Act 3, Scene 1

Well.  We've made new friends already.

Why does it seem like every time we go somewhere new, and meet new demi/full on gods, they have to be stuffed up assholes?  Seriously.  And then, when they are that way, it's my fault for treating them like they're assholes.  It's...mrgh.  I know I have a temper.  I know my reflexes tell me to kick anyone in the teeth if they're being twats.  I just need to sharpen that edge a bit.  I know I can't really go on with my first reflex in any situation being to be a snarky little jackass.

But, Rome.  We're not going to be here long.  Made a deal with the man in charge not to stuff this place into my plans.  Makes sense.  There's enough history here, divine and mortal, that I have no great desire to wreck up the joint.  I'm not sure where we're going to set up, but I imagine it'll be somewhere just as close to Olympus itself.  In a way, it makes sense.  We can set up ways for our Pesedjet allies to get in, all I have to do is blow the horn Hel gave me and the million-strong Aesir army springs up.  And a small band will have a much easier time staying under the radar.  Thuringia is a possibility, but I'd rather not put Kenny's folk on the spot if I don't have to.  I'll see what everyone else can come up with.

Speaking of - it seems Hera pulled Kenny aside after our jump through the warp pipe.  Something about our intentions for Olympus and history between Hera and Kennedy's half of the family.  And Rufus...damnit.  I can hope he'll slowly learn to lean back towards his old self.  But I don't know.  Damnit.  I really should've known better, the old boy's like that because of my fuck up.  And while logic might dictate Kennedy and him saying they knew the risks, that doesn't make it easier.  It's different when the ones that get hurt aren't the faceless masses.

Which just makes me think.  I've no problem with throwing this massed army of Aesir and Pesedjet at Olympus if I have to.  And while I wouldn't want to waste them...it'd be harder to mourn.  I don't know them, not in the slighest.  I guess it might be a blessing the High Court hasn't sent aid yet.  I'm sure it'd be harder throwing Tuatha-born at the front lines.

Is this really going to be my test, Fate?  Make sure I can wear some stupid bloody crown and not break by dropping me into a situation like this?  Is there a point, or are you just doing this for kicks?

Chalk up another one for the good guys

Looks like we won this round, too.

And at least we're out of Duat.  Hopefully the next trip through an underworld is many, many centuries off.  We had finally reached the scales of Ma'at.  Judgement time, yay?  What happened with the others is theirs to tell, or not, as they please.  No need to rat on them for it.  Myself, though?  Got dropped into the waters up to chest level.  On the bad side, I'm probably glad I don't have Andrew or Kennedy's perceptions into the machinations of Fate.  On the good side...I think I amused Ma'at.  Something about being defiant to the end, regardless.  I can't say that having amused a goddess is a bad thing in most cases.  And she let me go.  So who am I to complain?  Of course....dad actually spoke up for me too.  He reminded her that even 'tricksters and rebels' have their place.  And then he made a pass at her.  Seriously.  I wish that was a joke.  That man is impossible.

That's when Anubis made his appearance.  He addressed us all as one, then me specifically.  The Pesedjet have pledged their support in the push for Olympus when the time comes.  Not a bad lookin' army so far.  A million dead Aesir and the Pesedjet.  I'd like to be sure the Tuatha would be there as well beyond myself and Kennedy.  And I would have loved to be able to bring the eastern pantheons in.  But I suspect the Bureaucracy would have simply laughed, and I doubt that the Amatsukami would even have deigned to acknowledge some whelp from the west.  We're going to need them after, so maybe finally drop-kicking Zeus to the curb will get us some notice.

There were...other events, but they also aren't for me to go into.  As things stand now...I need to find a way to discuss things with Hera.  She's the obvious choice for what I intend to do.  I also need to find a way to get ahold of Athena.  Anubis said he was bringing us to Rome.  Quite a bit closer than I imagined, but given everything, it should leave Goras out of the picture, which is how I wanted him in the first place.  I'd like to arrange the same thing for Athena.  It'd be great to have her on our side, but I don't expect it.  All I seek now is to convince her not to fight for Zeus.  Stepping aside would probably be best anyway.  If the plan for Hera falls through, Athena is the next candidate I'd put on the throne.

Always with the Snakes

Well.  Guess I'm going to be without my shadow for a while.

We ran into a giant snake while we were trying to guide this bloody boat through the rocks.  It's...made of shadows.  And if I fire off the Sun mojo again, just causes all the old issues again.  Then...Cindy, in her infinite wisdom, decides to attack and leave her charge unguarded.  So when the snake turns our shadows against us, there's nobody to help.  My shadow was dispatched easily enough by a simple shot straight to the heart.  I think Kennedy simply turned her god mojo on her own shadow.  

Of course, when Cindy finally got back to it, she just tried to -grab- the damn thing.  Which worked about as well as one can expect.  Simple grabs ain't gonna work, hopefully she figured that out.  This...is going to be tough.  There's really only one of us who can't fully cut loose to deal with the damn critter.  Hal is good at his work, but it took all of us to deal with Kur, and I haven't seen a bone golem to distract this snake.

I've got a few ideas if it comes to it.  I need to start charging up my own mojo.  If Hal can't outfight it on his own, maybe...damn it.  She of the Throne my ass, Fate.  It's walk into it openly or risk everything isn't it?  

You know what kids?

Being a demigod kinda sucks.

The 4th Gate

There really isn't much to say.

We've reached the fourth gate.  I suspect this place is beginning to grind down on Hal, he's not normally this doom and gloom.  As long as we can keep it together for the rest of the trip, we'll be fine once we're free of Duat.  Looking around, I keep half-suspecting that R'lyeh is going to rise from the black waters and Cthulu is going to jump out and yell surprise at us before we're devoured.  I certainly wouldn't be surprised at this point, given the bloody snake in Helheim.

But we're here.  Hurt but unbroken.

I've...well, taken my spot at this point as the stand in for Isis.  As I've said, I'm not happy about it, but it is what it is.  Fate is going to keep pushing me this way, then fine, let it.  I'm not going to be the McKenzie who decided to go home when things got a bit dicey.  When we're free of Duat and Imhotep has whatever his plans are in place, then we can get back on track.  I'm starting to understand a bit more just how big the stakes are, too.  If Zeus is so desperate as to go through a titan to get what he regards as his, he'll make mistakes.

I just need to play my own cards right.  Which means finding a way to keep Aphrodite from just snapping her fingers, given her absurd levels of being able to twist people to her will.  I need to figure out where Athena stands as well.  The most I'm going to hope for there is neutrality, though.  With her out of the war, Zeus loses the last of the bulk of his military thinking.  Sure, there will be his children and other Dodek scions who side with Olympus, but I'm confident enough that without Ares or Athena, he can't, in the end, win through force of arms.

I just hope he has the bloody sense to see it himself.

Boat's moving again.  Need to cut this short so I can help guide us through.

Fallen

What else is there to say?

I suppose technically Rufus isn't dead.  His soul is perfectly preserved.  But none of this would've happened without me screwing up.  I expected to lose people in this war.  I'd be a bigger fool to think we'd all get through unscathed.  But to lose Rufus to such an incredibly idiotic mistake...damn it.  I really should have known better.  Wasn't even getting outmaneuvered in the field.  It was just stupid.

It's times like this my talents had leaned towards death.  Then maybe I could do something about it.  I don't know what, mind.  But there could have been something to set this right.  Now?  I don't know.  And I don't even have time to start working on it.  I can turn ideas over in my head, sure, but we've got the rest of the mission.  It's probably what he'd want too.  Doesn't mean I wouldn't rather be looking for a way to set things right, though.

And to think, this isn't even the worst of what we were told to expect.  All because the Egyptians couldn't be fucking bothered to send their own people down here.  I should have held on to that point.  An entire band of their own would be better served down here then a mishmash with only one Pesedjet.  The real objective of Egypt should have been left to us, not this...busywork.  I suppose it's my fault for letting the planning get away from me.  Just one more on the pile.  If it were at all possible to simply leave this to the Pesedjet I'd do it.  Get back topside, actually cut the Greek lines home, and force Goras to lay down his weapons.  Guess that's objective two, because I don't see us getting out of here any time soon.

I can't wait to get out of this fucking hole.  I'm getting tired of all this underworld bullshit.  I've got my own things to answer for since opening my mouth in Troy.  But the Dodekatheon and the Pesedjet now have more.  At least the High Court is shaken out of it's funk.  As soon as we're out of here I need to speak to dad or the Morrigan.  Get a feel for how the wind is blowing now.  Soon as the Greeks are stopped here, we need to talk to the Yazata.  I know full well what happened the last time the Persians tried to take Greece, and that's what I need now.  A long, drawn out, knock-down fight.  I want Olympus bled dry before it's time to move directly on it.

Damn it.

I'm sorry, Rufus.  I'm so goddamn sorry.  I'll make this right.

Overboard

Shit.

I really should have known better.  I recognize that.  I didn't need Hal commenting on it.  But we were going to be jumped either way, damnit.  I...damnit.  Most of our overboard can be retrieved.  Rufus, though...damnit.  If I have to turn this fucking boat around to go find him, I will.  We can deal with Olympus without the Egyptians if we have to.  I am not abandoning one of our own because I was an idiot.  Anyone else who doesn't like it can have Hal carry them to Ra's boat.

