Trainerblue192

X-Men: Cosmic Crusades 👽

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Location: Mansion Kitchen
Skills: Basic Spellcraft, Soul Staff, Aus Atnemitsev Ogniffe (clothing creation)
Current Outfit: Header Image

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Max shot a glance out of the corner of his eye towards Lance as he began to backpedal with the newcomer and child. A long day was an understatement. It was barely the afternoon and already Max had to have an incredibly difficult conversation with his boyfriend, said goodbye to his child, and got attacked by a notorious villain of the X-men before having several bones broken and left to recover and heal on his own for hours on end while he was panicking and being torn inside from losing Ed once more. But even despite all that, he still found time to bite his tongue and give the others the benefit of the doubt. This felt like it should be some sort of wake up call, like the universe was trying to show him just how different the X-men were from the Mutant Underground. Even so, Max had to try. Even if it was just to get Ed back to safety once more before parting ways, or perhaps this whole episode would allow the others to see just how selfish they’ve been in their endeavors and can finally understand why it was Genosha was made, and why it was the X-men were so hated upon the island.

Max rolled his eyes at Pietro’s whole conversation. Who cared why they took Bonnie’s husband, what mattered was that he was abducted. Besides, most of those in this room shouldn’t have been surprised by this news. Flynn was a prince back in WandaWorld, meaning he either married in or he was the son of Magneto. It made sense, all of it did now more so than back then. In her need to have her family back, Wanda inadvertently brought all of the children of the Mutant Master of Magnetism together under one roof. ”Honestly at this point I don't know who has more children, Erik or Charles.” Jaclyns peering eyes didn’t escape his notice though. It was hard not to notice when someone was staring at you even if you had your back turned towards them. He let the prickly sensation flow off of him, deciding that was a conversation for another time. For now she seemed to be one of the more level headed people on this team, given Carolina just invited a mother onboard to a dangerous space mission where her husband awaited in space, leaving a child potentially orphaned if the mission went awry. It appeared that they were on their way off at least. Bonnie having agreed to stay behind with the child after adding the correction that she was in fact a Doctor. In what? Max had no idea. He never cared for the title seeing as she could have a doctorate in literature and still be called Dr. All it told him was she had the money or resources to allow her to get the title.

”Sorry Dr. Chase won't happen again. Here’s hoping Flynn doesn't recognize me, I don't need anymore embarrassing exploits to happen this day.” Max commented as he began to walk away, his magic swirling around him before the pink specs that peppered his cosmic dust overtook the spell and halted it mid creation. He stopped in his tracks, a soft sigh of exhaustion coming out before he snapped his fingers and his magic corrected itself back to what it should rightfully have been in the first place. Replacing the unfinished bright brink scraps of fabric that barely decorated his body with the now all black attire that clung a little closer to him than his early outfit from the day. He didn’t need his loose fabrics potentially getting in the way in space, but he also had no idea what kind of atmosphere Magneto had managed to create on the asteroid's surface. As Max continued to walk once more he held up one finger but asking something that felt a bi t too obvious. ”Do we have space suits to…you know…survive space?”

Avengers Academy: X of Swords ⚔️

Dorian Gray

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Location: Kree Ship
Skills: First Day Fit

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Dorian watched as a new person joined them into the fray of battle. It was the blonde haired ghost lover from earlier within the ship. He didn’t really know what powers she had, but now was the best time to show them off! Her fellow classmates were in trouble and she could get a warm up before the Contest of Champions auditions later today. His tarpy self watched as she…sat…on…the ground…wHaT?! She was just going to watch this all happen? What did he expect from someone who purposely stood in cold spots and randomly shoved their arms places most likely hoping for an interaction. Why didn’t she just go see the haunted tree if she was so curious? The wrinkles on the tarp shifted slightly as it made an upset face with a mixture of creases and shadows. At least Diana was still here. Sure she was mostly an archer, but maybe she had a bug catching arrow or something. He watched as she teleported away and…never came back. April’s sister (Link i think?) finally got control of her powers as the bees seemingly phased out of existence. If it was that easy why didn’t she just do that from the start?! Before Dorian could even question her, she went running off saying how sorry she was and how she didnt want to ruin anything else. A shot of irritation ran through the ghostly sheet as he thought to himself too late.

