@dextercosta said: along with the group from the PANDEMIC quest come to AGATHYS, the son of HADES offering a 100 DRACHMAE donation as he has the box in hand. " Agathys, we just came back from the quest and found this along with our 3 crow buddies. " He wasn't really sure what they wanted to do. " Do you have any idea what this is? What we should do with it? " He was hopeful, often times money for the witch meant she'd be willing to talk.
agathys lifts a brow as the demigods file into her apothecary, one by one, filling it enough to bump into the shelves and tables. “well,” she snaps her fingers and each of the crows that follow the coffin are suspended in the air and trapped in a hovering bubble. they look curled and peaceful within it, like babies slumbering in a rocking womb. “bringing the nosoi into my shop must have been your stupidest idea yet.” agathys isn’t one to forget payment, and counts her coins before she clears her counter for the box to be placed upon.
as she hovers a hand over the ancient wood, the purple runes glow alive again on the cover: ‘he who opens pandora’s box, beware.’ she smiles. agathys chants something in an unfamiliar language and the words fade, the spell unbinding from the coffin.
tellmeinstorms said: credence didn't know how much he’d missed astraea and freya until he got to them. with a wide smile—tinged by sincerity—he set down the bag of cinnamon rolls for them on a nearby tree stump. “if any of you have paid a visit to the underworld before, i would have appreciated a heads up on how ghastly it is.” his smile unfurled before it sobered as he remembered why he was here. "there's something you both should know," burying hands in the pockets of his trousers, he said: "gideon - he's dead."
astraea is standing, freya behind her as she tightens the leather strap of the armored breastplate, like the she-orc is simply zipping up her dress. neither of them really acknowledge credence’s offer of food, or even his presence, until he brings up the underworld. her golden hair, held by a hand atop her head, falls over one shoulder as she turns to him. “yeah, well, you never asked. it’s been a while, could’ve changed,” she says. the only change in her expression is the slight twitch of her upper lip before she proceeds to strap on her gauntlets, posture as stiff as a soldier’s. freya is the same, if not more stoic than astraea. “sorry,” astraea offers to credence. “but that’s the battle you’re fighting. it’s only going to get harder.”
while the demigods were away the cheerleaders got to play. the followers of euphorsyne were going back to one of the tournaments to win the gold for their team. while all of the girls looked the same, gelasia, ilaria, and delia were clearly the top of the pyramid. they were also dying to see their friends again. the demigods were great and all, but they really did miss the others.
as they entered the large stadium, their hands were on their hips and gelasia had a wicked smirk on her face. “get ready to bury the competition.” ilaria was smiling widely, clapping a bit before putting her hands on her hips. “it’s good to be back!” delia, like always was showing little to no emotion on her face. she spotted their team and motioned for them to head back. “come on before the two of you get distracted. we’re here to cheer and win.”
as they were heading towards the back, they heard a familiar rumble in the group. gelasia turned around, a skeptic look on her face. “it can’t be...” as the other two turned around, they all spotted three identical followers of cleta. in mundane terms, they were the football players of the group.
egan, layland, and pearce all walked up to different cheerleaders and had either charming or goofy smiles spread across their lips. “you didn’t think we’d miss this? did you?” egan was the one in the center, rubbing his hands together as he seemed to pay more attention to gelasia. “those guys have had you for too long.”
before they could even get their hands on the girls, the followers of phaenna came out from the stage that was on the left. colista, missa, and osanna all smiled wider than the six in the mini reunion. “you six always think you can leave the rest of use out, don’t you?” the soccer players went up to different girls and kissed them on their cheeks. “careful now, we might have to make sure you don’t go back to mount olympus if you’re still just as fun.”
as missa slapped ilaria’s ass, the followers of pasithea all came out from under the bleachers on the right. ambrose, illias, and leander were running their hands through their wet hair and smiling slightly. “did you think we would miss the chance to SUPPORT all of you?” they each hugged different cheerleaders before the twelve of them all got in a comfortable mix among each other. it was like 3 different groups consisting of one member from each group.
there was still a couple of minutes before the tournament even started, so they were all dying for the gossip. “tell us, can they land hits even on us?” pearce spoke out and delia just nodded in response at first. “they’re stronger than we thought. at least stronger than i thought.”