This whole trip was a bad idea anyway.  I know where it went wrong, though.  This bloody insistence on shoring up Egypt's defenses.  That wasn't the goddamn plan.  The entire point of fighting in Egypt was to make sure Goras couldn't fight.  Not to face him on the open field.  I don't think anyone else knows or cares why I'm trying to make sure Greeks are the spearhead.  Anyone else's banner in front and it's another pantheon meddling.  Olympians in the vanguard?  It's their fight with foreign aid.  Ok, Fate might say this is my gig.  But that just means I get to fight that my way, and that starts with turning as many Greek loyalists against Zeus as I can.  And Goras would make one hell of an asset.  If I convinced Ares, I can convince him. But this bloody insistence on an open fight is madness.

And if it comes to an open fight, I won't be able to get him to switch sides.  It's not just him we need, but his people too.  The more we kill, the less likely anyone else is going to want to join us.  Oh, no doubt others will argue we wouldn't take the blame, or that we don't need Goras' troops, or him.  Or that hey, it's the Pesedjet that would be the focus of their ire.  But that's because they aren't, or haven't been, paying attention to Fate at all.  Andrew maybe, but he's going to be focused on his homeland.

But the rest of it doesn't matter.  The whole bloody mess is my doing anyway.  First from even letting the plan break from what I was trying to do, then with that stupid crap on the boat.  There may not be time to fix the first one - and no military campaign can be run perfectly.  But the second was fixable.  It was just a matter of getting the damn boat turned around.

Another day, another underworld

One day, we're going to go somewhere nice.  Maybe a beach.  For all it's issues, Troy was nice.  And then...two underworld's in a row, an argument with the High Court...I knew I was cursed.  This is what I get for opening my mouth so many times.  Fate has it in for me.  What am I supposed to do about it?  I could curse Fate, but that's just piss her off.  So, I'll continue as is - grumbling to myself and occasionally ranting about it.  But no direct attacks.  I'm not -stupid-, after all.

Andrew guided us along the thread to the first dock on Duat's river.  Once we had our boots on the ground, we headed towards the first actual gate.  Something is wrong down here.  Which is not a surprise, really.  We only had to fight and bind a giant snake in Hel's own house, why would anything ever go simply?  Lexi, the little mook, tried to get us to go faffing about.  Put my foot down on that, and Andrew backed me up.  Anyway.  What was wrong was that there weren't Pesedjet spirits down here.  Not just them.  A ton of the Abrahamic religion followers had their spirits lined up.  Given what we saw in Helheim, I'm starting to suspect there's similar trouble down here.  Especially given that the bloody Dodekatheon is mucking around with Nyx.  I'm starting to understand why the Dagda wants to kick Zeus' sorry ass so hard, now.  They're all idiots, save a remarkable few.

A sphinx had the temerity to growl at Rufus.  Rufus.  The most suave and debonair wolf to ever live.  I gave him the bloody tophat and monocle to prove it!  What do I need to do, get the man a pipe?  He is a gentleman.  Unless I was right and they did think he was cute.  I probably was.  It is Rufus, after all.  Any talks with the sphinx or it's other half?  Mate?  Fellow guard?  Whatever.  Those talks never had to happen.  Kebauet prevented that.  The band talked to her for a time before she pointed us on.  Imhotep himself...well.    Took some talking to, but we did convince him to come with us.  Of course, while we were debating, Apep's assassin's started infiltrating and getting in close to us.  In the spirit of not faffing about when we're all about to be murdered, made the call to just get our asses in gear.  We're headed up.  There could be more...temporal issues, but it's better then having to pick our way through a metric ton of traps.

This ferry doesn't lead to Skara Brae, Avatar

Suppose I can't blame them.

The spirits, I mean.  Not having a death-tuned godling at the helm, much less one not of the Pesedjet, was something to bitch over.  Mind, I was irritated at the time.  However, it does make sense.  And I figured out where they really wanted me - at the rails watching for trouble.  Very little really happened.  Saw another barge with some of the Pesedjet on them.

Everything else is really covered in the official report.  I'm still not comfortable with this Isis business, though. 'She of the Throne'?  Really?  I can see about a thousand different places Fate could be steering me on this, and none of them are anything I really want to deal with.  Guess we'll just have to see how it goes, though.  Still haven't had time to really talk to Artemis after everything.  Dad's stupid horses took us straight to Egypt. But...given how long she's actually been a goddess, it's probably nothing to fret over.  Pity I can't get them to hit Goras' troops from behind.  Slow them up even more, but...I think this fight is going to be settled under the Sphinx's gaze.  Proverbially.  Hopefully not literally.

Not really much else to get into.  Not without this degenerating into brainless rambling about random crap.  Shouldn't take too long to finish up here...of course, I fully expect there to be a fight or five.  We got down here far too easily.  But nothing for it yet.  Just have to wait for Fate to turn around and bite us square in the ass on it.

World 2-1

Well, Egypt got off to an absolutely smashing start.  Everyone else seems to have pulled their stuff off but me and Kenny.  Which is good.  Don't get me wrong.  It's just frustrating as hell that we were the only ones to run into someone being as pigheaded as Nuada.  It's going to make my life easier in the end, especially the apperant reasonableness of the Yazata.  If they'd tried to bunker up too...ugh.  Doesn't bear thinking on.

And I may have vented off some of my frustrations on the Pesedjet liason.  Probably shouldn't have, but anyone who had to deal with the politics of the High Court probably would've felt the same.  This is why I wish I hadn't stuck my foot in my mouth and got Fate's attention.  She's being a royal bitch and a half, and I've nobody to blame but myself.

I do, however, still think the Egyptians are giving us the job we have now as a way to A) Get us out of their way, and B) Get the Greeks amongst us killed.  I highly doubt they're going to sell us out unless Aphrodite shows up and mind-whammies them anyway.  I do see where they're coming from...but for fuck's sake, a little honesty would be preferable to the hooplah about 'not having the resources'.  Bullshit on that.  The Greeks only have so many approaches they can take, and all the Egyptians have to do is hold until the head of the snake can be cut off.  Even with one of those approaches being through Nyx herself.  The other option is something else I mentioned - the Pesedjet and their mortal allies dropped the ball on their defenses so catastrophically they actually don't have the numbers to hold the walls and sent a sallying party out to deal with the nonsense we got fobbed off on us.

And while I freely admit I shouldn't have called Kahi out on that so openly.  Should've been handled quietly while the others are getting ready.  Even if she's one of the ones who completely disregard anything the mortals can possibly do.  And, yes, I fully intend to render an apology to the woman once we're done with the job.  But for the love of Pete, a bit more honesty wouldn't have killed them either.  If we're going to win this, we have to be honest with each other.  Sometimes the bloody truth hurts.

The task.  We're escorting some nublets out with us to go make contact with the guardians of Imhotep's tomb.  They want their best architect on the job of building more defenses against the Dodeks.  Makes sense.  Tricky bit...each of the ladies in the band has to take the 'place' of one the defending goddesses in a ritual to summon Imhotep's soul from the underworld.  And to go back to something above...guess how I know Fate's been fucking with me personally?

After all of this, I am, as Andrew suggested, to emboy Isis.  She of the Throne.  Yeah, Fate.  I'm looking right at you, you colossal bitch.

Kicking the Hornet's Nest

Well.  Three years.  Tch.  With orders given and tasks passed out, we split to take care of business before meeting up again in Egypt.  Me and Kennedy headed to the High Court.  Apperantly, Nuada was none too happy with what I've been up to of late.  Which is no surprise.  Fucking jackass.

No, no.  I've been bitter enough.  It's not going to help things when the situation smooths itself out.  Pops is right about that, at least, even if he is still a dingbat.  So.  The skinny version is it didn't go well.  Not how I wanted, anyway, but I may have achieved a victory just as important as full Tuatha backing.  Thing is, Fimbulvinter had been affecting the Tuatha as well - by the time I reached Tir na nOg, Nuada's heart had been hardened by the coming storm.  None of my words reached him, and all he had to spare was anger at some 'young upstart'.

But the saving grace was others jumped in on my team.  While last I heard, Ogma was still at the King's side, I know for certain that the Dagda, the Morrigan, and my father and sister stood with me.  I suspect there were others, but the final scene before me and Kennedy had to flee the Court was a massive brawl.  Better then the long, drawn out fighting going on for Olympus.  Get everyone's issues sorted out now.  Hopefully it will mean that by the time all is said and done, Nuada will have been shaken from his stupor and recall what I said.  And hopefully that will be before the last march on Olympus comes.  We don't need an army yet.  Once Goras is dealt with, Zeus' primary spearhead will be broken.  And with luck, he comes to our side.  Like I'd been trying to do in the first place.

I just hope Hal and the others were a bit more successful.

Back to the Future

Mission accomplished.  Helheim saved, Kur bound again, one undead army ready to fuck shit up at my command as soon as I get ahold of Loki again.  Good times.

Not sure what there is to tell about the binding itself.  Well, Andrew almost got himself killed by Kur doing it.  He's tougher than he looks.  Still kind of amuses me that I conned a bone golem Kur summoned into hugging him because Kur was sad.  Gave us the time needed to finish the job and collect ourselves after the battle.  And, bonus, Lexi didn't try to get us killed anymore.  Lovely!

