POP
The first thing you hear is gunfire, and all of you flinch - until you realize it's coming from somewhere else, likely outside the castle.
"Sounds like the Guard are using their Bradley Fighting Vehicles," Alex says.
"Well, don't forget to write," Hrofgar says, vanishing.
Glancing around, you can see what looks to be general disarray. The lopsided remains of catapults are strewn across two nearby rooftops. But, from the outbuildings at ground level, two separate wedge formations of Einjehar come charging towards you.
The Furies quickly move in front of Lya with their shields raised.
"Evie!" Lya hisses urgently. "Figure out which way we need to go and then everyone follow my lead! We can't fight them in the open like this!"
Lya then places hands on Toxic and Klepto's shoulders and gently gestures them aside as she walks between them to address the Einjehar coming towards them with open arms.
"All hail the victorious dead!" she begins as she subtly gestures for the rest of the party to follow her. "Honor to the Soldier everywhere, who bravely bears his country's cause. Honor also to the citizen who cares for his brother in the field, and serves, as he best can, the same cause - honor to him, only less than to him, who braves, for the common good, the storms of heaven and the storms of battle."
As the Einherjar all move closer they hear Lya's words and slowly come to a halt as they lower their weapons. Lya continues walking towards them (and the two exits from this area) as she speaks, with the others following close behind with a wary look at the Einherjar who have stopped to listen.
"But let us not forget the families of our soldiers... those who are left behind to remember their sacrifices... the wives and husbands... the children who miss their parents, and the parents who miss their children. Honor those who carry on the fight... honor those who carry on their name."
As they walk past the Einherjar Lya gestures with her finger to the left and the right as she silently asks which way to go next
"Now let us all bow our heads in prayer and remember our loved ones that we left behind when we chose to fight this war..."
As soon as the Einherjar holster their guns and lower their heads Lya gestures for the others to get a move on in the direction they need to go and quickly follows behind down the hall as her voice continues to ring out.
"Concentrate on their faces... their smiles... the joy in their eyes when they realize you've stopped fighting long enough to come home to them again..."
Evie keeps quiet and lets Lya work her charm, even though her heart is racing at a million miles a minute. It's been a long time since she's been in direct combat, and that was getting shot at by gang members before she was promoted to detective. This? Well, this is pretty much nothing at all like that. Frankly, Evie is elated that Lya is able to calm the dead and that no fighting is required, right now.
Since she came into the situation already knowing their facing, thanks to their dwarven friend and ally, it only takes a moment's concentration for Evie to figure out where they need to go...or, at least, what direction they need to go. Once they are out of immediate danger, she'll need to glance at the maps to figure out an exact route. But, for now, a general direction is good enough.
Evie meets Lya's gaze and nods her head towards where they need to go.
As one of the SWAT guys put it, Sometimes, you just gotta bust the door down.
"Left!" Evie whispers and motions to the others. "Go!"
Alex nods and heads towards the indicated door, ignoring any of the Einjehar who are caught in Lya's verbal witchery. Phoebe and Orithia follow.
Lya is next, still holding the dozen or so Einjehar in thrall. Toxic and Klepto turn and back towards the door, the Furies protecting Lya in a loose ring.
And then Evie takes rear-guard, her pistol out and pointed up and to the side, her head and eyes sweeping the area as if she were clearing the kill house* at the Academy.
The corridor is wide enough that the Furies could close ranks and do a four-across shield wall. The castle itself is of classic medieval design, stone block and wood beam, but sparsely decorated. There are no adornments or paintings on the wall, but instead of torchlight and brazier, there are work lights strung upon the wall, suggesting this part of the castle is functional.
You are in a kitchen, redolent with the aromas of food and drink. Lyman summoning more Einjehar, perhaps. The staff seems to ignore you for the most part, perhaps mistaking you for more of Lyman's army.
Alex holsters his gun, snatches a turkey leg from a platter and tears into it. He looks at one of the staff and makes the unmistakable gesture for something to drink, and is handed a mug of foamy ale.
"Danke," he says. He winks at Lya and the others as he gestures with the turkey leg between bites, laughing and eating messily. He quaffs some of the ale, nods in approval, smiles at the staff.
A stairway in the corner must lead to the dining hall, while the rear of the kitchen seems to be a large pantry, though you can glimpse another hallway through an open door ...
"Hey," Lya smiles wide to get the attention of one of the staff as she holsters her gun. "I'm still kind of new here and the ritual has left me a bit shaky in the head, you know? Could one of you guys remind me where the stairs are?"
Evie stands to the side and awaits an answer to Lya's question. She doesn't feel any need to grab a turkey leg and chow down, though. Honestly, she's so nervous that her stomach is doing flip-flops all over the place. She's afraid that as soon as the greasy meat hit her stomach, she'd yak it back up. And that would be very un-Einjehar-like.