His irritation melted away as he saw April's concern for her sister come in. Dorain sloughed off of Teddy like a morning blanket when getting out of bed, pooling around his feet before he finally stood up and brought the two top corners together in his best 👉👈fashion. He looked towards Danni then back towards April and waved at her goodbye as she ran after her sister. He quickly flew up , dropping the tarp down on Danni as he hopped out of the large sheet before phasing back into the material world behind the blonde voyeur. ”So do you just not ‘ave powers or do you enjoy watching people scream and struggle against a tiny flaming foe?” He asked as he peered over her shoulder to try and see what it was that she was looking at exactly. After a few seconds he’d decided it was uncomfortable trying to peer over while standing up, so he stretched up straight looking towards Danni as he called him over towards him. ”’ey Danni get over ‘ere. Since April’s left after Sheik maybe we can still try for ‘ook a Duck, or could just call it a day so you can start making food for later. I still ‘ave to pick out who all is coming and going and finalize a list for my exclusive viewing party soooo tons of t’ings to look forward to.”

Ω Heroes of Olympus: The Next Age of Heroes Ω Officially Done

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Demetri Rowan Howell

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Location: PA Station BK
Skills: Shapeshifting

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Demi spared a half glance upwards from his food as Nancy uttered a singular word. No. It was firm, strong, as Demetri could easily imagine her standing on a hill facing off an entire battalion and that single word being her weapon and shield. He recalled his mother telling him something before when he was younger. No was a full sentence. She didn’t need to explain herself further nor state her case for the train. She’d said all she needed to with a singular word so rooted in a clear cause that Demetri wasn’t even about to ask any further questions on it. It seemed that Zeke was of the same mind as him, though that didn’t exactly surprise the son of Zeus. While he may not see eye to eye with Nancy, the two siblings seemed to be thick as thieves. He gave Cassian a mock apologetic look before shooting him a slight grin as he chewed on his burger, swallowing the bite before giving him a light punch on the shoulder. ”Sorry there mate, even if everyone had agreed to the bus I’d still stick to the tracks. Nance said no and we don't split the party. Maybe next time. Besides, I feel like I'd get tinnitus from being on a loud party bus from here to Los Angeles.” He took another bite of his burger before he decided to shift his attention back towards his boyfriend, rolling his eyes at him as he recalled his slight protest earlier before all the talk of the bus.

”Fries are hardly a meal Z. Besides, we're gonna need all of us fed and in top shape if we plan to get attacked repeatedly from here to timbuktu. That and…well who turns down pie?” He remarked before placing his burger down and wiping his hands onto the napkins he’d gotten. Demi wrapped his arms around both Zeke’s and Alexios shoulders, flashing them each a smile as he pulled them in with a tight squeeze before letting them go once more to enjoy his food. ”So glad to see you two getting along. Even sharing the fries I’d gotten you each. Warms my heart really, makes me feel like nothing can take me down.” His tone was cheery and upbeat, but really he just wanted to guilt trip Alexios enough to make sure he didn’t do anything retaliatory towards Zeke for stealing his fry. He doubted the god was that petty, but he didn’t want to write it all off just yet.

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Cassian Rudenko

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Location: PA Station. BK
Skills:

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Cassian deflated slightly when he’d heard the bus ran at normal mortal speeds and didn’t cut time like the pegasi chariots did. The brightside was it was spacious inside and didn’t require any fuel which meant stops were to be few and far between only need for food assuming the bus itself might have a restroom on board. Nancy was, however, the first to rain on his parade. Shooting down his idea without so much as a second thought. If he didn’t know any better, Cassian would think she was doing this just to spite him. And she very well may still be. It seemed as though any idea he brought up the young Roman shut down. Hardly ever giving reasoning before shutting him out completely. It felt very targeted, but he tried not to dwell on it for too long. From what Zeke had mentioned, their end location was Nancy’s greatest fear. It only made sense that she wouldn’t mind their trip taking a little bit longer. Any air left in his sails was quickly knocked out as one by one every person had suggested staying within the train. It was unanimous it seemed, and Cassian had no real reason to refute it.