Vayu did...something that kicked our ichor up another gear.  Guess I shouldn't complain, but a little warning would've been nice.  Got a rather nice meal out of the bargain from Hel, too, even if she was being creeper-polite to me at the feast.  Especially after apologizing for making a mess of her hall during the fight.  I think Fate is just using me as it's personal soap opera now.  But given that I'd pretty much accepted it was going to, I shouldn't be surprised.

Then...well, again, something that shouldn't surprise.  According to every newspaper and my phone's auto-update on time, it's 2015.  It looks like Greece is at odds with the EU, and has been since we 'vanished'.  Looks like I was right about how exactly this is going to play out, even though I expected it to come to blows far more quickly.  Outright warfare doesn't look like it's occured just yet.  That...gives me time.  I'm going to have to check in with Artemis and Ares, see how their end is going and get them on patching my not-dead army back together.  Then Loki to prepare the undead army.  Kenny to get ahold of Steiner about arming them.  Then while that's all being taken care of...I think I'm going to be expected at the High Court.  This is not going to be a fun thing to explain.

Why does it have to be snakes?

Well.

We had been listening to Vayu rage at Hel.  God, that guy is a prick.  I can almost understand why Hal hates him.  And Lexi, being an idiot, decides he's someone to play nicey-nice with instead of letting Hal handle things.  Which goes...fine, I guess.

And then, Kur busts in like the goddamn Kool-Aid man.

Even picking apart it's weaknesses, that thing is too damn big to actually hurt.  Not with the artillery we have, anyway, which is kind of depressing.  I might need to visit the Space Pope and see about getting one of those rocket launchers.  In any case...while Andrew, Hal, and Captain Asshat tried to bind Kur, the rest of us, Hel included, held back the waves of the undead Kur summoned up.  And, of course, Lexi tried to get us all killed, -again-, by not focusing her mojo on just Kur.  I'm almost starting to wonder if she's not really on her mother's side after all.

Picked up a scratch, but nothing worth worrying over.  Then...the awesome happened.  Cindy kicked the next wave up into the air, and Kennedy just grabbed their shadows, and shadows from the blood river flying upward, to pin them into place.  Then...I reached for what I felt at Avalon, when I was using Arthur's shield to hold back the defenses Vayu's people had put into place.  Rather then merely strip them of the power that bound them to unlife, the beam of light vaporized them beyond any hope of recovery.

Then I remembered some of the old stories about Hel.  I hope I don't have some kind of creepy stalker now.

Just Add Water

Well, that was easy.  The hike might've been a pain in the ass, but the actual job?  I don't know, it feels like we just blew right through the undead, the well, everything.  I have to admit, everyone actually came together and got something done.  It's amazing what we can do when we all actually work.  Now, of course, the other side of the coin.  Do I expect this trend to continue?  No, not really.  But there's not much I can do, at any rate, right now.  A few compliments here and there to make sure people realize working helps.  Who knows?

Reported back to the Norns when we were done.  It went...well enough, I guess.  Nothing horrible.  We're off to Helheim itself now.  It's going to get cold - exceptionally so, but between me and Kennedy, we can hunt up enough beasties to get us some serious cold weather gear made before actually venturing in.  It's going to be...a pain in the ass once we get there.  It's an underworld, not a place meant for the living to trespass.

Going to let Hal take point on this one.  It's his mother, after all.  He's more likely to be received non-violently as well.  But I don't worry too much.  If something untoward had happened, it's unlikely access would have been limited.  My guess is things would be far, far worse, and the dead would already be wandering the earth blindly.  I'll keep an eye on things, of course, but I'm not concerned.

Besides, I've still got to work on how to resolve this Armageddon mess.  The Norse might be out, but we ought to have enough contacts elsewhere without having to deal with anyone we don't know.

We Don't Need No Water

Well, we seem to have fuckered up things even more.

That whole 'stopping Ragnarok' business seems to be the cornerstone of what's causing most of the issues.  And apperantly, the best way to go about fixing it is setting off another apocalypse, on that scale.  Which probably means nothing so base as simply jacking into the weapon stockpiles of every ICBM equipped nation and going all Skynet on the planet.  There's a few possibilities - simply restarting Ragnarok is one.  There are other pantheons with other 'end of the world' myths.  Time, at least on that front, is something we do have for right now.  But something that also will need to be done is shoring up as many pantheons and mortal centers as possible, which makes this situation with Olympus figure more prominently.  And makes meeting with the Court all that much more important.

But, that all comes later.  We still have to do what Loki asked us to.  And before we can get to Helheim, we have to figure out and set right the World Tree.  The 'figure out' part really wasn't that hard - the Norns pointed us right at this well that we discovered was the heart of the issue.  We hashed out how to deal with that - the plan's pretty solid.  I'm going to be playing distraction on this one - without any high explosives or the like, I'm not gonna be much good on the end Hal is running.  Not too worried about that end, either.  For all his issues, Hal is good at busting shit up.

That aside...personal musing time again.  This leadership nonsense has been on my mind a lot.  That, and fate itself.  And all the horrible possibilities.  It's been...difficult to put into words.  I guess ultimately it's the same reason I started this nonsense with Olympus.  Nobody else was really trying to do things right.  And if someone doesn't step up to the plate, who will?  With the Greeks...and possibly even the Tuatha.  If I have to start cracking skulls at home, or just simply doing the jobs myself, I will.  I hope it doesn't come to that in either case - I'd far rather have a true daughter of Greece on the throne of Olympus, and if things are as bad with the entirety of the Court as Hal said pops was...blegh.  I'm doomed, I know it.  Fate's probably sitting back and rubbing her hands together, cackling madly.

Which all ties into the next issue.  The ties to the forge I've noticed since pops walked into my shop are...mushy.  Shifting elsewhere.  I could nudge them if I wanted, I'm sure of that much and conferring with Artemis seems to confirm it.  I think I even know where it wants to go, and her suggestion lies on that path too.  But reaching more for the Sun...just going to have Fate screw with me more.  Especially at home, and my quest to find the sword.

But hell.  Like I said...it's going that way.  I'm probably going to push it that way - it'd fit better with Artemis, too.  I'm terrified of the prospect, but if that makes Fate decide I'm going to get more dropped on my lap because of it, then fine.  Someone else might get it wrong.

Threads

That was a long, annoying climb.  It was initially uneventful, too, after we strapped Lexi to Cindy's back.  Then, of course, someone decided to screw with us.  A couple of massive snake-critters showed up.  Bit one of the goonsquad in half, but he'll be back.  They weren't even really all that tough once they were pinned down and we put some fire into them.

Problem being, Lexi took a hit from a breath attack.  And she ain't as tough as the rest of us.  I did what I could, but it wasn't really much.  I'm not a mystic healer.  In the end, we had to keep moving.  The corpses would start to smell up the joint and draw more attention soon.  So with Lexi secured again, we kept moving down.  No real way to tell, but I'd put my wagers on a week or so lost to the climb.

And, waiting for us at the bottom?  Agents of fate.  The Norns, in this case.  We screwed things up a bit, it seems, and tangled up Fate's web when we stopped Ragnarok.  I really should've seen this coming, but I'm no seeress, either.  But....they aren't simply going to cut the threads and be done with it.  More damage, I think.  But we do get another idiotic quest to help repair the damage that's already done.  Joy.

Tactical Withdrawl

Should've figured things were going far too well.

Aphrodite showed up in Troy and pulled out the nuclear option.  While it makes me proud that some part of it probably means Zeus is having a panic attack, the bitch has cost us a great deal.  Or he's pissed, but if he was that mad, I'm inclined to believe he'd show up himself.  In a way it's a good sign, but given everything we took, and what was already stockpiled...

Lost access to Donny's band, too.  Didn't have time to get the ones that were in Troy out.  Not happy about that either, but there's little that can be done.  Hopefully the ones that weren't will have the sense to stay out of Dodge.  Have to admit though, Lexi did surprise me.  Given how keen the little dingbat has been to play along with Aphrodite's bullshit in the past, I expected her to go running to her mother's arms and sell us out.  She didn't.  She pulled some magic bullshit that's probably going to bite her in the ass later and somehow managed to summon Loki of all people.  He opened up a portal for us out into the ass-end of a forest farther north in Europe, near a temple to Artemis.  Diana, this far up north, but close enough.  And no doubt Lexi will be making a point that she 'helped us escape' or 'got us out of there'.  She did, but fate won't take kindly to her meddling, and I don't want -us- caught in the backlash.  Besides, a chopper would've gotten us out of there just the same.  She does, however, get credit for the try, and for actually not simply dropping in with her mother.

Does give me more incentive to head back to the Isle and talk to the powers that be amongst the Tuatha.  I hadn't wanted to bring them in, with previous bad blood between them and Olympus, but there's little choice now.  We nattered on some about where to set up shop.  Avalon is out - Greeks really aren't welcome there, yet.  Pretty much leaves Thuringia where we wouldn't have to start completely without resources.  Cindy and Lexi seemed to think the Bitch could walk in and do the same thing she did at Troy, but Loki had a point.  If she pulls it in someone else's territory there would be...consequences.  There are going to be consequences either way.  Once we've the strength, both in our own divine blood and militarily and Olympus is taken, with someone new on the throne...well.  I'd been willing, despite my distaste for her, to let the Aphrodite issue slide in favor of getting things stabilized.  No more.  Part of the price for handing the crown to whoever we can get to take it is going to be Aphrodite getting her bitch-ass smacked down so far into the dirt she's going to be spitting out chunks of Earth's core.  That....woman is not escaping this without justice being served.