"Ja, ja," the servant points at a stairway leading up. "Libenshmittel. Der Kommandant."
She points down the hall. "Kasernen, Zellen."
Some of the words are obvious. 'Der Kommandant' has to be Lyman, of course. If Hitoshi has been through here, the kitchen staff doesn't seem to be aware of it.
"The anchor," Evie asks, gesturing vaguely. "Magic?"
"Das zauberstein," Alex translates. "Wo ist es?"
"Ach! Das zauberstein, ja!" the servant says, shaking her head. "Ist verboten."
"She says it's forbidden."
"Good to know," Lya smiles. "Still though... if we knew where it was, we'd know not to go in that direction, right? Wouldn't want to take a wrong turn and get in trouble just because we haven't learned where to go yet."
She chuckles and scratches at her temple as she gives them her best depreciating smile.
The servant shares a conspiratorial smile with you and beckons you towards one of the pantries. She points to a barrel, beneath which lay the corner of a trap door.
"Hintertur," she says, then bustles off.
"Back door, eh?" says Alex, setting down the turkey leg and mug. "Good idea."
He wrestles the barrel with some difficulty, exposing the door fully. It was probably a smuggler's passage or bolt hole in the past.
The first thing you notice, of course, is the smell. Dust and stale air ... and the feel of magic.
"Good thing I'm an overgrown Boy Scout," Alex mutters, shining a flashlight down into a wood-walled passage. It's shallow enough to drop into the passage from the edge of the trap door, and he does so.
You hear him cough.
"Pretty dusty down here," he says. "Pretty dark, too. Might want to bring a candle or torch."
Evie reaches into her jeans and pulls out her keyring. She has a small flashlight attached to the ring. Quickly, she slides it off the ring and shoves her keys back in her pocket. Having the keys out and free would probably create a bunch of jangly noise that would do no one any good.
Light in hand, she climbs down after Alex. Surprisingly, it turns out that it's not nearly as dark down here as he had led her to believe. The colors are a bit off, but she can see just fine. Of course, she can also see through snow so...perhaps this is just another facet of her gift.
"All right, Orithia, you and me next, then Lya, and Toxic and Phoebe can follow to the rear," Klepto takes command as she gestures to the others.
"Aye-aye, Captain," Lya replies as she follows the Furies into the passage and they disappear into the dark with the sounds of the barrel being pushed back into place behind them.
"Hold up a second," Lya calls out as she pulls out her Sharpie from her coat pocket and writes the kanji for "Exit" on the wall. "There... just in case we get lost down here," she mutters to herself before putting the marker back in her pocket.
"Good idea," Evie says quietly.
She pulls out her phone and pulls up the photos she took of the maps. She's not sure if this particular part of the tunnel is part of what the dwarves built, but it doesn't hurt to check. Especially since everything is quiet, right now. They may not get a chance to look at them again, later.
As far as Evie can tell, this tunnel is part of the castle that was transplanted in toto from Asgard or wherever it is. Your progress is unhindered - this was clearly some form of bolt-hole.
You come to a t-intersection, one branch ending at a ladder leading up, and the other continuing onward, back towards the center of the castle.
Lya pulls out her sharpie again and writes the kanji for EXIT on the wall at the end of the hallway while she waits for Evie to pick a direction.
"This way," says Evie as she points towards the tunnel leading towards the center of the castle.
The party continues through the tunnel, which ends abruptly. A lever opens another secret door - this one a shelf in a storeroom. And while the room itself is unlit, there is a diffuse glow from somewhere else nearby.
A shadow passes before the door. A patrol of four Einjehar making their way down the corridor. You realize you either have to enter the corridor or turn back, so it's just a question of whether you enter loudly or quietly ...
Evie lifts a hand and motions the others to move back the way they came. Once she feels like everyone is far enough away that their whispers won't alert the patrolling einjehar, she says softly, "There's probably a way around if we backtrack. However, pussy-footin' is going to slow us down. I'd like to do this quietly and quickly, if possible. Unfortunately, I don't have any quiet fighting skills. I can sneak, but I'm no ninja-assassin. How about you guys?"
"I think we're going to run into these guys no matter which way we go," Alex says. "We can be as quiet as possible, but that's about it. I'm not even sure a stranglehold would work on Einjehar, anyway."
Evie looks towards Lya questioningly.
"Once you go loud, you can't go back," Lya says. "Let's see how long we can last being quiet as possible... and when the shit hits the fan, we'll deal with it then."
Evie nods, "Sounds good." With that, she turns and makes her way back to the t-intersection, hoping that there is a way around.