As he sat there watching the whipped cream on his shake sink with every sip, he allowed a singular nasty thought to enter his mind. One born of Chaos. What if Nancy was purposely sabotaging this quest? Whether she’d meant to or not, what if her constant fear and refusal to return to the Lotus Hotel and Casino was what called forth the gods attention? Spurring Aphrodite to meddle into Demi’s affairs and powers to slow down the pace they moved along in and when that didn’t pan out as well as needed she changed tactics by introducing a new element that would sow seeds of discourse. How else did one get the one god with a way to go cross country in a form that Nancy would immediately reject? There was a sudden slurping noise as he hit the end of his shake, not realizing it till after the fact as he’d thought of this new theory before pushing it out. ”Hey! I mean if everyone says no then it's a no clearly. Also I'm not impatient, I just think this quest is a little more important than any of us are really giving it credit for.”

🌠 Once Upon A Time 🌠(Concluded)

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Matthew Madigan

Location: Rapunzel's Tower
Skills:

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While an afternoon stroll with Robin’s men wasn’t exactly what Maddie had in mind, the opportunity did present itself. He’d be lying if he said it wasn't enticing. A perfect excuse to leave the tower behind and all those who were quickly joining it. He didn’t know what they were doing, but in the end it didn’t really matter much. Mads paused for a moment, deliberating on how best to ask Colby if he would mind changing directions, when to his surprise (although he really shouldn't be) Colby turned to ask him the same thing. Another reason why they were just perfect for each other, they’d already began to operate in a similar wavelength. More than he could say for the rest of the cast of would-be heroes lining the inside of the tower at the moment. Words escaped him for a moment, simply nodding back excitedly t onwards his boyfriend as he was asked the question. Colby already began to make his way towards the merry men, with Mads rolling his eyes with a bit of a chuckle as he quickly ran over towards the stump that held the spellbook their fathers had left for them to practice with. Much like Merlin’s tome, he was certain this one would contain a host of useful spells that they could use. So far they had flames, lightning, teleportation,a familiar, and a mystical mist to help cover their tracks. If they kept this up they’d be Arch Mages in no time at all, with Merlins blessing of course.

Mads finally caught up with Colby and the guards, lightly slapping his arm with the back cover of the spellbook to get his attention. ”Don’t forget this, silly. I have my own I got from Merlin so it's only right that you should keep this one.” He said with a wide grin before turning to face the guards. ”We’d love to help! And we know some magic too so it's not like we’ll be dead weight at all. Right Colby?” Maddie flashed a smile towards Colby as he asked him, it's not like the guards could really stop them from following them into the forest. Clearly they were asking for assistance inside, unless they really just wanted to alert everyone that they were about to embark on a patrol in which case…couldn’t they have just told them to deliver the news? They were already outside and clearly not up to too much when the men walked past them.

Bounties of Space

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Originally when their little space adventures had started, seeing a Kree would’ve reminded him of times long gone. His last year (by force) at AA and the first day spent there fighting off flaming bees and naked space rats by a Kree Warship. But now seeing the Kree on his datapad just seemed like another Friday night. It was an odd thought, Dorian never would’ve believed that the charm of space and its many alien races would wear off on him. But with so many years spent out here and away from what used to be home, it all just became commonplace to him. He tried his best not to offend the driver however, holding back a look of disgust as he watched the old man chew on his sap that reminded him of Terran chewing tobacco. It was gross then and its still gross now. He shot a glare towards Danni as he was quick to tell those present that they had just cut through the belt to get here. Luckily those around either didn’t care or didn’t believe them, and that was fine by Dorain. If they didn’t think them to be space adrenaline junkies then they may actually piece together that they were in a hurry to arrive here and that would make getting this bounty that much more difficult.

