Anarchy Rising Book 2: A Hunted Wasteland

Chrys

The forest was even more creepy from the inside. Despite being in the hybrid form, Chrus could barely see anything other than thickly packed tree trunks, vicious rose bushes that she carefully evaded, silhouettes of her companions, and darkness. On top of that, it was way too quiet. Even with noiseless movement which was an expertise of cats, the normally imperceptible sounds of the body echoed loudly and distracted her involuntarily nervous attention to the surroundings.

As for Ray, the boy instantly realized that eyes would do him no good here. Luckily, he and Chrys were partners for a very long time; he could follow closely in her footsteps with the help of his remaining 5 senses alone. He walked so close that her tail occasionally brushed against his skin. The boy didn't like the forest at all, but he was just as determined as Chrys. If this was the way to find the Blythes, he could put up with it.

Suddenly, a new sound attacked their senses; a voice coming out of nowhere. Both kids almost jumped in surprise; the figure sitting on the stump felt as if it materialised out of nowhere, and its casual tone seemed grossly inappropriate for this place. However, he mentioned a cemetery, and that was enough for Chrys to engage in conversation. "Really?" she asked, glad to have met a helpful person so soon. But Ray placed his hand on her shoulder to stop her enthusiasm and posed a question of his own:"Are you asking or showing us the way?" The boy couldn't help but feel suspicious; this forest was not a place someone would enter without a purpose, and this stranger felt weird. He couldn't quite put a finger on it, but the man didn't fit. As such, Ray would not rely blindly on anything he said.

Leiv wrote:

Ghosty

Spoiler:

Team M ~ M – R – S


Surge sat wondering that this was turning less and less into a last-meal-scenario, now that negotiations were taking place and a time frame being presented to them. Still as this was Maxwell’s show, he kept quiet, while thinking back when was the last time he was presented with such a feast where he didn’t eat a morsel.

Turning her head towards her partner, Raven gave him the look. The look, which signaled him that she was ready to take up arms at a moment’s notice; though she didn’t lose the opportunity to snicker at him; with just that crooked smile on her face, she gave the simple message of “You messed up big time, but it’ll cost you if you want me to bail you out.”

Maxwell simply smiled at Raven, which meant that he got the message but didn’t give any other command. Turning his eyes on the blood pool forming in the palm of the Prince of Hell, Maxwell continued to keep his right finger hidden behind the goblet, the instant-hostile-energy-banishing-sigil which in this case would be the blood users opponents, created by the icy mist releasing from his forefinger, almost complete; Maxwell tightened his grip on the weapon in his left while keeping both the Demon Lord and his caretaker in his line of sight.

“I was, and still am really hoping that we could get past this hostility. Let’s face it, we all lost precious people. Things die from time to time. It is the life cycle after all, but one always hopes for prolonging that inevitable time. No one can or should blame the other if they so wish to fight back, when their life is threatened. But hey, truth be told, a proper compromise, can always be the factor that lets both sides get what they want and remove the ill-wish from between them.” Pointing Dragniir, at the bloody pool, Maxwell continued, “That deal of yours is not one as such. All of us here want the same thing…” Maxwell held the staff vertically, and continued, “That is, the welfare of this Island.” he ended with a nonaggressive show of slamming the staff on the ground.

As his right palm hovered over the banishing sigil; by the process of precipitation and his ability to control the element; the mist hardened into a thin ring of ice engraved with the appropriate sigils onto the underside of Maxwell's right hand. Standing up onto his feet, the other two following suit and moving out of his way as Maxwell walked few steps closer to Mammon, though stopping at a little more than an arm’s length from the Demon’s outstretched arm with the blood soaked palm.

“A revised proposal. You give me authority over all your armies as a General-of-the-Army. Meaning your demons work for me and in lieu, I work for you. Basically I’ll be doing your bidding with an entire army to usher forward and making everyone know your might. You give me that position, that chain of command and I’ll get you your mortals into one place AND have them, acknowledge you as their one true King. They live on this plane as your disciples, they die and turn into demons; your army increases by ten folds or even more.”