(Evie)
As you make your way back along the passage, you find yourself paying closer attention to the texture of the wall, imagining things from the perspective of a castle occupant escaping from an invading force. Where would passages connect from and lead to?
You entered through the pantry. You've seen a ladder leading upward that could lead to a great hall, or to apartments for a lord-in-residence. What other locations could be useful? Access to an armory, perhaps. A library or chapel, though the latter would be dedicated to the Aesir.
And maybe a secondary route, in case one escape route was cut off.
"Look around, there's got to be more than just this ladder and the storeroom," you tell the others.
It takes nearly thirty minutes of running hands over boards, looking for invisible seams and hidden catches, but you find one leading to a narrow passage that you'll have to go single-file and sideways to get through. It must connect to an alternate route ...
The alternate route is somewhat less pleasant. Exploring to one end brings you to a guard room, a fortified position that might occupy an invading force long enough for the nobility to absent themselves.
The other end leads to a ladder that drops away to another passage - there would be no backtracking from that position.
"Well, Evie?" Lya whispers as she glances at the ladder. "You said the anchor was down from here... right?"
"Yup," Evie blows out a soft puff of air, making a quiet sound of dislike. "I'm not happy about this since we'll get trapped but...down is the direction we want to go."
She thinks for a second and shakes her head at herself, "And, we didn't bring rope, did we? Damn it. How many years have a played D&D and I fail at remembering to bring a stupid, 50' rope?"
"Well how deep is it?" Toxic asks. "There's enough of us here that we can lower you all down if need be."
"Can you see anything down there, Evie?" Lya asks quietly.
Evie shines her light down into the tunnel, hoping that there is no one down there to see the beam. Of course, it's not a strong light, so it may go unnoticed. However, it's more than enough for her to see by. She eyeballs it, trying to judge the distance to the bottom.
From the ladder's end to the floor below isn't far - almost ten feet. It would be possible for someone to give another person a boost, but they would have to be able to make the upward jump themselves if you truly wanted to turn around.
There doesn't appear to be any activity below, but a faint sound reaches you. Dirt grinding beneath a boot heel as someone paces, perhaps standing guard.
And a coruscating blue glow...
Lya pulls a rubber band off her wrist and starts putting her hair back as Orithia looks at her questioningly.
"If there's a glow, that means I can see... and if I can see, I can shoot him," Lya whispers in reply as she quietly readies and cocks her gun. "If you hold on to me I should be able to poke my head in there and take him out."
"Upside down? Really?"
"The things you learn how to do when you're too lazy to turn the alarm off..." she chuckles softly.
"Well," Evie says slowy, considering. "You know...it's actually a good plan. With just her head and shoulders poking down from the ceiling, she's going to present a small target should she miss and get their attention. And, on top of that, their first instinct when returning fire will be to shoot low. No one is going to expect a dangling target."
"The problem comes in that if there is more than one guard and another exit, somewhere, the extra could charge off to bring reinforcements before we could get down and do our thing."
Evie thinks, "Maybe we should quietly drop down and go as a pair. If there is more than one guard, we need to take down both of them quickly."
"Care to take a peek first, Evie?" Lya asks. "If there's more than one down there we'll go with your suggestion."
"I would rather we went," Klepto grumbles, "but silence is key here so I grudgingly agree."
Evie nods, "Okay, I'll see what I can see. I don't want to drop all the way down, though. If someone can help keep me from falling on my head, that would be awesome."
She chuckles softly, "That would be a heck of a way to wind up back in Hel's domain. 'Oh, how did you die? I threw myself headfirst down a hole. Valiantly.'"
"We've got you," Klepto assures Evie as she claps a hand on her shoulder. "When you are ready, I will make sure you don't fall."
She looks to Alex with a raised brow. "Unless the Son of Tyr would like to? As grating as it is, you are the strongest among us."
After a brief discussion as to methodology, Klepto and Orithia brace themselves within the ladderway to lower Evie down.
Evie is able to discern several guards - one is a towering hulk that looks like he should be on some football team's front four. He's the one that's pacing back and forth, leaning against the wall every few minutes.
Beyond him, two more guards are seated, their frames in relation to their chairs suggesting they're also American Gladiator rejects. One has their back to you, the other is reading a comic book. And because odd numbers are not SOP in your experience, there must be a fourth lurking just out of sight.
All are wearing contemporary body armor and carrying submachine guns.
But it's what lies beyond that draws Evie's interest. The blue glow seems to emanate from a person, not an object. A figure is hung in mid-air, dangling from heavy chains, their head sunk to their chest. Tattered and blackened clothes suggest they have been tormented or otherwise abused (not a big stretch of the imagination, as you can't see anyone accepting such chains willingly).
Evie signals that she's seen enough and is ready to be lifted back up. As Evie relays what she saw below, everyone sets up for a repeat performance, this time with Lya.