Dorian tried to laugh along with Wen, his chuckle slowly fading as the man began to choke on his own…whatever he choked on. If he had to fashion a guess it was probably that foul smelling chew he was keeping in his mouth. He slid himself into the small cart motioning for the others to get in. ”’onestly we’ve been called worse and done t’ings far more stupid t’an just run t’e belt.” He chuckled out awkwardly as he tried to act casual. He didn’t know why but he felt tense all of a sudden. Like hitting this god forsaken moon made all of this bounty that much more real than it was before. One wrong move and there went the biggest prize they'd ever even had the pleasure of laying their eyes on. ”Eit’er way destination’s t’e good ol Kol’kill. Gotta get t’at whistle wet and liquid courage for our next stupid endeavour what ever t’at may be”

X-Men: Cosmic Crusades 👽

Maximillian Gray

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Location: Mansion Kitchen
Skills: Basic Spellcraft, Soul Staff Current Outfit

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Max fought back sending Miranda a glare as she decided to interject on his parenting skills. Obviously he wasn’t going to snag the child from Bonnie’s arms and begin to rock her for her. He’d have gone off on an entire tangent about how stuffed animals were appropriate at any age, so much so that hospitals provided them at birth at times. How the soft plush could help offer comfort to the babe as it cried and helped to soothe it down from whatever temper it had, and in lieu of all that it at least functioned as a suction toy. Babies were notorious for suckling on vastly anything they could get their hands on. Aside from the numerous tomes that Max devoured over his short superheroing break, he also managed to consume many parenting books as his anxiety kicked into overdrive and he at one point went power crazy as he baby proofed every corner of the house. All of it to boil down and say that Max, had he cared to open that can of worms, would’ve turned to Miranda and told her that if he wanted advice from an absent mother and known abandoner of her children then he’d ask for it. His quick rise in temper was immediately extinguished as Bonnie took his small peace offering and thanked him for it before handing it to the baby.

Max made way as Carolina came in for a hug with the new stranger, clearly having known her from her siblings time in SHIELD as it was pointed out. He’d had his own encounters with their agents, wondering if any of the ones he’d met were Carolina’s sister, but now wasn’t the time to ask about the family tree. (Un)fortunately for him, Lance had decided to try and get the ball rolling again, re addressing the questions that Max had already asked, while simultaneously throwing doubt out to the fact that this may all be related. He didn’t see how this was a hard string to follow. Mutant attacks happened at two separate locations, spiriting away several of their team, now a stranger comes in saying her husband was also taken and that she needs help. It was clear to Max that Magneto was pulling out all the stops on his new Genosha, and that didn’t just end with current X-men. He hoped it wasn’t mutants in general, a new fear now springing up inside of him as he worried if his house was attacked. They had a former Xmen there as well as four mutants in total plus his son. If Magnet head did anything to harm his family. He clenched his hands into fists as mystic energy flashed between his eyes for a moment before Bonnie’s holo recording pulled him out of his dark thoughts and back to the current task.

He watched the recording, gasping slightly as he saw who Bonnie’s missing husband was. Apparently she married and had a kid with the prince Max had so unsuccessfully tried to court back in WandaWorld. The man he was fighting (aside from being creepy as fuck) rung absolutlely no bells to him. He didn’t appear to be a high profile mutant like the ones he’d heard of fighting them so far. Did Magneto throw his son a freebie so they could be together? Was Wanda going to be waiting for them up there as well? But then why leave Pietro here? Max offered Bonnie a lopsided smile as he rubbed the back of his neck trying to find the best way to phrase this. ”I mean this in the most respectful way Mrs. Chase, but maybe it's best if you stay here in the mansion or back at home if it's safe there. I don't doubt you're capable but space isn't exactly baby friendly.”

Avengers Academy: X of Swords ⚔️

Dorian Gray

Danni Kingston

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Location: Kree Ship
Skills: Possession Combat, Perception, Tag you’re it

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As Dorian prodded around inside the center console of the ship, he felt a very odd sensation inside his chest, just above the diaphragm as a slight pressure built up. He’d no idea what he was ‘feeling’ was Vicky's hand phasing through his astral form. The odd feeling gave him a knee jerk reaction, belching extremely loudly towards the tiny little rat-worms that wiggled before him. Merde. Sorry space rats. The more he looked at them the queasier he was feeling, but it wasn’t their fault they were disgusting bundles of hairless goo. He gave them a queasy smile before pulling himself out of that situation, unsure if the parent space rats had developed a way to see into the astral realm and bite through someone's form with their extra-terrestrial teeth. A shiver ran down his spine as he let the thought sink in for a moment, before noting the irony of him getting the shivers. As Dorian finally stood up in his full form, he noticed he was occupying someone else's space, jumping back a few feet with his weightlessness as he shrieked like a girl. His hand quickly went to grip his chest as he tried to take calming breaths while he tried to focus on who was before him. Geeze lady, personal space much? Or do you just like t’e cold? Actually you know what? Don't answer t’at I really don't need to know if you’re one of t’e ones with a monster fetish.