the other girls nodded pleasantly. “well as strong as they are, do you think they can handle us if we joined forces?” missa titled her head slightly as she asked the question. ilaria chuckled softly. “you’ll find out soon enough! i think we’re close enough in resources that we’ll be able to have room for all of you! although i’m not the treasure, so delia can speak more on that.”
delia wasn’t going to go into detail though. they were close so she didn’t have to correct them. ambrose stuck his head out as his brows furrowed. “have you taught them combination moves yet?” since they were the supports of the group, they were curious in how the girls had actually helped them. gelasia shook her head slightly. “not yet, you know we like making people work for a little action. like ilaria said, it’s all about the resources.”
some of them nodded in confirmation as the bell rang. almost in unison, most of them said. “well we hope to see them in action soon. maybe we can help you with the mechanics and training.”
even though he was a common man, enzo liked to explore the nearby areas. in his messenger bag, he had a couple of tools shoved inside and went out to adventure. in his hand there was a rather large scroll and a bottle of ink along with a feathered pen. there was a part of the region that he hadn’t explored and he needed to in order to finish a section of the map. with enough food for a couple of days and a pegasus to ride, the mundane shop owner set off on his quest. he left delia in charge to run his shop since she didn’t seem the type to be haggled.
after a couple of hours of flying, he set up camp and watch the sun set. it didn’t take long with the tools to start a fire and make both him and isabella some food. at least that was the name that he gave the winged horse. while sitting on op of a moss covered boulder, he started to mark the trees around them down on the map and where they were. this was right where they left off last time. the adventure was hopefully going to be an interesting one.
in the middle of the night there was a rustling sound nearby and enzo quickly woke up from what felt like a nap. he drank one of agathy’s potions to grant him night vision and went out to explore. the first thing he checked on was isabella and once she seemed to be alright, he was going to move on. yet there was a twig that snapped not too far and once he focused enough he saw a man with pointed ears with his hand pressed firmly on a tree. “i see that you are friends with beasts.” he smiled softly before stepping out into a small clearing. “my name is daylor. i’m a wood elf and i might require your service if you are willing.”
after everything that he had seen, an elf wandering around wasn’t too surprising. enzo pet isabella and kissed the bridge of her nose before packing up and nodding. “make sure you’re not walking me into a trap or anything. this face is too pretty to get damaged. let’s go!” as the elf walked him through the woods, he marked down a couple of more placed on the map. finally he brought him to a forested area that had an animal caught in some net. they seemed to look a bit like the pegasus from what he could see. “they’re stuck. most of my weapons and tools aren’t really slashing to get them down and the net is quite thick. i heard you around and i figured i could use some help. do you think you can get them down while i stand guard to catch them?”
enzo studied the area quickly before nodding. “i have a knife in my cobbler’s tools. i can use that and try to help. just make sure you’re strong enough to catch them, okay? they seem to have been through enough.” then the two went off to their places. daylor stood to the side of the creature just in case anything happened and enzo traced the net to a tree that had the rope. he took out a knife, rope, and a grappling hook. first he tied the rope around the tree and with the grappling hook, grounded it after binding it to the rope of the net. the elf looked at him with a puzzled expression, but let the man work.
as he cut the rope with the knife, the net didn’t fully fall since it was connected to the other. he slowly let it go inch by inch, allowing the net to not drop down suddenly and go at a slow pace. then when the creature was lowered, both enzo and daylor helped to get it out.
finally, what seemed to have just been a horse stood up and shook their whole body. after looking at the others, enzo was quick to realize that it was a unicorn and not a simple horse. he quickly dug around before taking out some of his vegetables and offered it to them as food. “they want to thank you for helping a creature you didn’t know and rescuing an animal.” the wood elf started to speak for the both of them.