"Sounds like I can get the one pacing the hall," she says. "Maybe one of the two at the table. Either of you have gifts that mess with people's heads?"
"No," Alex says. Evie shakes her head as well.
"We're going to pull you up at the first sign of trouble," Toxic says.
"Oh, come on. I'll be fine. It'll be fun," Lya says, winking.
Klepto and Orithia lower Lya into place. Alex trades a concerned glance with Toxic and Phoebe - all of them are ready to jump into the fray if this goes south.
Below, Lya takes a moment to assess her targets. Self-confidence aside, these aren't gang members stoked with bravado. These are trained mercenaries, their gear suggesting they are Jotunblut thralls with enhanced strength and stamina.
The one with the comic book appears to be reading Wonder Woman, though a stack of other issues is sitting on the table nearby. The illustrated tales of the Amazon princess are always amusing and a guilty pleasure for the Furies. Diana is always open in her appeals to the gods, but it's not a helpless mortal pleading for mercy - it's a capable warrior setting a bar to challenge herself.
One of the few times she entreated with a god for something she didn't have was when the Joker had paralyzed her with some kind of toxin, and she asked Pan to teach her the ways of chaos, so she could slip those bonds.
Well, Dad, is there anything like that in the family toolbox? she mused, lining up her shot on the comic reader. If he went down, the others would hopefully respond to their colleague first, and worry about an assailant second.
She lines up her pistol and lets out a breath to steady her hand.
Exhale, she tells herself, remembering early archery lessons from Phoebe. Let all the nervous energy and adrenalin flow outward. There's only the target, and your arrow. Shoot when you are ready.
The one with the comic book lowers it for a second, a puzzled look on his face, as if he heard a sound ...
Oh, shit, Lya thinks. No, I didn't make a sound. Stay dumb, asshole. It's nothing. Go back to your comic book.
The man's brow furrows, but it's not in concentration ... it's in confusion. His eyes seem to glaze over. His lips twitch as if he's trying to say something, but only disjointed syllables come forth.
"What?" says the other man at the table. "Was zum?"
The first man is drooling. His eyes are frozen wide.
The second man raises his hands to his temples, mumuring, "Nein. Nein. Nein. Ne-"
What the fuck? Lya thinks.
The third man steps over from the hallway and pauses at the table, glancing between his colleagues. And he, too, has some kind of seizure, his body jerking slightly ... and then he drops to his knees like a puppet whose strings have been cut.
There's a satisfying klonk as his head bashes against the table, but it's loud enough to draw the attention of others. Several Einjehar charge into the room, guns drawn. One stops, his jaw falling slack. Another begins to drool and cry. The other two remain frozen in place, their weapons sliding from now-limp hands ...
It's been all of a handful of minutes. Lya isn't sure what she did, but the guards and an additional patrol have turned into mindless - and helpless - zombies.
Um... thanks, Dad? Shit... I hope that was me... I mean that's fucking scary if I did that-that...whatever... but better me than the guy in chains, right? Lya thinks as she frantically taps to tell the others to let her up.
"What happened?" Evie asks as Lya gets set upright with a strange look on her face. "I didn't hear any guns go off."
"Yeah... um... I think something else happened," Lya mutters as she holsters her gun and rubs her head. "One of them was reading a Wonder Woman comic and I jokingly thought how nice it would be if Dad would help us like the gods did her... when...um...when..."
"Out with it, Lya!" urges Toxic impatiently.
"They all went nuts!" Lya exclaims with a wild look in her eyes. "The first one kind of glazed over and started drooling, and then the next one and the next... and then a bunch of them came in to check the noise and they started collapsing and crying...before you know it it's like a scene from a mental institution down there."
She shudders. "Anyway... I don't think they're going to bother us if we go down now. Heck... I don't think they even know who they are any more."
"Your father's wrath is none to be trifled with," Phoebe says as the other Furies nod in grim silence.
Lya gasps as a thought occurs to her. "The guards were fine until they saw the others... so maybe if you don't look, you guys should be ok. And I mean it... don't look. It's not really something you want to think about at night anyway... trust me. Let me go down first and then we can get these dudes out into the hallway so we can help their prisoner."
"Shit, yeah...no kidding," Evie says softly. If just looking at these guys can make them go insane, she doesn't want to take any chances. With her own heightened perception, would it affect her even more than the guards down there? Inwardly, she shudders, in no way wanting to find out.
"Just let me know when it's safe to come down. I'm afraid that with my gifts, I may be even more susceptible to whatever madness this is," she says.
Lya returns below, though without assistance, she won't be able to reach the ladder. The guards are still in a stuporous state, but have started to wander, so their motor functions aren't a total loss. Lya simply directs them down the other passages, hoping that whatever this is continues to be contagious.