Maxwell leveled his right hand at Mammon’s palm. The ice seal neatly hidden with a thin layer of mist. If Mammon was to agree to his terms then the banishing seal would dissolve and Maxwell’s palm would rip open, letting blood seem out and he would shake the Prince of Hell’s hand. Otherwise if Mammon was to turn ever more hostile and attempt to attack Maxwell and his team; Maxwell would grab Mammon’s hand or any part of the Golden table which if any, would have his blood spilled on top. The sigil would activate and as the blood, used as a catalyst was Mammon’s, Maxwell and his team would be banished far away from the place for the sigil would react to their hostility towards Mammon.

With his hand, not too far away from the Demon’s, “What say you my potential future King, Do you accept?”

Depending on the next series of events, Maxwell would have the sigil either dissolve or use it instantly or even keep it ready to deploy as per the circumstances would deem him to do so.

Carlos and Selena

The dark gloomy athmosphere of the forest was unnerving even for someone as Carlos, who normally just breezed trough dire situation with a casual attitude. Despite the lack of light, the dead silence of the forest made tracking trough sound way easier then normal as even the most miniscule of sounds seemed to cause a disturbance around here.

Selena really didn't like this place, as she was more intune with her instincs/wild side then Carlos, the creepy forest was even more nerve wrecking for her and was walking shoulder in shoulder with Carlos, gaining some comfort from the other's presence, she would however not grab onto his arm as it would restrict the male lycan's mobility in case of emergency.

Similar to Ray, the two older lycan's found the newcomer as suspicious as possible, selena just remained alert while Carlos already had his hands on his guns though not pointing them at the stranger, well he didn't really have to, he could simply use the bouncing shoot to gun him down without even needing to point the weapon straight at him.

"Yes, not the nicest place i've been to, but why would you think we are looking for the cemetery?" Selena asked with an equally casual tone, hidding her anxiety

Ray, Rover, Chryse, Carlos Selena
The newcomer rolled his eyes, the pupils seeming to have expanded far beyond what a human could muster. He leisurely pulled himself off the stump he was reclining on, his every movement exuding the casual grace ballerina’s strived their whole lives to approach. “Yes really, little one, the Fae can’t lie, I had thought that common knowledge.” His eyes rolled over towards Ray like a sleepy Cat “That’s the same thing little mortal.” And without turning his head from the children “Lycanthrope I would sheath that gun, pointing cold iron at a Fae is highly disrespectful.”

He gave a slight sigh apparently bored by the whole ordeal already, his tone showing a general disregard for the sanctity of the silence around him. Actually, he seemed to be opening challenging the horde of silent unseen horrors that seem to lurk just out of mind. “I don’t think I know and have been instructed by My Lady to guide you to the cemetery and your family. You should probably look out.” He finished casually as he pointed a long slender finger at Carlos as if conversationally pointing out lint on the lycan’s shoulder as a thorny vine wrapped itself around Carlos’s arm.”

Leiv wrote:

Ray, Rover, Chryse, Carlos Selena
The newcomer rolled his eyes, the pupils seeming to have expanded far beyond what a human could muster. He leisurely pulled himself off the stump he was reclining on, his every movement exuding the casual grace ballerina’s strived their whole lives to approach. “Yes really, little one, the Fae can’t lie, I had thought that common knowledge.” His eyes rolled over towards Ray like a sleepy Cat “That’s the same thing little mortal.” And without turning his head from the children “Lycanthrope I would sheath that gun, pointing cold iron at a Fae is highly disrespectful.”

He gave a slight sigh apparently bored by the whole ordeal already, his tone showing a general disregard for the sanctity of the silence around him. Actually, he seemed to be opening challenging the horde of silent unseen horrors that seem to lurk just out of mind. “I don’t think I know and have been instructed by My Lady to guide you to the cemetery and your family. You should probably look out.” He finished casually as he pointed a long slender finger at Carlos as if conversationally pointing out lint on the lycan’s shoulder as a thorny vine wrapped itself around Carlos’s arm.”

Rover

As the strange man that seemed to show up out of nowhere finished talking, the vine that wrapped around Carlos arm was touched by Rover, and it would start to seemingly disintegrate, turning literally to dust. "You feel.... familiar somehow... maybe a little twisted" He spoke, again seeming a little dreamy, before going back to normal with a big grin the next moment. "A fairy. I think this is my first time seeming a fairy" He was back to his idiotic self with large impressed eyes and a big grin, like a child that saw a shiny new bike. This coming from a guy that felt like a fairy himself was obviously quite odd however.