Things weren't all bad, though.  Loki offered us an army.  An army of the dead, in fact.  The one that had been meant for Ragnarok itself, just waiting to be turned loose.  For a rather small price of heading down into Helheim to figure out what's wrong with Hal's mother and why she's closed it off to traditional ways.  Works for me.  And I know Hal has his Yazata-paranoia going....but if any harm had acutally come to his mother, I think it would've been a bit more obvious then just closing down shop.  You don't kill or incapacitate a god like that without major, major consequences to the fabric of reality.  And there don't seem to have been any major ripples.  Could be wrong, of course, but I don't believe I am.  And even if Hal's right, and Vayu is trying to get at him...it'd be easier to just come after Hal himself.  Assaulting a god in their own realm, especially a death goddess, is one of the most foolhardy things I can think of.  And I can think of a lot of stupid things.

We can't take the gods with us, though...so Artemis, Ares, and the Morrigan are staying behind.  I asked Artemis to find us a place beyond Thuringia to use if she could, or to shore up the castle if not.  Like I told her, a hunter's eye towards defense is the best way to go.  Asked Ares to see about gathering us up a more conventional army then the walking dead.  As for sister...I told her I'm going to need to talk to the High Court when we're done with this.  Hopefully she can put in a good word for me.

Ended up taking a day or so to get the supplies for our trip together.  The rest of us would be ok, but Lexi's relative frailness posed the biggest issue.  I'm leaving behind the metal salvaged for me from the birds, in Artemis' care.  I know I can trust her to keep it safe for me.  Maybe even make something for her from it.  Much as I already said thanks, words just don't seem like enough.  Maybe even Ares, too, given the help he's given us.  But mostly for her.

Spoke to her during the night while I had taken some time away from camp to think.  Not sure if she's impressed or bemused over the crap I've pulled in the past couple weeks.  Hopefully the former.  And she wandered out to find me after Ares started hitting on the Morrigan by trying to compare beheading techniques on zombies.  Artemis is right, the thought of those two doing anything together makes me ill.  Of course, I had been out here to practice a bit with some of my powers.  Like I said, much of it right now makes me feel a bit silly.

Told her I would weave her a chair or her own hammock with the starlight threads I can summon, but that they don't react well to others playing with them.  Bloody woman seemed to think I just wanted her in -mine-.  I'm forward but I'm not that bad.  ...most of the time, anyway.  Ugh.  I'm starting to think I need to reevaluate how I handle things of that nature.  In any case, we talked.  Some about Apollo...but she's not gonna give me a hand avoiding her murder-tendencies for people close to Artemis.  If it comes to it and I can't convince him otherwise, I'll just find a way to get him and Aphrodite together.  It would serve both of them right.

We talked a bit about my affinity for the night sky, too.  Showed her the other 'showy' trick I can do and called down starlight to settle on/around me.  Whole thing makes me feel rather silly, which is why I came out this far.  Artemis claimed it made me 'rather fetching'.  Which would imply I'm not normally, but I really can't bring myself to be even the slightest bit irritated.  And...given that I came out that far to relax, Artemis felt the need to throw a monkey wrench in that plan.  Or distract me further.  As much as I am comfortable and...relaxed around her, I'm starting to wonder what all I've got myself into.  Feeling a bit like the mouse a cat is just watching before it pounces.  Funnier thing is...don't even mind.  Have to wonder if I've realized this since Avalon, or if it's new.  Doesn't matter either way.

Unfortunately, the next day did show up.  We're going to be taking a climb down the World Tree to get to Helheim, one of the few ways left that might be open.  Got all the supplies.  But in the end, we needed a blood sacrifice to open the way.  Most of us gave our own...Hal gave enough for Lexi as well.  This is going to be a long, long climb down.  Probably getting harassed most of the way, too.  Lovely thought, but the cause is going to be worth it in the end.

The Game's Afoot

First shots of the war were fired tonight.

Clear night.  We began the final plans over a well-made meal.  No point in kicking it on an empty stomach, right?  It was a bit...surreal, to be honest.  And not even the fact that Ares and Artemis were sitting in full form with us.  Truth be told, I barely even noticed the usual shift in reality that comes from being in such close proximity to multiple gods and goddesses.  It was more, well, people were listening.  To me.  Offering suggestions and views, and ultimately listening and preparing to carry out my orders.  And just two nights ago, we were still in 'LOL, Claire, ignore that noob' territory.  

Had Hal on getting the earthworks ready as fast as we could, after he checked out an incoming and obviously supernatural storm headed straight for the harbor.  He ended up spotting three especially massive metal birds within the storm itself.  More confirmed their presence, actually, Andrew seemed to have discovered their presence.  Cindy and Andrew tended to the sacrifice Triton had come demanding for his master.  As Andrew had said, we'd need the lifeline shipping would bring, since the roads and rail networks wouldn't be enough.  Side note: Those need to be greatly expanded and guarded.  We didn't have all of Donny's band, unfortunately.  Hopefully they'll hurry up and get their asses here, we'll need the added firepower.  What we did have was Donny working his mojo on getting us the people we'd need to get our quick and dirty defenses dug.  And more militia volunteers.  

Put Kenny on rounding up the ones who showed and getting them armed, then into place.  Ares gave me a little speech as everyone was hopping to.  That 'first command is the worst' stuff you always see in the movies and books.  Couldn't say it's wrong, mind, but it helped.  I might even tell him that the speech helped.  Maybe.  Man has a big enough ego as is.  Besides, he did admit who was the better CoD player was.

Ended up putting Donnie and Harmonia on morale officer duty, keeping the folks who couldn't fight calm.  Seems to have done some good, we didn't even have much, if any, looting.  That's a surprise, to be honest.  I sent Cindy to the front after she and Andrew got back from taking care of the sacrifice.  We didn't get flooded, so maybe it did some good.  No way to tell then, and no new information now.  Kennedy found herself a place on the highest tower in the city, able to watch the harbor and the centaurs.  And ended up introduced to Munin, a raven messenger/representative of Odin.  Guess we're attracting a lot more attention to this corner of the world then I figured we would.  Good.  Should make it easier to get allies now that we've shown we can fight.

Hal moved to the front lines as well.  Best place for him, really.  Wasn't much left for it at that point, and moved to my place on the rooftops a bit behind the trenches.  Pulled a map of the battlefield out of thin air and got to work playing general.  The birds didn't have a leader, or strategy.  They were just set on us to wreck up the place.  The centaurs and their army, however, did.  And supplies enough for an extended siege.  Most of which now sit within Trojan supply warehouses.  Spoils of war, and all that.

I guess there's not much to say about the fighting that wasn't already in the papers by now.  Didn't do much directly, but didn't expect to.  Tagged their head honcho with a shot before Hal began to mix it up with him.  Cindy scattered a ton of them with some kind of shockwave from the impact of her axe.  Kennedy put a bullet right through the eye of one of those damnable birds...which, unable to see her, turned their ire on me. Took a nasty gash I was able to heal up quickly, but they ruined my favorite flannel shirt that Kenny had got me.  Seems like such an odd detail to fixate on, but...I liked that shirt.

And I was pissed, I admit.  Called in a mortar strike right on their general(And Hal.  But he got out of the way and got a bitchin' axe out of it, so he doesn't get to complain.) and turned our mobile air-defense on the birds.  The mortars did their work of decapitating the head of the beast, and the birds...that was a goddamn thing of beauty.  Kennedy used some of her mojo to force them into place over an empty building.  Gave the ground teams enough time to throw a wave of Stingers at them.  Blew one of them to hell right then and there, and grounded the other two.  Those gunners are getting medals.  The other two were finally finished by other Trojan ground units packing anti-tank weapons.  Looks like modern gear actually is a threat to these things...don't know how long the enemy is going to ignore it, but I can hope for one or two more battles.  Won't get it, but I can hope.

Had Artemis, Ares, and my sister-in-law pulling some Lord of the Rings kill-counting crap in the field.  Put them all to shame with the mortar strike, heh.  Battle didn't last too much longer after that.  Cindy put another general into the ground, and my own divine push broke the morale of the rest.  

Damn if Ares wasn't right.  Even without the magic map, I could see that we got kissed, too.  Not as bad as it could've been going in blind, but still.  Going to see the fallen get a proper memorial.  They deserve that much and more, but a memorial is all any of us can do for them now.  I hate it when Ares is right.

As the others tended to the dead, I kept giving orders.  Clearing the field, retrieving what supplies we could from the centaurs.  Clearing up the streets, salvaging the metal from the birds.  Most of it is going to rebuild damage done during the attack, but I had some set aside for me.  Might be able to do something with it.  Ran out of things to actually do then, so I just sat down.  Damn, I was tired.  And...Artemis shows up, then. Was actually happy for it, had to get some things off my chest.  Let her know what it meant that she's had my back since that business in Avalon.  Found out why she didn't say anything at the party.  Turns out it was because I had Annan on my shoulder at the time.  Guess it makes sense, with the Dodekathenoi barred from Tuatha soil.  Sure, Annan and Artemis might be allies now, but she didn't know that then.