After nearly twenty minutes - the catatonic doesn't move very quickly - Lya returns to the ladder way and gives the all clear. There is an assortment of supplies, but nothing essential or of immediate use to the party.
There is just the figure hanging from chains, a corona of magical energies swirling and pulsing about them. He appears to be wearing the remnants of a business suit, parts of which have been burnt away, though the flesh underneath does not seem to be damaged in any way.
_Shrinnnnng!_
Toxic suddenly draws her sword and advances on Alex, forcing him back against the wall. She's poised to drive the point through his throat.
"Whoa!" Alex says. "What th- Toxic, have you caught that crazy shit?"
"Hardly," Toxic says.
The other Furies have their weapons drawn as well, moving into supporting positions. Toxic simply jerks her head in the direction of the chained prisoner.
"By Prometheus!" Orithia whispers.
Looking more closely, there is no mistaking the figure dangling from chains is an unconscious Alex North ...
"Woah... wait just a minute, guys," Lya exclaims as she holds up her hands. "If you remember we did have five different Alex North's to choose from once... so let's just see what's going on here before we start skewering anybody."
Toxic grunts in reply, but doesn't lower her sword.
"Just give me a minute," Lya pleads before walking over to look at the chained version of Alex North and checking over his wounds. (Assess Health) "Maybe if we ask him some questions we can figure out what's going on."
"What th..." Evie does a double take. She draws in a sharp breath, looking between the two Alexes. After a moment, she gets over her initial surprise and moves to stand between them, her gaze flitting from one to the other. Her eyes narrow as she looks for clues as to what is going on here.
How long does it look like Prisoner Alex has been chained? Is his skin chaffed? Does he have a beard? Is he thin? Basically, does he look like he's been a prisoner for 6 months.
"Lya...can you make heads or tells out of that magical aura around him?" she turns to the daughter of Dionysus, knowing she has better grasp of magical things than she does.
Alex-in-chains is uninjured, and you can see no reason for him being unconscious other than the power or magic or whatever that is swirling about him.
"Well damn... I can't figure out why he's not waking up right now," Lya mutters.
"There's always one way to find out if he's faking it," Orithia mutters as she turns around and throws a dagger that strikes the chained man in the right leg.
The dagger strikes true and slides deep into the chained man's thigh. The energies swirling around him limn the blade in cerulean light, and it glows white hot before vanishing.
The wound that remains heals quickly and cleanly.
"I hate to say it, but that doesn't prove anything," Alex says. "I got shot at the Convention Center, and I healed. It was even on TV."
He winces.
"But, if you gotta stab or cut me for proof, hey, we're friends, right?"
"I haven't stabbed you yet, Son of Tyr... if that's who you really are," Orithia mutters in reply. "I was hoping more than anything that it would wake him up."
"Dig what happened to the dagger though," Lya says in wonderment. "Did you see how it disappeared like that? Whether this is a part of Alex or not, I'd say it's definitely the anchor we've been looking for." She scratches her head. "But how do we destroy the anchor without hurting him or having whatever we try to use disappear?"
Lya then digs a quarter out of her pocket and flicks it towards the blue light to see if it follows suit like the dagger.
"Perhaps he can explain it," Toxic growls as her grip tightens on her sword.
The quarter flies through the air as you'd expect. As it hits Alex-in-chains, it suddenly flashes bright white and disappears with a sizzle of torn air.
The other Alex swallows uncomfortably. "I honestly don't know. I'm Alex North. I feel like Alex North. I have my memories. That can't be me."
On the alert, now, for any signs of deceit, Evie watches the interactions with Our Alex carefully. Though he has been with them ever since Hel's domain and has acted in their best interests...well...this does complicate things. It's entirely possible that he's a double but completely unaware of the fact that he is...but why would Hel do that? Does she have a stake in Ragnarok?
Turning to Lya, she asks, "You wouldn't happen to have a mirror, would you? I'm wondering if the beam can be reflected or if it'll just vaporize the mirror, too."
"I don't have a mirror, but ..." Lya considers. "One of our shields, perhaps?"
"If I ..." Alex begins, then stops as the point of Toxic's sword nicks his throat. "If we - can I still say 'we'? - are going to stick anything in this beam that might get vaporized, I volunteer to do the sticking."
Lya sighs as she walks up and places a hand on Toxic's arm holding the sword. "Look Toxic... if he wasn't Alex, he could have done something plenty of times before now. I trust him, OK? He's Alex... he's just not the same Alex we started with, is all."
Lya smiles hopefully. "So just lower the sword and we can work this out."
Toxic's grip tightens on the sword as the warring thoughts flicker in her eyes... but eventually she lets out a huff and turns away from Alex with a muttered "Fine," but still keeps her sword unsheathed at her side.