“not only did you willingly come with someone unknown of another kind, but you helped an animal in need with no hesitation. while this wasn’t a full test of your heart, they have a good inclination that you are pure of heart.“ daylor smiled slightly as the unicorn began to eat the food.
he climbed onto the magical beast and looked down at the man. “their kind is almost extinct, but there’s a lot of tests one can go to in order to be deemed worthy of an alliance. if you know of others or you yourself think you are worthy, you know where to find us.” the elf gave enzo a small piece of paper that seemed to complete the map that he had been working on. gratefully, he took it and slipped it into his bag, smiling up at both of them. “i might know of some gentlemen worthy enough of your presence. they might be better suited to pass a test more than i, but i barely know most of them. if you ever need help or protection, i offer you this.”
after a couple of seconds of looking into his bag, enzo took out a map with directions towards mount olympus. “if you’re both endangered, this place can offer protection. there are other beings able to help and i can supply them with the tools to find you in the future. thank you for trusting me and i hope to see you again sometime.”
the unicorn and elf started to fly away and enzo was left there in awe before returning back to where he set up camp. he’d return to mount olympus after he woke up with isabella and would make sure to produce a full map if any of the demigod seemed pure enough for the adventure. in the future.
from the top of HOUSE ASPIDA the demigods could see three female figures. they were wearing some form of uniform, almost like cheerleaders from back on earth. the one on the left stepped up and shouted "we're the spartans, we've got the beat!"
as she clapped her hands together the one on the right stepped up. "so get on down and move your feet!" both her and the one on the left clapped in unison. they could see that both of these girls seemed identical.
that was when the one in the middle stepped up and clapped with the other two. "take it to the limit! take it to the top!" once again, she was identical to the other two so it was safe to assume that they were triplets.
the three of them flipped off of the house and a couple of spins later, landing on their feet in front of the demigods. the blondes chanted in unison. "we're the mighty spartans and we can't be stopped!" the three walked together in unison and looked at all of the demigods. “we heard that you had opened up the training grounds here at camp! we’re known for working together as a team and teaching people how to train.” the triplets smirked in unison as they each placed their hands on their hips. “we’re euphrosyne’s followers and we’re ready to get our cheer on!”
@tellmeinstorms asked: it was the day after his fight with lamia that credence approached her cottage. was he wary? very much so. he’d seen many peculiar things, but not girls with buttons sewed to their eyes. he held back a shudder as best he could, and couldn’t hide the relief in his blue eyes when lamia strode in. credence placed a vouch of 60 drachmae on a tree stump near her cottage, then buried his hands in his pockets. “as a sorry,” he jutted his chin at the pouch, “for involving you in our little scuffle yesterday.“
credence recalled her dragon form, those blue scales, that gaping maw, and more importantly, her strong-boned wings. ”what’s it like, flying in his skies?“ there was a sliver of envy in his words; he tipped his head back for a moment to stare at the blue sky, at his father’s vast domain. ”it must feel good. free.“ then his eyes were on lamia once more, mouth curving up in an inexorable smile. it faded away, however, as a question welled up in his throat:
”have you ever met him? zeus?“
lamia raised one hand and motioned for the twins to quickly come take the money and go inside. whatever credence was about to say, she knew that she didn’t want victoria and francine to witness her reaction. she could only assume that she was going to scold the man like she did their last time together.
“i appreciate you coming by and apologizing.“ at least she knew that he was respectful. “that still doesn’t change my mind on where i am on the whole debate.“ she wasn’t going to pry into his personal life. credence must have had a good reason to run away from love and not want to admit his own feelings.
her eyes narrowed further as he said his skies. “leave it to a powerful woman to be asked how it feels like to fly in the skies owned by a man.” the gods were still haunting her even after their disappearance. “i could fly and swim for miles and never truly be free, remember that. sometimes your cage can be internal. we’ve had a brief encounter to say the least. i choose to forget men like your father. i was a queen of two lands and yet two men ripped everything from me.”
𝐖𝐇𝐄𝐍 𝐋𝐀𝐌𝐈𝐀 𝐌𝐀𝐃𝐄 𝐇𝐄𝐑 𝐁𝐀𝐁𝐘 (no triggers but kinda feelsy lmao)
as the mother of monsters watched her twin daughters play, she stood up from the wooden chair and went to do some housekeeping business. the first and most important weekly task she had to get to was hudson’s plant. while she didn’t know too much about the underworld or how things worked, she wished the demigods the best and hoped to see them all return. as she finished watering the plant, she spoke to it almost as if it was hudson. “you’re going to return to me and you’re going to have so many stories. i can’t wait to hear them.” the monster smiled softly as she kissed one of the leaves.