We talked some more then just me thanking her.  Told her I intended to repair the rift between our pantheons, if I could.  Fully intend to, and hope settling things on Olympus will go a long ways toward it.  And in the end, I don't intend to ask a damn thing for it.  Even without a looming Titanic threat, I wouldn't.  I don't need a great deal, or debts to worry about people repaying in strange ways.  I'd just rather not have some stupid millenia-old feud ready to rear it's ugly head at a bad moment.  It's be counter-productive even on a good day.

Someone had to kick over the hornet's nest though, and nobody else seemed willing to step up to the plate.  Funny thing, I realized while I talked to Artemis that, in the end, what happens to me doesn't matter.  Not worried about death, or damnation, or any of that.  I'm sure I should be terrified.  Don't think I'll ever be able to properly explain why I'm not.  I suppose having actual allies might help, but...eh.  Doesn't matter much in the end if I've got the words or no.

Trust.  Too few I can trust implicitly these days.  There's Kennedy, of course, but family is family.  Same with the Morrigan.  Artemis, certainly.  Ares, of all people.  Probably Hal, in his way, even with his silly fixation on Goras.  The others....I don't know.  Andrew I can probably trust.  He's really done nothing to indicate I can't, even if he and Hal were part of the faffing about in Delphi.  Cindy....I've gone over.  When it comes to an actual fight, yeah, but past that....I really can't.  The non-combat trust will take a while to rebuild.  It may be silly to be so freaked out about it, but...hell, I went over how I felt last time.  Rambling on again about it won't do any good.

And I can't trust Lexi any farther then Speedy Gonzales can toss a semi-truck.  It's not even anything she's especially done directly, and she did help with Ares.  But I think if her mother put the pressure on, she'd buckle and do whatever she asked.  Regardless of what the cost to the rest of us, or the war effort, is.  She'll need watching.  Really wish I didn't have to worry, but that's a knife hovering behind me I can't afford to ignore.

Like I said, though...ultimately, I'm not worried about what happens to me.  Artemis...I wish I knew what her game was.  Not the war, that much is obvious.  Just with me.  She's been watching out for me especially, which makes me wonder.  Protecting, mind, not waiting for a moment to strike.  She might claim it's just because I'm effectively El Presidente of the forces trying to put a better goddess on the Olympian throne, but I'm not blind nor stupid.  She's been far too...touchy and intimate for it to be just concern for the commander.  If she's got interest beyond that, I would hope she just says it, soon.  It's...I just want to know where I stand.  I'm not stupid, I realize it's fairly likely, but I'd like to at least have the cards on the table.

Probably played right into her hands, though.  Given the barring of Greek from Tuathan soil, I told her if I was still breathing by the end of this damn fool crusade, I'd take her to Avalon myself.  Partly to do something nice for someone I consider a friend...and, ultimately, my presence and Kennedy's on this Olympian front might mend things on the Greek end.  I'd like to see a Greek pay some homage to not just one of the mightiest heroes produced by the blood of the Isles, but of Europe and the world.  Nothing fancy, even.  Perhaps just a simple memorial wreath laid on Arthur's tomb.

After she took off, Kennedy finally clambered her way down the tower to give me her report.  Well, before going into the Artemis situation.  'Taken quite a fancy to me'.  Must be bloody well obvious, or Kenny G up there was just being a snoop.  Was honest with her, though.  Told her Artemis has had my back since Avalon.  And that's the moment sister-dear started cawing her head off and hopped up on Kenny's shoulder to straighten her hair.  With a beak.  My family is so weird.  Love 'em to death, but weird.

Kennedy is worried, though.  The whole 'Rawr, me Apollo, me shank-a-bitch that goes near sister' business from myth.  Like I needed something else like that to worry about, but...I still appreciate Kennedy mentioning it.  Probably would've dismissed it for later without her reminder.  But I am a bit annoyed she assumes there's going to be a relationship.  I...

Hadn't even ended things with Cindy when Kennedy stopped by.  Yeah.  That's over.  It...ended amicably enough, I suppose.  Could've been far worse, and I'm not about to lose a soldier I need.  Is that strange?  To be more worried about losing a sword-arm then the hurt from having to end the relationship?  Or Cindy's hurt?  It probably is.  But there ain't much that can be done for it.  I think my brain may be defective.

I'm also starting to suspect there's another reason Kennedy brought all this up.  Kennedy and Annan are plotting against me.  They're trying to set me up with Artemis.  Like a pair of...drunken Irish busybodies.  For the love of Pete, it's not like the Avalon thing is going to even be a date.  Regardless of what Artemis might have quipped about(In a friendly manner.  Not a serious one.  Shut up.), or what those two jerkwads think.  Or that Kenny said it sounded like one.  ARGH.  If they weren't family, I'd light their underwear drawers on fire.  With thermite.  

Think everyone is starting to gather again.  Spent longer on this then I intended to.  Guess I should wrap this up and get ready to go.  Hopefully word will get back from Goras soon.  That's one loose end I'd like settled before it comes back to bite me.

Interesting Times

This is because I ordered that Chinese food the other week and the lady said she hoped I lived in interesting times.

Where do I begin?  Well, we were gathered outside the museum, when Triton, one of Poseidon's heralds, appeared(Admittedly, in a rather impressive fashion.  Style points, if nothing else.) and started making the 'sacrifice to me or I'll wreck your shit' speech.  Probably my first indication that things weren't going to go as I'd hoped when I'd been talking to Goras.  The rest showed up later.  Had to yell at Hal to bring Harmonia down to lay everything out - to her and the rest of these ingrates.  I can't believe he's really this paranoid about Goras.  Shmuck.

So I gave them the whole story.  My understanding of my fault in the Delphi mess(though calling them out for theirs,) my understanding of the simple fact that Donny has gotten a raw deal.  Just that he was the spark that led to things like a herald of a major god showing up out of a bloody fountain in the heart of a major city.  And then Lexi...god, I want to strangle her sometimes, tried to distract the issue by talking to the damn herald.  Instead of listening to me.  And trying to lead us to another six hours of faffing about, getting nothing done, and letting the world keep on fucking burning.  I know she means well, and that's the thing.  She means well, but she's clueless on everything else.  Christ, I hate being smarter then everyone around me sometimes.

So....I shut her down.  Hard.  And kept going with my explanation while Triton left.  She did back me up later though as I kept trying to talk Harmonia into helping us with Donny.  Then...well, Ares shows up.  He's just as much of a cockbiting assjackal in person as he is online.  Alot more style and understandable in person, but still.    Turns out he's Donny's divine sponsor...I should've accounted for something like this, too, it just never entered the calculations.  So, I tried convincing Ares to step aside and let us do this.

No dice, there.  He's pissed at Zeus, at least as much if not more then a lot of others.  The real bitch of it is...he had good points.  There's too much bad blood for the Sky King to take back the Olympian throne.  And he's too paranoid that one of his sons is going to whack him to listen to how things stood.  That's when the rest of it clicked.  Goras had been right, there was going to be blood.  It still had to be quick, and as clean as we could make it...but nonviolence isn't gonna work.  Some heads are going to have to be cracked.  So...I pulled out every stop I could.  Every thought, every little bit of divine birthright I could reach, Lexi's magic from earlier...everything.  And I pulled perhaps the biggest gamble I could....and told Ares to drop his shit and join me.

To keep Zeus from regaining the Olympian throne.  And since the menfolk had messed up everything, to plant a woman in the seat of power.  To be fair, it was Kennedy who really sparked the idea, too, but...I put it out there.  And...damn it all, it worked.  It worked.  Ares is in my corner, and he's got contacts.  This...is going to tweak Goras, but I suspect I can get him to at least stay neutral.  Probably the best any of us can really hope for at this rate.  So...we started getting everything into place to get things moving forward.  Like shoring up Troy's defenses....adjusting fire missions for my NATO strike force, that sort of thing.

Then Cindy asked who was going to go on the throne(Cindy...one of the big problems with today.  Later.)  We rattled off some possibilities...and I really tempted fate by just saying I'd do it myself if I had to.  I'm going to regret that later.

There are issues beyond simply Olympus.  There's some kind of...wave of apathy sweeping through other pantheons, according to Andrew.  We'll need a united Olympus, and the rest of the divine world as well, to stand against Ahriman.  Lovely.  Which is about when Artemis, having got my message, showed up.  And we learned we had a centaur herd headed right for us.  If it rains...

But...Cindy.  I think it's almost done.  She got so possessive and....I don't know.  Overbearing isn't the right word.  But it's just...acting like Delphi hadn't happened, or that it had all been meaningless, or whatever, just....set me off.  I talked to her in some quiet time after that.  Put all my cards on the table.  She...is not happy, to say the least.  And I feel like I'm getting blamed for not simply accepting her replies just because it's her.  That might've flown before Delphi, but you do not just hang someone you claim to love out to dry and treat them like a raving madwoman, then pretend she's the greatest thing since sliced bread.    It might have gone...differently, I might have even been able to talk it out more, figure out what to do, if Artemis hadn't walked in on the talk.  There's....some bad blood between her and Poseidon, and alot of that ends up catching Cindy too.  It...doesn't bear repeating here.