Danni pouted, his questions (ALL OF THEM IMPORTANT) ignored entirely. Except by Princess, but Princess never ignored him and that's why he loved her. "But Beanie would be such a good Mermista! T'at whole I'm too good for friends but I love you still vibe is just so, you know? And Princess, I love you, but you just don't 'ave t'at vibe. Perfuma is def your vibe, ya know? You'll rock her cosplay!" Danni continued excitedly. He wasn't certain who he'd be yet, but he'd figure it out when inspiration came! But something else caught Danni's eye before he continued talking, going on about his different ideas for himself, and it took a moment for it to sink in.

"Bees?! Danni screeched as he realized what he was looking at wasn't a funny little daydream.

April's scream cut through any melodramatic acts that Dorian was about to take part in as he whipped his head around so fast it could’ve doubled as a scene from the 1973 cult classic The Exorcist. Any thoughts of the ship abandoned as he phased through the walls and saw the metric shit ton of flying flaming bees that now orbited around his friends. Her eyes closed tight in fear as Sabine and Leah just removed themselves from the scene. What the actual fuck? Serious demerits in the girlfriend category for Sabine. New sword? Best time to use it is to save your princess, shaking my damn head. Mist started gathering around near April, lucky for him Danni was still there. Despite what people thought, he was the best damn fire manipulator that existed. He remembered spotting some tarps off in a box in the corner, flying past them all as he made his way to Danni. If anyone would understand what was about to happen, it’d be his best friend of all time. He quickly jumped inside of Danni’s body, taking quick control before phasing out as he told him Tag, You’re It and flew straight towards the tarp box. He really hoped it was one massive tarp and not a bunch of smaller ones. As he infused himself with the material, he began to fly out of the box like a heavy pair of haunted sheets. This was a new weight he wasn’t used to moving around, typically he just possessed lockers, dolls, brooms, and other such pranking materials, but a tarp? That was a new one.

Panic welled in Danni, and fought against his fragile control over his abilities, at the sight of so many fucking bees. His first instinct was to burn the shit out of them but even as he recognized the poor decision that it was, his hand was coming up and heat pooled in his palm. He was still going to try to burn the little buggers into ash because what else could he do?!

And then a familiar floaty feeling washed over him. Dee'd taken control and Danni could just sit back and watch the…

And he's gone.

Dorian over shot his target by a mile, not literally, but enough to fuck up. In his mind it would be the perfect display of why D&D were the most dynamic duo and when coupled with April, (DAD if you will) they were unstoppable. Picture this, Dorian would wrap all the pesky firebugs with his tarp, Danni rips the fire off the flaming tarp, and then April extinguishes it. It was the perfect plan until…Dorian collided straight into the tall muscular bear of a man and entwined himself around the senior. It was like watching a bag hit the windshield of a moving car and no matter which way the wipers went, nor what the driver did, it was just there taking up space and obscuring the vision, except his whole body.

Danni had gotten the point, panic giving way to giggles as Dee threw himself around Teddy. "I know it's 'ard ta tell, but Ted's ain't a bumble bee silly!" Danni giggled, making a come hither motion at the fire with his finger. Maybe it was because he was distracted, maybe it was because flaming bees were fucking terrifying but what was supposed to be a gentle orb of fire instead bounced off his outstretched palm and wrapped itself around him like a possessed tarp.

"OH MY FUCKING GOD, WHAT T'E HELL?! MY JACKET! MY 'AIR! MY EVERYT'IN'! Danni screamed, all the good vibes dead, unlike the bees. "I'M TOO BEAUTIFUL TA BE 'ORRIBLY DISFIGURED! GET OFF, GET OFF, GET OFF! Danni patted at himself aggressively, hoping to put out the fire and a new wave of panic washing over him as it did nothing. He scrabbled at it, hoping something would happen but it. just. wouldn't. respon-

The fire curled around his fingers and elation over took fear, the flames following his fingers and he twirled with fire following like a cape. It flowed back into his hands and he beamed… until a bee flew too close to his face and he screamed, his thin control shattering and the fire exploding outwards, engulfing those near him in a blazing explosion.