"Look Alex..." Lya says to him as she places a hand on his chest and looks up at him. "I believe with all my heart that you are Alex North... our friend and comrade in arms. Thing is... when you disappeared and we had to go and find you so we could put you back together again, I think you came back changed. That Alex North..." she turns at the waist to point at the man hanging in chains before turning back to him, "that's what's left of the Alex we met before you disappeared. At least... that's what I believe him to be. I don't know if you two can merge together like your parts did in the Underworld or if you just have to face that the Son of Tyr is no more... because you are something else now. That doesn't mean you aren't our friend though... and that I wouldn't be pissed if you got yourself killed... understand?"
She gestures to Phoebe who hands over her shield.
"Please...be careful."
"Wait! Don't use the shield. Just use the mirror. If something is going to vaporize...and I really feel like it will...I'd rather not lose a piece of important equipment," Evie says. "If it's a compact or one of those little, purse mirror things, you should be able to hold it by one edge and stick it in without too much trouble."
"I just...uggh!...I also don't want anyone to be vaporized. Give me a minute to think about this. There's got to be a way to do it where no one loses a finger, or hand, or entire person in trying this," Evie fidgets and frowns, trying to figure out the logistics. "This is a long shot and I don't think that it's going to work. So, I don't want to take big risks."
Evie glances around the room, looking for anything that might work as a arm. Something that they could strap the mirror to and allow them to poke it into the beam without having fingers get too close.
"Alex" hands you his gun, and gives his sword to Phoebe in exchange for her shield.
"If this works, you can give them back," he says. "If something weird happens, then you'll be a step ahead of me."
He hefts the shield. It's not polished to mirror-brightness, but it's solid. Alex slips his arm through the straps and takes a deep breath. He starts to move the shield towards the beam, hesitates.
"I can't," he breathes. "I want ... I need to be free."
Orithia grips Lya's arm. You've heard the words before, in another context.
"Oh, shit," Evie says, drawing her own gun. "It's him."
"Alex," Phoebe says. "You have to. You suggested it because you know it's the right thing to do."
"I'm not Alex," he says. "I never have been. I'm a body filled with impressions of the real thing."
He nods towards the unconscious form in chains. "That's your Alex, I think. Blowing up his ... our ... house gave Lyman time to do this, and Hel decided to have fun with what was left."
"Twisted bitch," said Klepto.
"What are we but bodies filled with memories and impressions?" Lya asks "Alex" as she shrugs off Orithia's hand.
"Lya, no!" exclaims Orithia.
Lya waves her hands at the others and steps up to "Alex" as he hesitates in front of the beam. "You may not be the whole Alex, but you are still Alex... you hear me?" She jabs a finger into his chest. "You have always been a part of him and have been there through every decision he's made until that moment when he was kidnapped. You helped him make those hard decisions, whether it was on the battlefield or in the court room... and he's not the same without you. And you know what? You're not the same without him." She jabs a finger towards the "Alex" in chains.
"If you wanted to be free, you would've run away as soon as you had the chance... but you didn't because you're part of a man who doesn't run away from a fight! You're part of a man who makes the hard decisions because it's the right thing to do. Alex knows that the only way ANY of us are going to be free is if we stop Lyman and Fenris, and you know it too!"
She raises her hand to touch his cheek. "Please... without you, none of us can be free."
Alex simply nods. He stares at his captive twin for a long moment, then braces and brings the shield over his twin's head, cutting off the flow of mystical whatever-the-fuck-it-is. And as before, energy begins to dance upon the metal of the shield, arcing and sizzling.
But that isn't all. Power flows from one to the other, from the soldier to the captive, pulses that fly through the air and slam into the unconscious man with considerable force, twisting him to and fro. And as they do, the soldier begins to look less like Alex North, and more like a charred shell.
The Burning Man.
"I'm not Alex North. I'm not even a part of him," he says. "He was never my prison. I was meant to be his, a crucible to remake him in my Mistress' image. Whatever your friend is made of, it is not something that is easily transformed. If anything, he has transformed me."
A final pulse wicks from the Burning Man, and you can see the process is not without its toll upon him. But he holds fast as the last pulse homes in on his chained twin.
Alex's eyes snap open. He meets the gaze of the Burning Man; there is a moment where it seems they recognize each other at an essential level.
"Hurry," says the Burning Man. The shield is beginning to glow.
Alex looks to the chains holding him and strains at one. It snaps. Dangling, he tears the other loose and drops to the ground.
"Beware Hel's wrath," the Burning Man says. He draws himself beneath the shield, which is barely recognizable. There is an implosion as it - and he - disappears.
"I gather there's a story, but this isn't the time or place to hear it," Alex says. "How do we get out of here?"
