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]

Hey, come on. That's our mom you're talking about, bud. Not a chance in hell there's any version of her that would do any of this, no way, no how!

[godspiousjasper]

I'm truly hoping that's not the case, Dante. I don't want it to be her.

[ There's an absolute sincerity in his voice, and a furrow to his brow. He couldn't even imagine what it'd feel like but they had to consider all possibilities here. ]

[superstylishsquid]

I don't...I mean, everything I know about her is from a couple thousand years ago, but she wouldn't...

She helped stop the last master of the Qliphoth from destroying the human world!

[autonomousthought]

...But if she knew she had no intention of destroying the human world...and it seemed like the power she'd gain would be enough...if she thought, "I'll just achieve my goal, and then I'll destroy the tree myself and everything will be fine"...

I don't...know much about a parent's love. But I do know some parents go too far trying to do what they think is best for their children.

[superstylishsquid]

Did you see outside? It's even worse than what Mundus' tree did.

[autonomousthought]

I did....but I also understand the sunk cost fallacy.

[valkavian]

Something I only brought up a couple of times, Dante? Before I was here I spent basically every waking moment of my un-life hooked up to a psychic hivemind with everyone else in my clan. Everyone who currently existed, every Malk who died before, every Malkavian that will exist, across a fuckton of different universes.

There is an AU version of me that's a fucking Brujah and another one where I'm apparently a little mouse-person, Dante. You have to consider that when you get to alternate universes there's all sorts of crazy shit you can't even imagine.