Rho: "Well what the ****?" The Rho stood there for a moment perplexed. "Well I guess we should go and assess the situation with Dionysus, anybody actually know who this Summers guy is? You know what let's just go ask Dionysus he'll know." She turns and begins heading back towards Dionysus' Palace.

Chrys

"Well I didn't kn-" Chrys started to answer, before she was interrupted by a nudge in the ribs by Ray, which made her shut up. The boy now knew what was so disquieting about the man, and it didn't make him any less suspicious. From what he remembered about fae from the lessons he and Chrys got in better times back in the Lycan Confederation, these creatures loved to talk in riddles and even though they couldn't lie, they were definitely not to be trusted. However, since he said he had orders to show them the way, it was at least a confirmation of their info from Anansi. Chrys apparently thought the same; Ray could clearly see she was itching to set off in the indicated direction. There was just one thing to clarify before that. "Let's say we believe you... but first, who is this Lady of yours?" the boy said firmly, slowing his lycan friend in her hurry. Meanwhile, Chrys was momentarily distracted by the vine attacking Carlos. Should Rover's intervention not help for some reason, she was ready to have a small lightning bolt strike at its base and fry the roots.

Carlos and Selena

Carlos was about to make another one of his smartass remarks but the vine "attackin" him took precedence. As if dictated by instinct, upon turning his head to look at the vine carlos wanted to jump backwards but forced himself to stay in place, trying to forefully escape would most likely result in an injury and this wasn't exactly the place where one could afford the luxury of one.

Apparently the others already decided to jump in an help so he would do nothing for now. First would be rover trying to make it shrivel up and die followed up by selena using her runic dagger to cut it off, since the dagger burned mana in mages, if the vine was magical in nature there was a good chance it would take extra damage from the mana burn ability of the dagger. If by some reason even Chry's insane idea of a lightning attack failed, Carlos would enchant his bullets with the magic amullet and fire upon the vine.

"No point in worrying about traps here, the moment we entered this place it already felt like a big trap" Selena spoke to the others wanting to move on hoping things would go smoothly for once and they could leave this accursed place in a timely fashion.

Jasmine

It seemed that the white-clothed woman was as changeable as the wind. Despite being in a hurry and full of demands previously, suddenly she got in a talkative mood; not that she actually said anything of worth. Jasmine was growing more and more impatient as time passed. Finally, this Zarina decided to go. That was somewhat unexpected, but at that point, Jasmine would give anything to be able to get out of there already. So when Rho suggested they go and report to Dionysus, she simply nodded and turned back. She had already reabsorbed the dark matter from the shield during the long talks, and so she was not leaving anything they could study behind. Moreover, one of the guards did confirm that they were gone for the moment, so there was no point camping outside making a target of themselves.

Once they got back to the confines of the compound, Jasmine would follow the others and leave speaking to them. She didn't feel like scheming and getting into arguments anymore; she had quite enough of that for the day. Unless something she deemed worthy of reaction happened, she would remain a quiet shadow and let Rho take the spotlight.

Zhi

The situation ended in a most unexpected and anti climatic manner, the enemy just got up and left leaving the others to think things trough. Honestly giving up summers seemed like the best solution on a first glance but if one thought it trough, more darker ramification could be discovered, one among them being that summers was actually someone important or had some sort of power the others could use to build a doomsday device, sure a bit old school but it was a possibility.

Not all of the options had to hide some dark secret or meaning, he could of just been someone that pissed of the leader or higher ranking officer and simply wanted summers dead for selfish reasons. Regardless of the reasons for and against handing over summers, there was still the thing about Dionysus' pride to take into account, ancient gods had a tendecy of being renowneded for stubborness and vegence so there was a good chance of the terms not being accepted out of pure spite.

Regardless of reason and whatnot, Zhi would simply follow the others inside and mostly keep to himself unless something important would come up. Looking over towards jasmine, he could tell that she had also gotten sick of these petty politics game and asked a simple "you to?" using the fact they spent quite a bit of time traveling together after the boat incident,so they would be somewhat familiar with eachothers mindset, as an excuse to not give further details.