"Tomato, tomatoe..." Lya mutters as she rushes over to Alex and checks him for injuries.
"Well we could always go back the way we came if you're up for it, Alex."
Klepto and Toxic quickly sheath their swords and link hands as they stand under under the ladder and gesture to the others. "We'll give you a boost."
"Wait... does that mean he's...ohhhhh..." Evie says as the answer dawns on her and her eyes widen in surprise.
"Like he said, 'time and place," Lya replies. "If we can get to the courtyard again, maybe we can call Hrofgar and get him to pick us up. It's either that or making our way to the tunnels below the castle."
There's a grinding sound, and a bit of dust trickles down from the ceiling. And then an audible crack as part of the room shifts.
"Which way?" asks Alex. "Whichever one is closer!"
Evie closes her eyes and takes a steadying breath, locking in on her position as the numbers whirl within her head. To anyone without the gift, it would doubtless be a jumble - galactic coordinates mixed together with longitude and latitude, azimuth and altitude - but to her, it makes perfect sense.
"Up!" she yells. "Back the way we came!"
They sprint to the ladder way and no time is wasted as the Furies see Lya and Evie safely topside, then begin assisting each other. Alex offers a clasped-hand stirrup to Toxic, who doesn't argue, but springs lightly off his hands and onto the ladder.
"Alex!" Phoebe yells as he disappears from sight. "ALEX!"
The table at which two of the guards had been sitting heaves into view. Alex jumps onto it, and then onto the ladder.
The grinding sound continues, and several of the beams shift...
Lya crouches against the side wall and whispers the words she hadn't had to utter since the fire that started this journey with Alex. "Έχω την αφή ... έχω τη δύναμη ... με όλα κόλαση να ξεσπάσει Θα είμαι στο μάτι του κυκλώνα."
As the last words leave her lips she feels the warmth of the staff strapped to her back as the runes begin to glow... and suddenly all seems clear when she looks at the rumbling walls. It's almost like they're telling her when pieces are going to fall...
"Try to stay as close to me as possible!" Lya exclaims to the others as Alex makes his way up the ladder to join the rest of the group. "I marked the way so I can find the way back."
Klepto and Orithia quickly move forward with their shields on either side of Lya as they make their way back down the tunnel...
Evie puts a hand on Alex's back and gently pushes him in front of her, nearer to Lya. They have gone to Hel and back to find him. And, now, they discover him again hidden away in this castle and used as a magical focus. She's not about to let him bring up the rear and possibly lose him in all of this chaos.
At this point, Evie goes into autopilot. There is no thinking. There is only doing. Watch for falling debris, jump cracks and chasms that appear, dodge obstacles that suddenly appear...but, mostly importantly, protect her friends if they need it. Hopefully, though, Lya's powers will let them find the way out safely.
"At least she's dodging something tangible this time," Klepto says, then exclaims as a chunk of ceiling bashes her on the shoulder. "Ow!"
It's a scything, crazy dance as Lya makes her way down the tunnel, dodging things a split-second before they impinge upon her progress. As the tunnel continues to collapse, following her becomes progressively more difficult.
It is only by chance that Evie lays a hand on Lya's shoulder at one point. Her eyes widen, as if opened to a wondrous panorama. As the next chunk of ceiling drops, she and Lya seem to move as one, ducking aside and around the debris.
"Link hands!"she calls out, holding out her hand. "Alex!"
Alex takes her hand; the Furies complete the chain.
"I ... ooof," says Alex.
"Don't think about it," Phoebe said. "Surrender to the moment. Feel the thread and your connection to it ..."
The chaotic snake dance continues, and Evie laughs at one point. The Furies are smiling.
And then you're at the ladder leading out of the tunnels, and back in the pantry. There is the smell of smoke, and you realize that whatever is rending the castle apart, the kitchens have been abandoned, with grease fires and boiling pots spilling over...
Lya turns her head and grins at Evie as she starts to sing. "But can we dance into the fire, that fatal kiss is all we need..." she gestures with her hand gripped in hers for Evie to continue the lyrics.
Evie looks at her with a raised eyebrow until suddenly her mind takes her back when she used to dance around the house as a kid listening to Duran Duran with her headphones on. "Dance...into the fire...to fatal sounds of broken dreams..." she mutters as the memories come back to her.
Lya's smile grows wider as she nods in approval and begins to skip as she leads the others through the steam and bubbling grease. "Dance into the fire, that fatal kiss is all we need..."
"Dance into the fire, when all we see is the view to a killlll!" the chorus reaches a crescendo as the Furies all join in with a laugh as they grip hands tight and follow.
Alex laughs. Bond, James Bond, he thinks, remembering the film for which the song was named. Still, he was enjoying the reboot of the film series more than the later Roger Moore films.