If tarps could frown this one would. Dorian knew Teddy wasn't a bumbling bee, but flying this damn sheet was harder than it looked. He thought these things were supposed to be aerodynamic, if not then why did flying carpets exist? He had half a mind to reach one plasticy corner out and smack Danni, but it quickly became obvious that he had his own problems to handle. As the fire flew off the bees, onto Danni, and then ruptured into a massive explosion, Dorian’s astral self mentally curled up in the fetal position as he gripped his stomach and began to cackle wildly at the display. Sure in the end Danni got the results needed, but between April's new tan, and the wild display of fire that could have easily closed the fairgrounds for the rest of the day, Dorain was pretty content with how it had ended. Unfortunately there was still the issue of the bees.

Court of Nuhl

_{February 2nd, 531 - 11:50 am}

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Caspian felt as the world's gravity began to lessen around him. The sudden feeling of weightlessness made him momentarily feel as though he was freefalling even when he hadn’t moved an inch. He choked back any food that wanted to disagree with him right now and tried to focus on the task at hand. All he needed to do was get his hand on the metal strip before him and change its properties to something less conductive. He’d already decided on which metal to shift it to, Bismuth, something that didn’t wouldn’t require a massive shift in the source material and would melt instantly when struck by electricity. There was a shit eating grin on Caspian’s face as he was about to ruin the Inquisitor's delicately designed metal cage. All of that changed as the hum of the room fell silent, coalescing into one central point before vanishing all together. Fuck. Well that just made this easier right? Now he didn’t have to worry about his heart stopping or brain frying as he touched the metal's surface, it did however, mean that Quinn’s aid was no longer needed.

Caspian was just about to land his spell when he’d realized why the room fell so silent. Quinn had been taken hostage, and the Inquisitor was asking for Lyra’s life in exchange for Quinn’s. He didn’t dare make his move, he knew he couldn’t get to him fast enough, and anything else could be seen as a threat towards the Inquisitor. He tried to think of how best to approach this when the Astorio gave the go ahead to kill Quinn. He had to be bluffing right? It was just an attempt to get the Inquisitor to pause and rethink his plan in who he should take hostage right? Caspian clenched his jaw, irritation running through him as the situation unfolded before him. Astorio wanted him to somehow save the mage. Great, which one? He assumed he meant the newly acquired prisoner, but that left Quinn dead in the water. What's more the only way out was through the Inquisitor and Quinn himself. Caspian was beginning to wish that the damned brute was more instructive with what he wanted rather than constantly tossing out vague notions of his expectations for him.

He began to study the room, searching for alternatives he could use when he felt a sudden tug within. The strange feeling of weightlessness left him as he came crashing back down towards the ground, landing ass first onto the solid floor. Caspian let out a grunt of pain followed by a groan as he began to stand up, rubbing the sore spot. Somehow in such a short amount of time they had gone from beating this Inquisitor at his own game to having two teammates willing trade lives just to stay alive. He had to believe there was some grander plan at play here, something involving Lyra coming in hot with Quinn’s ploy only to give the Inquisitor the hardest right hook he’d ever had the displeasure of feeling. If Caspian could somehow manage to make contact with Quinn he’d have been able to bolster him so that hopefully the lighting strike didn't deal as much damage. Better yet, if he could land one hit on the Inquisitor Caspian could attempt to sap him of his strength and leave him an exhausted mess. Unfortunately he was nowhere near the pair and something told him that the Astorios patience was faster than a t timer from Taboo. As Lyra began to taunt the Inquisitor, Caspian decided on how best to proceed. If all else failed and lightning began to fly, he’d have to attempt to cause an eruption of water between the two so that Quinn would go flying out of harm's way and the Inquisitor would hopefully bash his head into a nearby wall.

