Endgame: Part 2

[letsplayamod]

The week goes on. A small miracle, how quiet it is. With no motives or attacks to speak of, you can breathe a sigh of relief even when a tension gripes the air. So few of you now, what exactly would you do were Typhon to return and decide the game was over? Was Athena always going to be out of reach? And what exactly did she want you to find in the center of this mountain temple, anyway?

Questions abound, and no answers.

...Until this morning. The sky itself is clear with very few clouds, but something still falls into your home. Not "physically," though, it's more of a feeling. The sensation of some great power entering this space. Everyone will notice it, and the way it passes by, sinking beneath the floors - all the way to the bottom level.

And there it ends up, waiting for someone brave enough to investigate.

Comments

[mygoodbye]

[She can! It's a bit heavy really sturdy craftsmanship, but she can start levitating it away.

Athena, however, will notice this.]

Grrr, you! [She pushes off Vanity, and starts towards Luna.] I command you to unhand that!

[stringup]

[ At that, Velvet attempts to wrap her wires around Athena's legs. She doesn't expect to restrain her fully (look, at the end of the day she's still an unfit nerd), but she is hoping to slow Athena down long enough for shenanigans to happen. ]

[mygoodbye]

--What? Gah!

[It takes nearly tripping up for her to notice the wires round her leg, constricting her. She raises the blade over her head and brings it down in a thunderous chop to slice through them in one swing.

But it has distracted her.]

[stringup]

[ So, one thing about soulsteel is that it doesn't break or cut easily, even in the face of a divine weapon.

However, Athena's blade forces Velvet to retract them as quickly as possible, because she doesn't want to risk it. ]

Shit!

[brokenhabit]

[ Okay while she's distracted the vines are going to rush out and try to get the box ]

[pariunt]

[Astarion notices, the unseen hand trying to keep the box steady so Lebkuchen can grab it.]

[brokenhabit]

[ TEAM WORK MAKES THE DREAM WORK!!

The vines are going to wrap themselves around and yank it towards her-- oh but there's that chain oops ]

[raisethemoon]

Ah, but we hath not hands!

[ Bright and mockingly cheerful, as she takes wing herself! ]

[fillets]

[ okay now SHE'S laughing ]

[pariunt]

[Hey, Luna, you want some backup?

Because though Astarion doesn't move, he shouts something, and the box starts to move away from her enough to distract "Athena", as though an unseen hand has offered some assistance.]

[mygoodbye]

[It's almost comical. Except she isn't laughing.]

You can't even take this seriously, let alone the responsibilities of godhood!

[pariunt]

Oh, I'm quite serious about preventing you from having this.

[raisethemoon]

Ah! Is the only remaining god of a ruined world going to lecture us on responsibility?

[ HEY CAN SHE OPEN THIS BOX ]

[catsgothistongue]

[Oh no you don't!

Ranma dashes forth too at 'Athana', trident at the ready to jab repeatedly into her leg at lightning speed.]

[mygoodbye]

[Tied down in this way, she can't dodge or block all of Ranma's moves. And a couple jabs reach through to wrench at the skin of her leg.

Athena cries out in a very familiar voice.]

R-ranma...? Why... What's going on?!

[catsgothistongue]

[Stops mid-600 striking at the familiar voice]

Athena--!?

[... To be safe he's just gonna. Chuck a bottle of water at her face.

For safety.]

1/2

[mygoodbye]

[Bonk.]

Ow?

[It's a distraction. Just long enough for the flash of olive green to return to Athena's eyes.]

ENOUGH!

[As she raises the Blade of Olympus high and brings it straight down into the floor. The end sinks a few inches into the stone and sets off a shock wave that shakes the entire room. It's disorienting, even for those that hang on. Even for Athena. But she's a strategist, this is what she does.]

Give me the box at once! Kratos!

[She extends her free hand forward, fingers splayed.]

2/3

[alwaysbeamonster]

[Rising from the floor before Athena, wreathed in shadows that seem to turn the very air a familiar red is a figure only passingly familiar to some of you. But he is massive, a warrior standing taller than Athena herself, red marks running around his body like the chains attached to his forearms, that themselves attach to a pair of nightmarishly jagged blades.

It's a familiar sight, to everyone who fought the corrupted Odysseus those weeks ago. This man, this monster... wastes very little time in doing as he was ordered to do and swings a heavy chain out towards Luna. The large blade trailing behind on its end. It's not a move to strike her, but rather to wrap round Pandora's box, and pull it loose of her concentration.

Behind them both, however - away from all of you, as a matter of fact... a crack has started to form in the stone of the far wall. Growing larger and larger...]

3/4

[markofnobility]

[And finally the crack smashes apart as a familiar winged spear comes flying out of it]

You're wide open!

[And heading right for Kratos!]

[alwaysbeamonster]

[The spear surges forth, straight and true.

The shadowy corruption of the God of War, with reflexes befitting a warrior... catches it in his open hand.]

4/4

[tailoredfate]

[As the spear finds its mark, catching the fallen warrior's attention, something else follows close behind, a blur of white and gold-

Aglaea, sword raised and already stained with golden blood, closes in on Athena in a crackling flash. Even with the goddess's shield raised and her shadowed companion beside her, she's too distracted, her attention split too many ways.

And with a sharp, graceful swing, that blade cuts into Athena's opposite arm - a perfect matching wound to the one she already has.]

Foolish of you to retreat without being sure you can't be followed.

[And as the forms of the two Garmentmakers that have found their way from the Cornucopia materialize in a wave of threads beside her, more figures appear through the portal behind.

All your fallen companions are rushing to your aid.]

[yourheroine]

[HOLY FUCKING SHIT. ARE YOU SEEING THIS, AOI?!]

Everyone...!

[latinumsbetter]

[Quark is jogging after them, huffing and puffing a bit]

–alright that was a bit more of a climb than I thought–

[Seeing Athena and Kratos, though, his eyes go wide, before he scowls, following Ferdinand and Aglaea forward, breaking into a run]

Hey! Listen! Get that sword off of her! That’ll help get that other one out of her!

[and he’s going to skid to a stop near the group and throwing out his hands. The force field once again expands out into the Phantasmal Bar]

Omega! Drop Alex in here!

[to the living:]

Fancy meeting you all here! [he grins, sharp toothed] If you get hurt, fall back here! Got it?!

[raisethemoon]

Ah - !

[ Luna is, for a moment, distracted by the Blades of Chaos flying directly at her person! She drops the box, but reaches with her powers to try and catch it again when Kratos is himself attacked. By...by Ferdinand von Aegir?

There's no time to marvel at it. ]

Anyone who cannot fight, to the back!

[ She cannot let anyone die again. ]

[stringup]

[ Velvet's eyes widen when she hears a familiar voice, a bright blush spreading across her cheeks when she sees that spear.

Her eyes sparkle when she sees Aglaea and the Garmentmakers. ]

You're back!