An Einjehar goes stumbling by, drooling. His hands are empty, but twitching spasmodically. Lya's voice hitches as she sees the effected Einjehar stumble down the hallway. Shit... think fast...
Lya quickly turns and grabs Alex by the shirt as she pulls herself up on her tip toes and kisses him to the collective gasps and laughs of the Furies.
"Really, Lya?" Evie chuckles as she turns to watch the spectacle.
Despite the dangers surrounding them, Evie can't help but grin unabashedly at the sight. She laughs softly, not blaming Lya at all for taking the opportunity to lay one on Alex, if that is what she has desired. After all, who knows if they will get out of here in one piece? Grab that opportunity with both hands, lady! Carpe diem!
"I ... " Alex manages to murmur before surrendering to the moment. He smiles at Lya. "Mmm. That was nice. Unexpected, but ..."
A timber crashes down on the spot where most of the group would have been standing. The ambling Einjehar was not as fortunate.
I'll take it, Lya tells herself.
The sound of timbers crashing snaps Evie's attention back to the quickly collapsing castle. Her voice is still filled with a soft amusement as she says, "Come on, guys. We need to get out of here."
"Missed you, big guy," Lya says to Alex with a smile and sighs in relief as she turns to see that the Einjehar is totally obscured by the fallen timber.
"Too right, Evie... I'm ready for a drink and this is definitely not the place or time." She gestures to the others to clasp hands again and continues their little chaotic conga line down the hall.
It isn't until you make it out into the courtyard that you realize the extent of things. The castle isn't collapsing; it's being torn apart from the top down. Debris ranging from barrels to massive stone blocks are being lifted into the sky, engulfed by a vortex of energy as daunting as a Kansas tornado.
Nothing is being spared. The bodies of the living and the dead are being vacuumed up. The roof of one outbuilding is torn away. A segment of the wall goes scudding along the ground, then pops up into the air, clobbering a squad of Einjehar. More bodies and viscera tumble into the gyre.
"Shit!" Alex shouts over the rising winds. "I'm the anchor! Don't let go!"
The ease of moving through the castle is gone. It's not that things are any less predictable - Lya seems to be wired into some aspect of her divine blood - but everything is moving faster. Even with the benefit of Lya's ability, others in the group are getting clipped by bits of rock or metal, some of them sharp. Everyone is covered in the grit and grime of flying dirt ...
Evie looks up into the vortex of wind, rubble and bodies. Her heart thumps wildly in her chest, fear gripping her. "Welp. We don't do anything by halves, do we?" she mumbles as she tries to steady herself.
She grips her companions' hands more firmly, turning her eyes back down to the ground. She has to keep herself in the here and now, rooted to the earth. Don't think about the giant, swirling aerial Cuisnart of Doom. Nope. Just walk. Just one foot in front of the other. Hold on to Alex and Lya. Don't let go. Just keep going...
The Furies move quickly and push Lya and Evie closer to Alex as they each grab at his arms with one hand and raise their shields with the other to try and form a protective circle around them.
"We move as one!" Klepto yells out over the storm.
"Evie!" Lya yells over the noise of crumbling structures and flying debris. "Can you direct us out of here?"
"I can find the shortest route out, I think," Evie nods and shouts.
She takes a moment, closing her eyes as she forms mental coordinates of the swirling beast overhead...how far it reaches, it's shape...trying to find the quickest route out from under it.
Lya nods at Evie. "Awesome. And just in case..." she pulls out her phone in a death grip and quickly hits the redial button to reach their erstwhile taxi. "Pick up, you crazy dwarf!"
"By the Norns!" Hrofgar shouts over the roaring winds. "You folk don't do anything by half-measures, do you? Odin's Missing Eye, I'm glad I stuck around!"
A moment later, he is there amid you. "Group hug!" he shouts.
But instead of the eye blink teleport you experienced before, the sensation is far more wrenching, as if you'd jumped off a speeding train. Even Hrofgar seems to have the wind knocked out of him.
"That's never happened before," he mutters. He blinks back and forth across the room without incident. "Odd."
"Is everybody OK?" Lya calls out before grabbing her head in pain. "Gods... I think I'm going to be sick..."
"Still alive... but kind of regretting it right now," Toxic moans as she rolls over onto her back.
"Did someone get the number of that train?" Orithia mutters as she makes her way to wobbly feet and offers her hand to Phoebe.
"Alex? Evie?" Klepto asks.
"I survived a chopper crash," Alex said, with somewhat of a trying-not-to-puke look on his face.. "This was worse. Still appreciate the lift, though, Hrofgar."
"I'm here," Evie groans as she tries to resist the urge to lay down and curl into a little ball of nausea. She makes a little "hurk" sound but manages not to vomit.