Jack
Jack reached down and grabbed the case, without so much as wincing at the mention of impending danger. He took a deep breath getting a whiff of the place. Deserted and damned, he almost wanted to laugh, at night, warzones such as this one had the ominous feel that so very much loved subjecting himself to. He pulled a 180 when Harlan told him he could ask a question. Ok, then why don't you tell me what's in this briefcase, or who you're trying to have me work for? I'm lending you my service now, but if you seek for me to do something i don't approve of, i think you'll find im not very compliant. And let me assure you Harlan, fear is not an effective motivator for me.

Rho
Contrary to what the world would have believed her state to be, Rho was calm. She did not question why the woman had wanted to talk to them, she had assumed the woman had lacked the knowledge that she had arrived not long ago, but even if she did have the knowledge, Rho did not care. What she did care about was the absence of Dionysus himself. As she strutted into the throne room, her eyes took on a predatory look as they fell upon Dionysus second hand man.

She muttered to herself, "Trembling... how pitiful." She raised her voice and yelled to her familiar, "Chew Toy!" As the familiar heard it's name called it stopped in it's tracks and turned it's bag covered head to Rho. "Go and gather up the bodies of the dead, lets not let them go to waste! we'll make ourselves a pool..." Upon receiving it's command, the familiar wrenched around and started walking back towards the battlefield. It was quite convenient that the slaughter had occurred at a defensible location which could now be used to store the resources that the corpses would provide.

She approached the second-hand man with an odd mix of predatory excitement and of motherly pity. "Where is the god of pleasure child? Why does the party stop? If he is gone, how can you cower? you leave Dionysus' people unled, this is unacceptable." She recognized the trembling figure as both the highest remaining authority left in the palace, but also as an indecisive and weak figure. Without any hesitation she moved around the figure and sat down on Dionysus' throne. She sat her elbows on her legs, clasped her hands together and rested her chin there. "Tell me child, do you think you are capable of leading these people in the absence of your god? Do speak now for we must repair, rebuild, and regroup the people. Their moral is shattered, this glorious palace lies in ruins, and their god, their inspiration, is missing. I will not allow this kingdom to deteriorate and collapse into a petty refugee camp in his absence." She looked to the second-hand man with now dead serious eyes, she spoke with utter and stern sincerity. The military officer part of her personality was once again making itself known.

"We will need to put out the fires, restore order, rally the people, make repairs, and revitalize the party. We will need workers, entertainers, alcohol, narcotics, musicians, all must be restored, and we must additionally take measures to reinforce our defenses, especially until Dionysus returns." She stared intently at Dionysus' second hand man, as if staring into his soul. "So tell me child, can you rally these people are shall I?"

The Dark Wood
The Fairy rolled his eyes once again at Chrys’s ignorance seemingly unconcerned about the vine wrapping itself around Carlos. “I swear you mortals are so ob…WAIT STOPE!” The fairy yelled out to Rover a second too late as Rover attempted to disintegrate the vine. The vine shriveled and died, the remnants cut away easily by Selena’s blade. Everything stood still for a moment the feeling of a bomb about to go off was all but palpable.
The trees erupted thorny vines and gnarled limbs writhing in fury as they bore down on the small grouop. “Great Job! Just Fantastic! Now she knows you’re here.” The fairy said with elitist contempt. “What are you doing standing there RUN.” He finished while gracefully dancing around a tree limb which had tried to bash his heading and flipping away from a writhing mass of thorny vines. “Cemetery now” he sighed,

Jasmine

The vampire girl rolled her eyes at Zhi's question, but as soon as they entered the devastated throne room, it was clear they would not get a break anytime soon. Of course, Rho immediately took the initiative. Jasmine would have been surprised if she didn't. Well, that was fine by her and all, but if the woman expected her to listen to a lycan, or anyone else for that matter, she was sorely mistaken. The vampire let her play the boss, listening in on the conversation by one ear just in case the babbling human actually said something useful, and she instead examined the destroyed room. It smelled of demons, and now she thought about it, a stalling attempt would explain the sudden change of attitude that the exorcist woman showed. Demon... exorcist... that combination was actually really familiar. Stein.

