FINAL TRIAL

[strangerpeople]

FINAL TRIAL
(1 of Hekatombaion)


[When the time comes, Charon arrives on a boat, hrrhrrhrring a little tune as he rows. No need to worry about space, even with all of the shades coming with. Fluffles, unsurprisingly, doesn't go; he does see everyone off, at least, before he falls asleep.

With a final hnnnngrrrgh, they're off. Charon is the master of the Styx, in his own way, deftly avoiding roots and branches from the Qliphoth as he guides his charges up through the layers of the underworld. From the dark and gloomy green of Tartarus, to the lava-flooded Asphodel and it's giant many-headed bone snake, sadly snarled in demonic roots (without thinking, Zack waves to it), on through the lazy rivers of Elysium, and lastly through the pitch stink of the corridors of a temple separating the underworld from the living world.

Throughout, there is eerie quiet. No shades appear to watch their procession-indeed the few wisps around seem to be fleeing, hiding. No rats try to bite Zack's face off. Aside from Lernie, there's truly nothing but tree, tree, and more tree.

Finally, though, the surface air hits, and it is...not cold, but not warm, either. Though, as everyone disembarks, that's probably not what catches everyone's attention. No-it is the barren fields of ancient Greece, just outside the entrance to the underworld-and there is only one thing alive in the area.

It is late afternoon, and the silhouette of the new moon is the only thing that emits real light now in the grey. Indeed, if there is a sun, it is blocked out by the massive, massive roots in the sky, swirling into the stratosphere. The roots in the underworld were in fact more akin to greedy branches; the roots in the sky of the world of life, however, are far more massive, and it's clear the tree is fully grown. And-if the dead grass and trees and barren lands around the Temple of Styx are any indication-it isn't simply feeding on human blood-it's affecting the life of the earth itself, greedily lapping up what it can as it further embeds itself, further spreads, further grows. Further destroys.

It won't stop. There is obsession and power, and Delta is right-it will never stop unless someone intervenes.

Wordlessly Delta points to a Spire of blood in front of them. Yup-they need to enter it to get to where they need to go. Lovely.]

Through here is the core of the tree where the fruit of the Qliphoth is being cultivated. Come.

[Well, no turning back. With luck, the Catillac has some extra towels.



So, immediately after squishing into the...blood elevator?...everyone is schllllorped on a ride akin to w water slide, going up and down, left and right, up, up, up, then down, down, down....down.......


d


o


w


n



into the depths.

And when they emerge...]





[Bright flowers grow on the vines. There is distant birdsong, and the sun shines among fat, lazy clouds. But you can see the shine of glass in the corner of your eye; the air is too perfect to breath, too cold to touch. You don't feel the grass or dirt underfoot that you can clearly see The smell of blood is everywhere.

An illusion? A dream? A delusion? Something else? Who knows. There is a patio table laid out with tea, and four seats. It's almost as if the owner simply got up and left for a moment. It's all strange, all...wrong.

Still. You're finally here. You're in the core. You freed a possible god from the grip of forced ignorance. And you have-you hope-everything you need to end this. But there is still one question:



Who is the true Mastermind, and what is their goal in doing all of this?



It is time, Strangers. By the seas, the heavens and the earth, by blood and darkness, it's up to you.




Good luck.]

Comments

[devilmehcry]

It's Trish.

He asked me!

And I answered. Trish is one of my brother's associates. A lightning demon, ironically.

[Brief glance at Alastor.]

[godspiousjasper]

[ The brothers' interaction made him chuckle a little, and he too spared a look over to Alastor briefly. ]

You must be quite fond of her, to keep a coin with her image on it.

[ Something about that woman's name seemed familiar. It was likely Alastor had mentioned it in passing at some point or other. ]

[superstylishsquid]

She's the friend of his I told you about, the one who I couldn't possibly imagine betraying Dante again. She almost died defying Mundus for him, after all.

[godspiousjasper]

Ah! Right! So that IS where I had heard her name before.

[ With everything that's gone on lately? It'd been something that slipped his mind until now. ]

It does make me wonder why they insisted on using this coin, unless it was simply just because it's double-sided.

[superstylishsquid]

With how much is connected to Dante here, I can't imagine it's a coincidence. They used it because it's his.

...And maybe because of who else that silhouette could be mistaken for, considering they're a Witch themselves.

[godspiousjasper]

...Something that I suspect may possibly be tied to how that house over there is Dante and Vergil's childhood home.

[ A pause. Then a slow exhale. He remembered that earlier air of discontent that had come from the twins. ]

Please tell me. Who else could that silhouette be mistaken for?

[devilmehcry]

[This question makes the twins more discomforted.]

[superstylishsquid]

[He looks over at Dante, then sighs. Sorry, master.]

The twins' mother, Eva. She was a renowned Witch, so anyone left who's still familiar with Umbran traditions is likely to at least know about and respect her.

[godspiousjasper]

Given the nature of those wards on the twins' bodies, as well as Nero's and that book you'd found mentioning Umbran witchcraft? Perhaps it's a witch who went rogue and held respect for Eva... but then why choose Dante and Vergil's childhood home as where this demonic fruit is likely being cultivated at?

[ Again, just an idea here but who could say how far away or close to things he was. ]

[superstylishsquid]

I don't know. Both Eva and her contracted devil are gone, so the twins should be the only ones left that this place has a meaning to.

[godspiousjasper]

Which just brings on more questions than answers.

[exequte]

That's something else that's odd about this, though, right?

Why flip a coin at all? We were never going to be able to win that coin toss, and it's not like we could force some kind of issue where, if we won, we'd have been let free.

[devilmehcry]

...Yeah. She's pretty amazing. She even almost succeeded in killing me!

Your relationship standards are abysmal.

We're just friends and you know one of the reasons why.