It's just as unfair as how Cindy treated me, and even Artemis seemed to realize it when I talked to her later.  Gods, this is all complicated.  I'm overthinking it again, and I promised not to do any of that before Troy was secured.  Just can't get a couple more thoughts out of my head.  Thing is...Artemis had another point.  She hadn't been truthful with me at the party, and I can understand why, given who all was around, and who was at my side at the time.  But it was her who appeared to me in Avalon.  Apperantly, my soul's vision summoned her directly.  But the point was...maybe there was a reason I thought of Artemis and not Cindy.  And if what she showed me about Cindy was correct...what does that say for Cindy?  Was any of this real? Does Fate just not want me to be happy with someone for more then a few months?

Fuck it.  I'm overthinking again.  I'm going to get our defenses tied in and see if the guard is back with Goras yet.  I don't have time for self-doubt right now.

Looking Back

So, Donny's stupid little museum just imploded...sort of.  I've figured out why.  I'm mad, and I intend to talk with the one responsible, but I understand it.  Especially given everything I've learned about how Fate sees some of us, and why I seem to have been given Odysseus' role.

And I've done the one thing none of them ever dreamed of doing, because it was far easier to believe Donny was simply some poor, persecuted soul, and Aphrodite wasn't playing petty games with her children.  I actually went out and talked to Goras.  Myself, and Kennedy, ventured to the Palace of Knossus itself to speak to him.  A nice place, truely.  Might have to get one of my own like it some day.  But...talking to Goras.  It's something we should've done ages ago, even before Nikky got pinched by his troops.  Then again, why would we?  It wouldn't fit with the perfect little image we've dredged up for Lexi and her mother.

He certainly isn't an evil man.  He's not even after territory or conquest, something I'm certain the others would never accept, nor understand, as it would require actually challenging their own beliefs on everything that's been going on.  And to do that would require moral fortitude most of them have now quite clearly displayed they don't have.  We had a month, and what did most of us do?  Nothing of ultimate import to the matter at hand.  Nobody came back with plans to end this successfully without bloodshed, or methods to simply break the compulsion to make Donny and Harmonia more pliable to talking it out.  Nothing.  Myself and Kennedy are the only ones who actually spent time working our tails off to stop this insanity barreling down on us.

Goras is also big on Tuatha-style hospitality.  Good booze and good food for meetings that can change the world.  We toasted as we sat down.  His, to civilization.  Mine, to saving what we could in the times to come.  Seemed to approve of it.  Kennedy, as always, did not say much.  She never does, really, so it's easier to tell when something is important with her when she acutally does open her trap.  Goras even apologized for the night Nikolas was grabbed.  Nikky was to be under supervision in case the Donny situation went out of control(which it has.)  He hadn't realized until after the fact we were supposed to be looking out for him.  Which we obviously didn't, because they spent more time pissing and moaning over my business in getting them a prophecy which led us more fully to Troy and possible consequences after.

I began to simply lay out my larger plans, and the consequences I foresaw.  What I, Kennedy, and Goras now know is that there is a substantial NATO air mission fueling and arming for a strike against Troy.  With the obvious defensive emplacements Donny put into place, it was incredibly easy to mark them as part of a terrorist/anti-governmental group taking control of the city, with 'poor' Donny and Harmonia as hostage-figureheads.  And stated that I'd need help with getting the other pieces into play and actually kickstarting the mission.  That's when Goras began to lay out his end of the deal on the table.  I must say...it certainly was an enlightening tale, and I could sense no falsehood with him.  As far as Goras knows, it all was truth.

The Dodekathenoi are just as close, if not closer, to war as the rest of the world.  It shouldn't take many words to state what an incredibly bad prospect a God-war on Olympus would be.  The place would be lost.  Because each of the gods has their own private armies, and any one of those armies could, with the aid of a god that didn't understand or just didn't care, smuggle a nuclear device onto Olympus itself.  No doubt some of the gods who might be there when such a device went off would survive...but precious few.  Too few, with all the demi-gods and heroes at each other's throats on the slopes all vaporized, to defend against a certainly inevitable Titan onslaught.  And with the Greek gods dead, Olympus a smoldering ruin, the real enemy has a massive stronghold in the heart of Europe.

Lovely thought.  But, he said, if we do this properly and quickly, all of this will be remembered as a minor tiff.  He has people in place to help assure it doesn't devolve into a massive mortal war as well.  I wish I could have faith in that working, but...I have to plan for the worst case.  Easier to adapt.  If I do nothing, as the others would...someone might get it wrong.

The possibility he floated of my and Kennedy's aid in settling this healing the long-standing feud between Greek and Tuatha would be buried, perhaps for good, is one I have fondness for.  At this point...I laid out my three possibilities.  There's no real need to go in-depth here...the parties that need to know the details, know them.  Essentially, though, the first is to simply erase Troy, and everyone in it, from exsistence.  Not an option I like.  Too much room for things to still explode in our faces, though the odds of it are low with the Greek social chameleons in place.  The second, and my preferred method, given everything I knew then and certainly know now, is what I have NATO in place for.  With the 'Walls of Troy' knocked down, Goras can march his people in and collect Donny(and Harmonia.  Hal can't take them all, if I can't talk him down), and take him back to Olympus to settle all of this.  The third is the least likely, especially now, and the only thing resembling what the rest of the band had planned for - talking Donny and Harmonia into laying down their arms and returning to Olympus to settle this mess like reasonable adults.

I still think Donny could be convinced to see it that way...if we can convince Harmonia.  He can get back at his mother by joining with Zeus.  Zeus gets his prestige and right to rule back after centuries of mortal mythologists treating him and most of the Greeks as a running joke, and Aphrodite can get her meddling ass knocked down a few hundred pegs for almost sending the world into nuclear fire.  Unfortunately, Goras said there can't be any direct action against the Bitch.  It makes sense, given everything, it's just...I have no words for how frustrating it is.

Which is going to surprise people to learn.  I can see Donny's point - he's tired of being pushed around by overstuffed jackasses, and is finally putting his foot down and saying 'No more.'  Zeus has spent centuries getting the same treatment from mortals, and now some little assjackal comes along and says 'Fuck all y'all'? Pushing back against a fate and a world hellbent on terrorizing and hurting you makes sense.  But...damnit.  There's no good way out of this.  So I have to take the option with the best chance for, if not success, then a result that not only saves the most lives we can, but will solve the largest issues behind all of this.  That's the stupid thing about all of this...Donny and Zeus working together would end the whole shebang in an instant.

But...damn if I know how to get him to Olympus outside of chains.  And if Goras can't get to him on his own, Zeus may well take to the field himself.  It would bring about his objectives, but...the thought still worries me.  I'm not sure if the general populace is ready to realize exactly what's going on behind the veil.  It may end up necessary...especially given what else Goras spoke of.  He had...very good points on the fact that the mortals have driven themselves straight into the ground and keep on digging.  One only has to look at Greece as it was before Goras stepped in and cleaned house.  Now?  It's the premiere economic powerhouse in Europe.  We could do the same for the US, the same for Ireland...if the divine-blooded were in place to do so.

But he's right.  Sometimes there's too much dead brush clogging the way for new growth, it's why farmers have to burn fields sometimes.  Unfortunately...that dead brush is everything Donny has built in Troy.  He has to be removed, one way or the other.  He can't win a war against the heavens.  He can't be allowed to drag one out.  If it has to be done, I'll deliver his body to Zeus myself.  I really don't want to.  I don't enjoy killing, even if I recognize the reality that it has to be done.  It's something mom always tried to make sure I knew.  And something MIST, the Tuatha I've met, even the Greeks like Goras.  Sometimes, it needs to be done, to create a better future.

If Fate wants her blood price, she'll have it, spilled or no.

Sometimes there has to be a sacrifice.

And the Horse You Rode in On

Well.  Unsurprisingly, everyone is rushing off to do Lexi's stupid plan of 'Let's go talk to them, without any other thoughts or plans whatsoever!'.  Because not only did Troy start with an attempted negotiation, it ended up in a ten year war.  Nobody else, save Kennedy, seems to accept the possibility of failure, and none of them are willing to prepare for a fight, again, save Kennedy.  She's been helping me out a great deal with my plans, especially with the information she sent me about the weapon shipments to General Goras.

But that was after all the...fun.  Once everyone but Kenny assumed I just wanted a fight(AND didn't even give me a chance to explain.  Dicks.), I decided to blow that popsicle stand.  So, I left with the aspect of the Morrigan that had been with me of late, and we went to find a scumbag to serve as a sacrificial payment for her prophecy.  It didn't take too long...child molester, rapist, the whole works, taking advantage of the supernatural orgy going on too.  A bit of false charm had him trapped in a warehouse.  Then...Lexi decided she could interfere with family business.

I get it, and it's kind of sweet she 'didn't want me to become a murderer'.  But she still had no business stepping into my bargains when I actually help, and none of those people wanted to listen to it in the first place until I forced the goddamn issue.  Then try to bend me over the barrel by pretending she had the bargain position when she was the one trying to save the prick's life over the phone.  But...I went along with it all.  I doubt the midget is going to be happy when she finds out I took off his entire set of fingers and toes, but what can you do?