With this deduction in mind, she looked at the whole confrontation from before by new eyes. That explosion of her butterflies should have at least ruffled the enemy a bit. And that disappearance... at the moment, she had two theories. Either they were demons, immune to blast damage and with someone who could teleport them, or most of them were illusions. She liked neither. They both meant she'd been had.

In any case, right now she was looking for a confirmation of her suspicions. If there was nothing important to be seen at the site of what she considered a kidnapping now, she would walk back out and look at the battlefield again, in case something was missed before.

But before she would leave the room, she'd have a question of her own for tge second in command man: "Hey you! Do you know anyone named Summers in here?" If the information on this topic seemed relevant enough, she might even reconsider the order in which she did things and leave the investigation of the outside for later.

ZHI

The former monk examined the surroundings and contemplated the events while the girls were busy trying to one up eachother, they could do whatever they wanted, zhi didnt really have any interest in leading anything.

It was obvious there were demonic powers at hand after the left over clues, fire and brimstone being a dead give away. While Jasmine and Rho were busy showing of their importance, Zhi was looking at the pattern of ashes left over for hints, teleportation trough flames was pretty much a standard for demons and their left over burn pattern was like a signature.

"Hey, when you two finally figure out who's the boss mind helping me study the patterns here, if my hunch is right the left over patern would give us a clue as to who was behind this." Zhi stated casually to Jasmine and Rhos while still staring into the ashes.

While both Jasmine and Rho's ideas were good, the "air" around them felt like two bulls headbutting eachother, as for zhi, he would just do whatever he considered to be right at the moment as he always does.

Chrys

After the vine was destroyed, things quickly took a turn to the worse. With the whole forest attacking him, there didn't seem anything else to do than to run, as the fae suggested. "Ray!" called out Chrys, already morphing into her full tiger form while dodging a lashing vine. Her friend didn't need to be told twice. Jumping on her back and laying low, his fingers dug into her fur so he wouldn't fall off, the pair weaved through the crazy forest, following after the fae. Chrys' s precognition should help enough for them to safely avoid injury while they ran, though Rover, Selena and Carlos would have to take care of themselves. Ray hoped they'd have enough sense to not waste time trying to fight the forest.

Carlos

No warning was needed, mass of thorny vines was about as clear a signal as possible that it was time to get the hell out of there, both Selena and Carlos immediately bolting towards the cemetery.
Selena would transform into her hybrid form for the speed boost and still hold the dagger in case she needed it to cut anymore vines that would try to obstruct them.
Carlos would also grumbly transform, something for which he wasn't pleased at all though he knew the necesity of not falling behind right now, similar to Selena he would use his guns to shoot at the vines trying to keep them away, if needed he would even resort to using his claws and fangs, he would be in an aweful mood after this but atleast he would still be alive to be able to have his tantrum.

Jack
Jack was quiet for a long moment. He then removed his precious black book from it's pouch on his hip and removed a specialized leather strap from his bag. He then began attaching the book to the strap before taking the strap and tying it around his torso tightly, ensuring his skin and fur touched the books cover. "You'll have to forgive me for my precautions. One whom you describe as so powerful may be inclined to try and snag my lifes work from me, I cannot allow such a thing to happen. Furthermore," he straightened up his back, "I'd also like to know who or what this being is before I go handing off a case of god knows what importance to him. It's not hard to come to the conclusion that I'd be tipping the balance of power in a direction that I may not like."

Rho
She sighed. The man obviously wasn't paying any attention to her, but his frazzled state evoked sympathy in her. "Typical," she leaned back in Dionysus's luxurious throne. "We had something evil in the basement and it got out," she generally mocked the shaken man and his counterparts. She grumbled as she gripped her face and ran her clawed fingers through her bangs. "It can't ever be simple can it?" She took a deep breath.

"Alright dear, just tell me this, and then I'll give you something that'll help you relax," She sat up forward again towards Dionysus' second in command. "Is Summers still here? and do you know where Dionysus went? If you can tell me these things you can have a nice long rest before I need you again ok?" She spoke in an almost motherly tone, the look in her eyes softened as she watched the man and waited for an answer.