when the plant had received enough attention, she heard a squeak and realized it was time to feed her other baby. “gosh, i’m going to have so much on my hands when the other demigods start coming to me for help with you lot, aren’t i?” she walked out back to where her companion had landed and quickly went to get a basket of fruits and meat. it was a weird mix, the head of a vulture, the wings of a bat, with the body of an oversized great potoo. two sides were carnivorous in origin while one was not, so the diet was mixed. two others were also made with the other parts.
the creature began to flap its wings again as she attached a message to nomiki on one of te paws. it started to soar through the sky until it landed in the back of the witch’s shop. with some alone time, lamia started to reflect back on when she made brutus. before the daughters were born and even long before she found the love of her life, she was alone in the world. cursed to harm those that came near her and was never allowed to form bonds with anyone.
through the curse she got quite close to animals. upon being able to turn into the most carnal of beasts and monsters, she was also able to communicate with some of them. through years and years of training, her languages expanded and soon she was able to speak with most monsters and beasts alike. still, even with the company of others stripped away from something, she was ultimately still alone in life.
lamia then decided to defy the gods, defy what she had been cursed to, and give herself a companion. while humans and other humanoid beings were off of the question, she wondered if another monster like herself would be safe with her. through a series of experimentation and a large amount of magic and ingredients, the mother of monsters was able to live out to her true name. she created her first companion, a beast that was like no other and had equal parts of birds that mortals were scared of. shortly after, two more were created with varying parts.
even though he was named brutus, lamia knew that he would never betray her and their bond was strong from the second of his creation along with the others. soon she didn’t feel like she was alone in life, but there was definitely a selfish reason upon the creation. they weren’t majestic like a unicorn, sweet like a rabbit, harmless like a ladybug. they was chaotic just like she was and had an appetite for destruction. upon laying their eyes on them, humans would run away screaming in horror.
soon enough, lamia realized that she had done what she hated all along. she became the creator of a monster. like the same curse that left her in isolation or to be feared by so many, she transferred that to other beings and did the same exact thing. after the realization had sunken in, the mother of monsters had viewed herself as a hypocrite. even more of an abomination than she already saw herself as.
the only logical solution was to leave. to not allow brutus, judas, and gaius to see the same person that turned them into a hideous monster day by day. back into her swamp. back into the place that she was going to be truly along and disappeared into the waters. she left at the crack of dawn, knowing that her children were nocturnal. she disappeared into the light of day and went from tree to tree up until she got to the water.
as she stepped into the water, she heard the familiar caws and squeaks of the three different, but similar animals. “where do you think you’re going?” they all perched themselves up on different trees. “you are our mother and we would never leave you. you gave us life, a new meaning.” sorrowful eyes looked up at each and every one of them. how could they view her as a blessing when she was so much of a curse to herself? “i didn’t bless you, don’t you see? you were normal before me. you were loved.”
they all shook their heads and went down on the ground. “we weren’t loved. we were alone. you gave us a family. you and the rest of us.” brutus was the one taking charge now. “wherever you go we’re going to follow. you don’t have to face the world alone anymore because you have us. did you forget we’re great trackers?” he pointed at gaius with a wing, the one with the best nose. lamia was at the verge of tears, but she brought them all in for a careful hug. “thank you... thank you for turning to love rather than hate. thank you for doing what i failed to do.”
then they went off to find their new home, happily together for the time being.
@btchcrft said: KIAN makes his way to the apothecary with his satchel of 500 GOLD DRACHMA and makes his way inside. "agathys?" he calls out. "i, um, heard that you were...a witch." he pauses, furrowing his brow. "like me. i;m kian." he's still speaking out to the shop, not to here specifically. "son of hecate. i just...wanted to talk." he sets the drachma on the table and waits for an answer.
“somewhat,” agathys chuckles. for once, she’s not behind her table, but sorting out her jars on a shelf to her right, several colored bottles hovering and shuffling into different slots on the pedestals. “i am many things. an oracle, an herbalist, a healer, the list goes on. but yes, a witch is one of those things.” she pops open a lid to a jar of squirming weeds and sticks her nose close to take a whiff, testing its stage of fermentation. “well? out with it.”