We had a month to kill time, after I rejoined them.  I spent some time with Cindy, but most of it was focused on getting the fallback plans in place.  I spoke at length with the General, too.  He's actually rather interested in trying to get this talked out, an encouraging sign.  He even had some extra input on how to proceed with the NATO part of the attack if things go south.  The guy is even willing to send us an honor guard if it -does- come down to a fight, so we have time to escape while the NATO air strikes are inbound.

I might have to keep in touch with him.  He isn't a bad guy.  Just as stuck in this bullshit as the band, when it comes down to it.  Besides, having my own network of contacts as things go on is only going to help.  Especially when my plans get brushed aside.  I'm starting to think this is how every soldier and officer feels when the politicians brush their work aside and try to run a war themselves.

I've got my own blade now, too.  Solid smithing, the engravings are all right on the steel.  I've got to send Kenny and Steiner a thank you note, they really came through on that one.

Guess I don't have all that much else to write now.  I just need to decide that if we can talk Donny and Harmonia down, whether or not to have Goras and NATO flatten the little army they've built up for themselves just to be safe.

That was productive

Well, Delphi was...interesting.  In the 'wow, is that actually a city-wide orgy' kind of interesting.  I mean...damn.  Got some nice video footage though.  We did finally manage to get through the city though, thanks to Hal.  Well, at least his 'I'm a big scary guy' schtick.  We finally found where the oracle was supposed to be...

Only to hear from her annoyed(justifiably) secretary that she wasn't in today.  Given that Hal was being Captain Jerkass McDouchenstein, anyway.  And people say I need to chill sometimes, damn.  We did get an address out of her, though, for where the oracle was.  Meant another trip through the city, but hey, more pictures right?

So, we head on up to her apartment.  Cassandra answered.  Looks like a fourteen year old kid.  Kind of wonder if she's the Cassandra, but would've been impolite to ask.  Possible, given how she later mentioned she was somewhere in the thousands.  When Cin asked if the oracle was there...well, Cassie's response was totally, and completely, lame.  When I told her so...well, can't say I blame her for not wanting to do it.  She has to see whatever memory or whatever we give her, and is stuck with the vision to boot.  No wonder she seemed a bit on edge.

Of course, Hal continued to act like Colonel Alan Dickweed, Esquire.  He might have his reasons, he might just have an iron stick jammed up his backside.  Either way, that act wasn't going to win anyone over.  She brought out a rather epic retaliation.  And...damn.  Can't say I didn't build up some more sympathy for her.  Poor lass just wanted to go to her prom for God's sake, and because everybody needed easy answers, even that got taken from her.  Yeah, makes my issues when I was a teenager kind of insignifigant, but...damn if I don't sympathize with her.  Might have to do something nice for her, now that I have an address, and one for that office.  I'll think of something eventually.

Hal...god damn it, Hal.  We've never seen eye to eye on anything, but for the love of fuck, why did you insist on antagonizing an agent of Fate?  That's going to come back to bite you in the ass, and I sure as hell don't want it catching the rest of the band because you couldn't resist waving your dick at every problem and hoping it's impressed.

And then Cindy...damn it woman.  Poor kid gets screwed over by fate too and wants some time off to be a normal girl, and you get pissy too?  The oracles aren't slaves to be trussed up every time we need some answer we probably could've found by digging a bit deeper or asking elsewhere.  That's about the time my own temper started flaring up, but I fell back on the old McKenzie tactic - bottle it up where it can't hurt anyone, until I need to smash someone over the head with the bottle.

We finally got back outside, after Lexi knocked on the door to harass the poor girl again, and Cassie told us where two relatively nearby oracles were, or might be.  I still don't know why we ought to give any form of shit about Nikky or his idiotic question.  None of this is really our concern, and I hate that I'm being dragged along on some stupid errand while the world is going to pot.  Of course, Cin brought up Lexi's bleedin' saxophone.  Finally decided, hell, might as well start asking for advice myself  beyond plotting how to get revenge on that idiot Donnie.

So I mention we get one question if I ask the bird, and...guess what?  Every time I have an idea that is productive and sensible, everyone fucking ignores it and just turns to the pixie.  Because Claire is just a big, angry, gangly giant who's not good for anything other then shouting and snarking, right?  So, I stomped off.  Probably not the most mature of methods.  But what does it matter, eh?  Still wonder if I could've gotten away with just putting a few rounds down the street to see how people would react.

Still don't intend to stick my neck out on information next time if I don't have to.  Unless I cool down enough to just let it go, but....gods, I haven't gotten this angry in months.  And if they aren't going to listen, should I really bother speaking up?

The bird put her input in, like she tends to.  As annoying as it is when she takes chunks out of my ear, she's smart.  So...hell.  I opted to put my piece in anyway, regardless of the stupid sax music.  Which found out Donnie and Harmonia had run off together to some place with a stupid name.  Well, ok, I put my piece in after Cin asked me to google the stupid name.  So I just asked the bird where it was and what we'd face there.  I enjoyed playing that card immensely.

Of course, it wasn't crystal clear, but it's something to work with.  And it's more then just a dumb name we got from Lexi's sax, so that does make me happy.  Huzzah for spite, I guess.

She asked for a sacrifice for each question I have to ask.  Mind, no doubt it could be done in any particular fashion I had at hand, but there is something to be said for tradition sometimes.  I may ask one of the smith gods of the Tuatha for aid...this time would likely require a proper quest.  But what can ya do?  Prices to be paid for anything.

Eh.  I'm rambling.  We'll see how things go.  For now, I'm going to go practice some target shooting and bleed out some of the anger.

Snake Punching

Well.  We finished the job with our group.  Put one through the snake's eye, Cin chopped one up fairly well.  We both may have gone a tad berserk when Lexi got stared at by one of those snakes and dropped.  Cin had too, earlier, but didn't get as bad of a hurt.  In either case, we finally did get all three snakes dealt with.  The giant...not so well.  It didn't really get dealt with until the cavalry got there.  Some huge dude made out of bronze and gold.  Lifted him up and carted the giant off.

While I was tending to Lexi, we figured out that a bunch of the other bands who'd been ratting around at that stupid party had dealt with attacks on other areas of the city.  Apperantly, one of the Titans saw a giant glowy bit with all these divine folk gathered together and decided 'Titan smash!'.  Lovely, innit?  That there's really nowhere to hide, in the end, unless you become a hermit.  Charming.

There wasn't anything I can do for Lexi.  Didn't figure there would be, so we ended up heading back to the barn.  The kid is resting now, and I'm waiting for a few calls to get some results on finding her a proper healer.  Far as I know nobody else in the band can take care of it, and Lexi doesn't seem to have the regenerative powers most of the rest of us do.    But ain't nothing for it, I suppose.  Just need to be careful...maybe see about getting her some better body armor.  Maybe her mom has some ideas.   Could ask Ares, but...I'd rather not deal with him just yet.  Or be in debt to the little punk.

Snakes on a Street

Once again, alot of yammering.  Lexi is apperantly trying to solve some mess of a love dodecahedron that was going on at the party.  She's trying to make Hera and Aphrodite happy, but the both of them want people to end up with different ones.  Trouble is, Hera's effectively got the spirit of Lexi's pop as a bargaining chip.  Giant Greek clusterfuck.  And Lexi's not willing to simply let it go...I can't really blame her, it's her father's spirit after all, but he's only there in the first place because he was an oathbreaker.  Ugh, what a headache.

So ultimately, we're all going to go have chats with different people involved here, see what we can sort out.  Then Cindy insulted my traditional breakfast.  I mean, like I said.  I had it for years and look how well I turned out.  Hrmph.  Oh well.  What she whipped up wasn't bad.  Pretty good, actually.  It's just not cocoa pebbles and whiskey.  Ah well.  We eventually opted to simply go out for a while before hunting down the folks we needed to talk to.

Of course, everything decided to choose that moment to go wrong.  Should've figured, but what can you do?  Nasty snake critters being lead around by their tenders...apperantly with the ability to burn people's eyes clean out of their heads.  Peachy.  And regenerative powers out the wazoo.  You know what?  I'm going to start investing in exploding bullets, I'm tired of perfect shots just glancing off.  At least we know taking out the brain will put them down for good, thanks Kenny.

Being called.  I'll finish the story later.  The short version is, there were guns, and snakes, and shootings.  And Cindy's axe.

Musings and Thoughts and Laser Beams

While Cin makes breakfast(traditional my foot.  Traditional Claire breakfast is Cocoa Pebbles with chocolate milk and a glass of whiskey.), thought I'd get some things down.  Views on the rest of these chumps I'm with after all this time, y'know?  Alright.

Family goes first, so Kennedy.  She's a damn fine shot.  Probably the only one really able to lead this band of misfits aside from Andrew or myself.  Girl needs to open up, though.  Well, ok, at least be more assertive when she isn't about to cap some fool.  I suppose that business with Hal didn't help much.

Guess that can take us to Andrew, next.  Only one of us from a pantheon outside of Europe.  Probably the only one of us with his head screwed on straight.  No real temper to speak of that we've seen, keeps his eye on the mission and not personal issues.  Probably needs to get laid though.