The Shattering of Aegis

_{✧ Location: Snakeburrow Woods ✧ Purse: 4 copper ✧ Interactions: ✧}

Ermes listened intently as Eila began to explain what and how her powers worked. He was glad to see his line of questioning didn’t annoy or irritate her, it instead seemed to pull her out of the fog she seemed to be in after the attack. Putting her back into a more excitable state like how he’d first met her. He wished he could write all of this down, but not only was he incapable of writing or reading, he couldn’t very well do it while they were walking and trying to catch up to their runaway client. So he did his best to commit everything to memory, which was luckily something he was fairly good at. At the mention of Azaiza’s blessing, all Ermes could think about was how his felt more like a curse. His whole life he’d been treated differently because of how his powers were presented. The only real blessing was that he could one day become strong enough to wield this curse to take back what was stolen from him. His mouth felt dry as he then realized he’d been tensing his jaw, taking in a long breath and playing it off as a sigh of exhaustion from the earlier bout as he used this to relax his muscles. He watched as the color in Eila’s eyes danced, changing to vibrant hues of green as she explained herself to him. It was a simple enough explanation, though he still didn’t fully grasp what it was that she could or couldn’t do. From the sounds of it though, she could control other people's bodies so long as they still held aether in them. That would explain her inability to help in the fight, no aether meant nothing to grasp onto and that meant she needed to switch tactics faster than she was prepared to do. He bit back the thought of commenting on how he liked the way her eyes changed when she seemed excited about a subject.

Ermes was glad to have her company for the walk, mostly because it made it easier to drown out Cerric’s inane rambling as he did his best to pester the poor farmgirl for the remainder of the trip. If the undead wolves or Kyreth’s bursts of flames didn’t kill her, he was sure Cerric’s ramblings would. What he’d hoped would be a relaxing evening to once again gather his aether for the next leg of the journey, instead turned into a life lesson by Cerric. His attention was fully on the strange half-elf, though he didn’t let it seem like it, staring towards the man but right through him as if he’d much rather be doing anything else than to hear him speak. The more that Cerric spoke though, the more Ermes began to sit up in his seat, something akin to a kid hearing a campfire ghost tale. He’d never heard of how The Rot came to be, nor the actual workings of the strange disease, but it appeared it was the antithesis to them all. Whereas they had an abundance of aether and were capable of manipulating this living energy, it appeared that the rot robbed a creature of theirs until there was nothing left than a shambling undead husk. Ermes had noted the black ichor that sprung from the wolves mouths, but as Cerric continued to speak, he hadn’t considered or even known that The Rot could come as an invisible disease. He’d assumed there would always be some sort of presence to alert them of the danger, but now it seemed that anything could be carrying that danger. What’s more Cerric was suggesting not only that Eila could be infected, but that they should put her down in the event that she was without even knowing if it was true or not.

His shoulders tensed as his eyes darted from Cerric to Ceolfric to Eila. Ermes doubted the tainted twins would be willing to just kill Eila so easily, Ceolfric seemed like the type to rid himself of any potential dead weight, and Cerric was the one suggesting it. When Eila finally spoke up his shoulders relaxed back into a slump. She wasn’t infected, that meant no one had a reason to try a midnight assassination on her. Good. His head snapped towards Ceolfric as he began to speak, worried he might object to Eila’s potentially biased opinion of herself. Fortunately he pressed past that and wanted mainly to talk strategy, though his words left much to be desired. There was a pang of shame in Ermes as Ceolfric mentioned how they’d all fucked up in some way or another, but he quickly countered it by telling them the only way to learn is to be in these embarrassing displays of power. By now everyone seemed to be joining in on the conversation, with Kyreth up as the first person to dissect. According to him he didn’t even know he was an Aetherborn. Really? That lanky ass fucker set a damn wolf ablaze in a panic and he wanted them to believe he hadn’t done something similar beforehand? Suddenly Ermes found himself wishing for the rain to come. Sooner fight the Rancor than wake up to a blazing forest because Kyreth had a bad dream. Something the tainted said caught his attention though, causing him to quirk an eyebrow as he stared at him blankly for a moment. ”Studying the aether? What do you mean by that? Actually…come to think of it, you mentioned sensing something just before the wolf attack earlier. I didn’t sense anything, I was just able to pick up the sounds and movements of the ones hiding away…” Could tainted feel the aether around them? Or did it have to do with what Eila just called him, Primordial. Maybe his aether was more attuned with that of the worlds. Ermes could only ever feel his own.

