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

[daxzum]

....everything. I.


I just want my children back. Why can't I...what have I done?

[superstylishsquid]

Nothing...nothing we can't reverse, okay? Their bodies are back on the ship. If you unravel the wards on them, I'm sure we can put their souls back where they belong. Just...

[Just don't die again.]

Just hold on.

[autonomousthought]

[Ritsu is huddled, using the large shield as support. But she is paying close attention.]

If she...if she needs a body, then....something put me in this one. Maybe we can use that.

[superstylishsquid]

I think that was her own magic, or maybe the magic of one of the Devil Arm she fused to us...

[valkavian]

Any chance we can Frankenstein this shit?

[superstylishsquid]

If we can, I think it would be Zag's power. Merge two things into a new whole, right?

We're a bit lacking in unused corpse parts for a proper Frankenstein, but maybe an object? Like a lich.

[valkavian]

Iunno, it might work if we go the lich route. Still think it'd be better if she was able to walk and talk and shit.

[superstylishsquid]

The immobility would just be temporary, until we can get her something biological to inhabit. Assuming her soul isn't snatched away by the devils enforcing Umbral contracts before we can re-anchor it...

[valkavian]

And this is why I always tell people not to fuck with demon shit.

[superstylishsquid]

'S why I don't advocate Faustian deals unless you really know what you're getting into. Eva did, but...that was before she contracted with a legendary traitor.

[autonomousthought]

But it means there's a way! If it can be used somehow.... If we need to share for a little while, I don't mind!

[This is the best she can come up with, right now. They have no other corpses handy. The magic already exists with this one, so surely they can use it...

And there is a part of her wondering, if it was Eva's magic....will the spell die with her?]

[superstylishsquid]

Maybe...and then, once the magic suppressing our powers is gone...

[He looks to Zag.]

Zagreus! Your Devil Arm power, do you think you can combine Eva's soul with Ritsu's body, without fusing the souls themselves?

[voidseeing]

[Oh, he does NOT like this idea at all for personal reasons... but he also knows that it isn't his place to object, so he just grits his teeth.]

[godspiousjasper]

Alastor... can she still be saved? Her soul... there has to be something we can do, isn't there?

[ Just seeing everything is hurting his heart a little, because once removed from the tree? This poor woman was likely dying a second time and it rended his heart in two. ]

[superstylishsquid]

Her soul belongs to Hell, but...it theoretically is possible. A person isn't truly dead until they're absorbed into another part of the Trinity. Until then, their soul can be removed from their expected afterlife, and...we'd still need a body, but...

[godspiousjasper]

...If I knew it would help, i'd offer to have her possess mine for a little while until we could get her something proper. It would work similarly, would it not?

[ Not a self sacrifice but if it kept her soul safe for a short time? It was something he'd be willing to do. Doesn't even matter that she was a woman. When it came to this, what was important was preserving her soul until something better could be done. ]

[superstylishsquid]

I...don't know. Normally, her soul would be forcibly dragged to Hell the moment it loses its material anchor. An Umbra Witch can't become a ghost without first escaping Inferno.

This isn't normal circumstances, though. I don't know if our underworld can even reach her here...

[somuchshipping]

[Hermes looks above Eva's head. He still doesn't see a timer counting down.]

I can't see when she's gonna die... If I had my death sight back, I could confirm...

[godspiousjasper]

I... just wish there was more I could do to help save her.

[ To have Dante and Vergil lose their mother not just once but a second time just seemed WAY too painful and hard to bear. ]