Which takes us to the prime candidate, Lexi.  One of our Greeks, and sweet as sugar.  Enough so that I'm pretty sure I'm going to get diabetes just from being near her.  I guess she's the morale officer of the group, always ready to talk and make nice, and she was sent out well equipped to do so.  But I guess being the kid of Aphrodite has its perks in that department, huh?

Next is Captain Douchenoodle.  No, I suppose his name is, technically, Hal.  As you can see, I'm not overly fond of the chap.  I'll be the first to admit I have temper issues, especially when it comes to loved ones in harms way, but this guy...wow.  He makes me look like Lexi by comparison.  It's not -all- bad, though, as much as he pisses me off most of the time.  He's got a warrior's spirit, and is probably the best all-around fighter we've got.  Not to take anything away from Cin.

Speaking of.  Cindy, Cindy, Cindy.  I could spend an inordinate amount of time on her(giggity), but I should probably try to be objective.  She's...frustrating, at times.  No regard for personal safety in the slightest(which does wonders for my blood pressure, really.), and...well, the next bit is -my- fault.  I vaguely recall something about it being my idea to use the stones to smash the chains on that stupid dragon, which got her into her current mess.  It's been...partly fixed, and hopefully this time in Greece will let us fix the rest.  But...damn.  Wait...that sounds way too much like there's nothing good about her.  There is, lots of stuff.  But thigns that are pertinant to the band...mmm.  Probably our 'Berserker'.  Doesn't worry about defense, but good god, don't get in her way in a battle.  Puts everyone else before herself too...if she didn't, Germany might've gone a bit different.  But it's endearing, too.  ....and her entry is already twice as long as the others, and I said I wouldn't do that.  I'm such a noob.

Party time. Excellent?

Well, it's the next morning.  I got my chance to talk to Artemis.  It wasn't her in Avalon, not really.  Likely it was an...after image, of the one time she'd been there to retrieve her deer after the Morrigan decided it'd be a good blood sacrifice.  I guess now I'm taking it upon myself to repair any damage between Artemis and my erstwhile sister-in-law.  I'd rather not have them fighting, as after a long night spent chatting with her, she's really quite nice.  Got her contact info in my phone and everything.  At least I didn't have to deal with Ares tonight, but this bloody festival is going on all week.  Ugh.

But that was more the last half of the night.  First...oh, Rhodey, you are going to get an asskicking as soon as I figure out a way to wreak my vengeance properly.  Maybe sister-in-law will have some advice.  Maybe talk to pops, too.  Mannanan and the old man.  Ought to call mom and the old man, too.  Been a while.  Probably would want to hear about the Avalon thing.  Anyway.  Rhodey used some kind of mind-screw to make us all think we were his best bloody friend.  I'm really getting tired of that sort of nonsense...anyway.  So, we're all mingling, me and Cindy are talking to Harmonia, and Rhodey-boy pulls a gun.  Now...you might be surprised to find out I didn't just take a shot at him.  First was that mind-screw.  Two...y'know, I'm not really a violent maniac.  I've actually calmed down quite a bit, especially since Avalon.  Even if, as I said, I still feel like shooting alot of people.  I don't really imagine it now.  Progress, right?

We didn't get to start a proper fight, though.  Me and Rhodes followed the sound of shouting to a bunch of centaurs having Lexi and Andrew cornered.  Well, Lexi cornered, Andrew got chucked into a bush.  Aside from a bunch of centaurs being assholes, I think I missed something while dealing with Donny.  Kenny did interfere a bit...probably more of that mojo people keep throwing around. Enough to interrupt whatever Rhodey said Lexi was using, anyway.  Let's just say the whole situation was messed up and leave it at that, continuing to think about it just brings up unpleasant images.

Cindy's up, sounds like she wants to go get breakfast.  Guess I should eat something before the madness starts back up.

Man, and I thought my extended family was weird.  If me and Cindy ever get hitched, half of these people aren't getting invited.

Ding! Grats!

Well...Ding.

We came home from Avalon with that power boost.  While the others were off tending their own business before the ceremony we had been invited to, I stayed at Pops' place.  The rifle was shot, but I was able to modify it into a neat little pistol.  Should pack more of a punch then anything else I could easily get my hands on short of a vehicle-mounted M2 or a tank cannon or something.  I was able to talk to Brigid, too.  Nice lass, I think I'm going to get along with her real well.  We had a nice chat, and she did...something to the pieces of the pistol while I was working on them with her.  Found out among other things I can just call the weapon to my hand regardless of where it happens to be.  No more leaving it behind in goddamn Germany.

Oh, right.  Had a little chat with Lugh, too.  He was happy as a clam about how I won him that bet with Pops.  I think he zapped that gadget I picked up in Alaska.  I'm not exactly sure how yet, but I'll figure it out when the time comes.  There's...an awful lot of that sort of thing in this line of work.  Flying half-blind all the time is not exactly pleasant, but...fate tends to be a special bitch to people who try to buck that trend.  And I've got enough issues with that.

The ritual was....well, what it was.  I don't particularly feel like going into it.  Just one of those things.

Got told we had a few months after that before we'd -have- to do anything.  So me and Cindy went on a little tour/vacation/series of dates that didn't involve violence.  It's a nice change of pace from our usual nights on the town, hopefully we can keep that up.  Spent some time trying to help rebuild MIST.  I spent most of my time helping get the armory back in order and up to function.  Might as well make it my personal playground while I have the chance, eh?  Also dragged her out to a few places in the Caribbean and the States.  Banked on our newfound celebrity status in the divine circles a few times, too.  Now -that- is strange, finding out you're a household name.

Met Cin's family, too.  I think I'm going to get along with them, too.  Indigo seems to approve of my tinkering...and I think Kyria will too, if I can build her a heavy enough set of weights or some other way to test her strength.  I guess Cin gets her single minded side from her.  I guess, otherwise, things were pretty quiet.  Haven't had time to relax since this 'Hey, you're the kid of a god' business kicked off, and I get the feeling the times are going to be few and far between.  Enjoy it while you can, and all that.

We all apperantly got invitations as the hot new demigods in town to some wedding between a couple of Greek children.  The big names are going to be there from the pantheon...oh, meeting Ares is going to be awkward.  At least the chance to talk to Arty should come up.  Last thing from Avalon to settle, really.

Well, we're at the party.  Guess I should pay attention instead of mentally blogging.  Which is pretty cool, now nobody's going to yell at me for blogging during a mission when they don't know I'm doing it.  Chumps!

Prison Break

Cindy made it through the gate ok.  From what we could figure, a good chunk of the Titan influence had been burned away.  There was some left, but it was far less.  Probably what explains the fact that she's just as tall as she was before she walked through the gate.  Admittedly, I am kind of dissapointed.  I'm a terrible person, but I liked being able to use the top of her head as an armrest.  Ah well, what can I do?  Well, I could hack her off at the knees and build awesome little robotic feet to nail to her knees, but I don't think she'd let me.  Call it a hunch.

She says she loves me.  I probably should have given her more then the Han response, and I think I will once this nonsense is over with.  Maybe Artemis(or my self-doubt.  Still think it was Arty-kins.) was wrong.  Well...hell.  Even if she ends up right in the end, I'd rather enjoy myself with someone I do love for a while, even if things fall apart, then to sit around being a mopey little twit all the time.  I made enough crappy computer games under that kind of mindset that I still owe the Internet a few apologies.

In any case, we got into the temple.  In proper sneaking mission fashion, we also managed to find what we came for.  Unfortunately, there was a rather annoying Boss Monster inside, in the form of the god Tishtrya.  Hal had wanted to use the possibility he would be taken alive to distract it on a merry chase, but...

Oh, damn you to hell, Cin.  You're going to give me a heart attack, you know that?  She volunteered.  The taint made her a better candidate, as much as I hate to admit.  And damn me if it didn't work.  The god took off after her and the rest of us slipped into the chamber to find Andrew's father...sealed into a cage by a number of pillars with runes on them.  Guess we've all got one to deal with.  Runes and stuff ain't really my thing, regardless of how much I might know -about- them, I Don't know squat about disabling them.  So...brute force it is, however it works out.

King-Bearer

Well, that was...something.

Not really much to write about.  The path we needed to take to reach this Temple we need to find...well.  I'm not sure what all the others saw.  Ain't my place to ask, and if they want to talk, they will.  I met someone.  Claimed they were Artemis.  Yeah, that one.  Whether it was or just an odd expression of my self doubt, I couldn't exactly say, but I'm inclined to think it was.  I'll just ask if I ever get the chance.

Claimed Cindy was going to go running off with Bryn.  I didn't particularly believe it, mind, it just didn't seem to fit.  It still does't, I don't think she's the type to just flake off without bothering to actually end things.  But...damn.  The ring business Arty showed me....meh.  Like I said to her, it doesn't matter.  Shit like this has happened before, and I've no reason to expect the world to change that now, aside from my own faith in Cindy.  It'll be enough.

Besides, we'd a job to do, like I told Arty.  Whether Cin brushes me off for some Viking ho-bag,  if it was really Arty, or some twist of what the Yazata had done, that job still needed doing.  My love life will attend to itself.

In the meantime, the King is going home, and gods help whoever gets in the way of that.