Ω Heroes of Olympus: The Next Age of Heroes Ω Officially Done

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Demetri Rowan Howell

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Location: PA Station BK
Skills: Shapeshifting

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Demetri didn’t catch Nancy’s look of pity towards him. Even if he had he more than likely wouldn’t have recognized it as such. He beamed with delight as he heard Zeke’s voice coming from behind him, ignoring both Cassian and Nancy’s comments about moving the quest along as another pang of jealousy hit for a brief moment as he noticed that both he and Janelle had come back at almost similar times. Had they been talking it out? It didn’t appear like they had, or if they did it clearly didn't go too well if they still weren’t talking to each other. He noted that Zeke was wearing a different shirt. Sure the last one got dirty but couldn’t he just have rinsed it out with some water and then dabbed at it with a paper towel? Demi tried not to think too much of it. It was made easier as he felt a brush against his skin and saw Alexios wiping some milkshake off of his face. He looked between him and Zeke, hoping this wouldn’t spark another fight between them, they’d just started to get along together. ”Thanks mate, but I was saving that for Zeke. Only fair after I snagged a bit of his ice cream earlier right?” He replied as he let all of that interaction slip off him like water off a duck's back. It didn’t seem that Alexios was going to back off from this bit though, clearly looking to press his boyfriends buttons. It was hard to have to be the one who had to keep their cool and consistently make jokes to help keep the flames down, but it was something Demi was used to. All he did was run away from his problems anyways, so how was this any different?

Demetri wrapped his left arm around Zeke’s waist, pulling him in closer as he used his right hand to wrap around Alexios’ neck like you would a friend. ”I wouldn’t call me demonstrating you Earth’s lovely customs of dipping fries into shakes sharing, more so a food tax for having done so. Think of it as…my offering for being so…well awesome!” He planted a kiss on Zeke’s cheek before pulling away from both of them and sliding each of them their own respective foods to eat, placing the pie he ordered in between Zeke and himself. ”I’m stealing a bite of that pie I got you Z. After all, ‘One must always share pie.’ “ He said as if a line spoken from another time between them. ”Now if you’ll excuse me, I would like to finish my burger. You guys can decide which way we go. Party Bus, Train, each is a metal death trap full of monsters that sound equally exhausting. So I'm fine with either way of travel. Unless any of you have some sway with Hecate and can have her just open a portal from here to there, I don't see a point in even discussing it. If the gods want us to succeed we will, if they don’t then we won't. Simple as that.” Demi r emarked before taking a large bite out of his burger the had dipped in buffalo sauce.

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Cassian Rudenko

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Location: PA Station. BK
Skills:

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Finally someone with some semblance of common sense. Nancy was also willing to see if there were other modes of transportation other than the train they were previously on. She even went as far to ask their new ally if he had any godly way to help them get across the states faster than mortal means. He hadn’t expected Alexios to offer a literal party bus, but it made sense given his divinity. Cassian wondered if the bus had any magical properties to make it move faster than mortal means, or at the very least make it so that they didn’t have to fight monsters every step of the journey, making them slow down even more. He wasn’t aware of Nancy’s fears, as far as he was concerned her greatest weakness was the Lotus Hotel itself. He didn’t think much beyond that, so to him the idea of this bus seemed like…well a godsend. ”Alright then, Party Bus sounds like it could be promising. Does it have any defenses against monsters? Does it move faster than a mortal car? Oh and pleaaaase tell me it doesn’t require gas. I don’t think we’d be able to cover the cost of that alone going from here to the other side of the states.” Cassian rolled his eyes at Demetri as he finally spoke up. It was disgusting how the three of them acted. If he could he would carry a squirt bottle just to spray the pair every time they moved off track from the topics at hand.

At the very least Demi had provided some form of answer. Even if it was non-committal bullshit. Did no one care about how much time they had to do this? Surely they didn’t expect this quest to drag on for months or more did they? Or was this just how big prophecies were? After all Odysseus’s journey was much longer than anything they’d ever do. So maybe this was how it was meant to be? Their own odyssey to test their limits and develop their own story of heroism and strife. His tone changed slightly as he thought about it, taking a sip of his drink before continuing. ”If the bus doesn’t offer any more aid than the train then I'm on board with sticking to the train. It's small and hard to fight in, but the bus will be as well so we may as well stick to what we’ve already paid for if it makes no difference in the end.”