groaned, seeing that the bus was gone. She could have grabbed Zeke and Kristin and tried to run them onto the bus, but she was feeling exhausted. Traveling on a bus always made her a bit tired on its own, but fighting flesh eating horses the same day they faced the manticore made her weary. Her head was throbbing in pain, thanks to her newly acquired bald spot. "Aphrodite, have mercy on me," she mumbled, looking around for a piece of fabric or a hat or something - anything to disguise the spot. Maybe Aphrodite was looking out for her, as she found an abandoned baseball cap. She tucked all of her hair back behind her ears and then put the hat on, holding it in place and disguising the spot where the horse had eaten her hair.

One problem was solved, the next they needed to figure out - they had to get a ride. They were still pathetically far from Texas. She looked around the rest stop and her heart sank. She couldn't see anything to help them. There weren't any cars they could try to borrow. No helpfully placed advertisements were present for a taxi service. While Leda knew that they'd figure something out, she couldn't help but feel frustrated. They were so far from Houston - they'd barely made any progress. "...Someone had to own those horses. Probably no one good. But maybe they have a ride we can jack?" she asked, her eyes flickering towards the pasture. "At the very least, killing another monster gives us something to do."

The Uncanny X-Babies - Concluded

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⚡John Watts⚡ and 🏹 Arthur Twist 🏹

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Location: Mojoworld - Sewers
Skills: N/A

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Watts gave Elara a curt nod. He didn't mind her holding onto his arm tightly that much - phasing was a weird and terrifying experience, especially to the uninitiated. Perhaps he was going a bit softer on her than he normally would, yet he hardly knew her. He had known Elara longer as a small child than he really had as an adult. In many ways, her small and pathetic form engaged an almost paternal, protective instinct in him. However, his face then wrinkled in displeasure as the smell hit him - it was almost overbearing. Watts wasn't one to typically go waltz around in sewers. He wasn't exactly sure what he had expected but this... was not it.

Longshot's light illuminated their surroundings slightly. He could see the murky water lapping at their feet. What most caught his attention was how narrow and cramped everything was. If a fire fight happened down here, there was a good chance those with ranged weapons would risk hurting others in their little group. Bullets could ricochet. His eyes darted over to the archer. Arrows could miss. "Thanks, kid," he grunted to Andrew, even though they looked to be about the same age. "I'm fine," he then told Evelyn curtly. He knew the risks of taking the speed serum in that high a dosage. But if he hadn't done it, they would be dead or captured - and he wasn't sure which was worse with Mojo.

"How long does it typically take Spiral to make contact?" Arthur asked Longshot. He didn't mind the smell. He had smelled worse. His mind was focused on the practical matters - how did they get to the next point, how did they take the next step? He could worry about the bigger picture once they had gotten to safety. The mention of rats brought his mind back to Krakoa. There had been... rats there as well. Arthur hoped ones like that weren't lurking down here with them, though he kept his bow at the ready all the same.

The mechanical girl, Casey, was the only one that seemed to have a similar single minded focus on getting to safety. The others hadn't asked yet what sort of place Longshot was taking them to. Arthur judged her to be the most practical. The little girl, Elara, she... she wasn't built for this sort of fight. The ice witch, Sapphire, was hard and yet afraid at the same time. He couldn't get a good read on Belladonna, she seemed quiet. The two boys were both scientists or engineers, neither of them warriors.

Ω Heroes of Olympus: the Hidden Gem (Nallore, Morose, Kirah) Ω

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☀️ Nancy Parker ☀️

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Location: New Rome - the Auguries
Skills: N/A

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"Pff, we're not paying you, sis," Nancy told Alexandra confidently. "One, don't have the money for that. Two, if we had the money for that, why in Pluto's name would we want to give it to you? What would you even use it for - to buy out a Build-a-Bear workshop?" she scoffed. She had seen one when she was being brought to Camp Jupiter from the Lotus Hotel and Casino. It had been sickeningly adorable - the sort of thing she would have adored having in her childhood. Of course, Nancy didn't have a good concrete reason to dislike Alexandra so much. Maybe she could blame it on the fact that in Alexandra, she saw a fate she never wanted - becoming an Augury, reduced to just a mouthpiece for prophecies. Or maybe it was the fact that Alexandra just reeked of casinos. Maybe Nancy just disliked blondes.

"I'm not sure it's worth questioning the fauns," Nancy then admitted. "We know where this gem is - Mount Rushmore, in the eye of good old George. We know it's being guarded by a dragon. The fauns seem... irrelevant, to me? I think we just gotta motor, get the gem, and bring it back here." She didn't have a hatred for fauns or anything, she didn't like them but she didn't dislike them either. They were just sorta there, other beings that lived in Camp Jupiter and depended on them for (stolen) food. They might as well have been shrubbery.