<P> A favour (Cosine, Val/Alva, Ankou)

[midnight_medea]

"Here it is." Cosine said as she carried the large volume from her study to the living room. "The one we looked at before."

Val watched the goddess deposit the heavy book at the table and then flick it open to the old map of the Underworld they had found in her archive before. She leaned over the map and studied it.
"When we found Campe I saw things that were. Myself as I was perhaps, have you ever experienced that?" She asked, looking between both the Number goddess and her partner.  

[A Wandering Esper]

"Yes, it has happened to me before." Ankou had asked his beloved to look into her archives at Valyrmora's request. He had faintly remembered an old map of the Underworld that had once been, and it seemed like he had been right.

That, and it was something to take his mind off Kyrie, because dear gods. He was content with being so pale, because otherwise he probably would have visibly turned bone white. His mind had issues grasping the concept that his baby was no longer his baby.

What had once seemed so far away now simply seemed inevitable.

"Much like replaying a memory from your own eyes ?" He knew what that was like, and he had found it more than a bit disorienting.  

[midnight_medea]

"Yes." Valyrmora replied, looking up to Ankou with a smile. Her host's calloused fingers traced their way over the old map that had been drawn carefully onto the bound parchment. "It was through my eyes, I saw the hall of feasts and the fields where the restless souls would convalesce. My army, armour and something that struck something within me. An axe a glorious battle axe, it made me remember and wonder at the same time. Wonder what is truly down there, if it is there, left when I faded." She looked back up at Ankou. "How did you come to find Gungnir again?"  

[A Wandering Esper]

"I gave Gungnir to Nergal when I felt my end coming." This seemed like the right way to start this, though he glanced at Cosine for a moment. Valyrmora would probably know why. Should he come clean on this ? Was it truly wise, if not even Nergal remembered the truth ?

"I poured all I had left in the spear and gave it to him. I was hoping that it might be enough to save him, and in turn..." And in turn, the Underworld. But they all knew it had not been so.

"From there, I am not really certain what happened and the paces it had gone though, but I do know it ended up in the hands of a man named Pythagoras, who pretended to be Number and gathered those he could in his fake cult. He had Eir as well, as she was drawn to the spear. We discovered him when we sought out one of Cosine's old temples. We dealt with him and I was able to reclaim the mana left within."

Again, he looked at his mate, but this glance was less uncertain and more of a silent inquiry. She had the best memory of the both of them - had he forgotten anything ?  

[midnight_medea]

Cosine had taken the seat across from Ankou, she did have a good memory and that adventure she would not forget. She gave a nod and a smile to confirm that Ankou had remembered the important things.

Val listened carefully and looked back to the map.
"I wonder if the same fate has fallen on my weapons." She knew she would once have had many, the axe in particular stuck in her mind. Had it been a gift? What had she done with it. "I would not have given anything to Nergal, I know that. The Valkyries do not have them. Perhaps they are still there, along with everything else." She traced the path from the entrance to Nergal's area of the Underworld to her own. Would someone have dared to cross the mountains and rivers.  

[A Wandering Esper]

"Perhaps, if a part of it did not crumble apart..." Was it possible ? Ankou had no idea, honestly. He knew that a large part of it had been destroyed when Nergal faded. But perhaps what had been Valyrmora had remained in some fashion...

"Actually, there has to have been a part that hasn't crumbled." It occurred to him suddenly, as he looked at the map. "Otherwise... how could Ianthe have survived ? Nothing can survive void..." So the man had to have found some sort of shelter somewhere.  

[midnight_medea]

Yes, that was very true. Ianthe did survive, albeit in a decayed state, but that did not matter. Ianthe could be helped and the Underworld could be rebuilt Nergal had gone a way to starting things off.

"Would you be able to go on my behalf?" She asked, looking between god and goddess. There would be merit in both going. "If Soul Breaker is there ... " She was remembering something, she thought. "I think only a female may wield it, carry it even."

Cosine looked at Ankou and then glanced down to the map. She was not afraid of the spirits, she had met them many times and she knew when she was with Ankou she need not worry, but the Underworld was another thing. The realm of the dead home to all sorts of trials.
"There would not be any harm in looking I suppose?" she suggested.  

[A Wandering Esper]

Unable to be wielded by a male ? Well, that'd explain how Nergal could have never gotten his hands on that. Ankou disguised his amusement carefully, angling to look down at the map again to hide the slight curve his lips had taken.

Had he even really noticed the family feud, he wondered ? He certainly did not remember it.

He wasn't sure about taking Cosine down to the Underworld, for many reasons, most of them quite selfish. She knew he could not fly down there, but Cosine did not know exactly what happened, and she did not know why.

But at the same time, the last thing he wanted was Valyrmora to go down there herself. Unkind as it might have seemed on the surface, the Spirit Guide simply could not allow her to go there for as long as he was uncertain that she could survive the trip. He had already lost his brother, and now that she had been found, he would fight tooth and nail - even against Underworld herself - not to lose her as well. They may not have been siblings, but perhaps in a way, he could be the brother that Nergal had never really been to her. At least it certainly seemed that things had been tense in between them.

"We can." He answered, after a silence that had seemed to last an eternity, at least to him. "The worse that can happen is that we do not find anything. Do you have any idea where it could be ?"  

[midnight_medea]

Val pondered that question for a moment. Where would it be? Would she have hidden it somewhere safe, or perhaps given it to someone? No, she didn't think so. She was stubborn, very stubborn she would not have given up easily, not until her last breath had been drawn, she imagined her brother would have been the same. And where would she have drawn that last breath? She looked at the map.
"The Hall of Feasts." She said softly, looking up at Ankou. He was more worthy of the title of brother. "If it is anywhere it would be there, at the foot of her throne she would imagine, if she would fade anywhere it would be there. "If none have moved it."  

[A Wandering Esper]

"And that would be roughly..." He eyed the map again, pulling out his own of how things were now, at least as far as how he could access them. He had started this project for her and he was not quite done with it yet, and such thing was obvious, but there was enough there to draw comparisons, and try to figure out a fixed point. In theory if it had been it's separate entity in it's own way, distant from the main part of the realm, it might not have moved. He also assumed that it had been anchored to Yggdrasil itself, to have remained...

"There ?" He pointed beyond the mountains. This was going to be quite an adventure to get these, especially since his freedom of movement was limited.  

[midnight_medea]

"Oh." Val hoped that it hadn't shifted too much. Would she be able to move it back on her own? She nodded as he pointed to the mountains. "Yes, that was the way through from Nergal's realm. You could access it from his halls, there is a gateway in the mountains ... was a gateway in the mountains." She had to remember that, was, not is. It would be changed.

"How do we get through the gateway?" Cosine asked, it seemed to be a relevant question.

"Well, if it is there. It used to be guarded, it won't be now if all were expelled. There were words, Ianthe might remember them. I'll see if I can recall them."  

[A Wandering Esper]

Words ? Ankou's gaze turned distant for a moment, as he tried to recall if he knew any of this. After a moment, he shook his head. "I cannot seem to remember right now." If he ever actually knew of it to begin with. If he did, there was a chance he might recall it as they reached that gate, however it would be better to see if anyone else actually remembered such a thing, rather than have to turn back.

"Maybe one of the valkyries might remember, as well." It was still worth asking, at least.  

[midnight_medea]

"It is possible they might. Though I doubt they would have used the gate, it was more to keep people who shouldn't be wandering out of the Fields of Innocents." She studied the map as though it might give her the answer. "I will speak with Ianthe, if he doesn't know then I will speak with the Valkyries."  

[A Wandering Esper]

Ankou nodded. If they could not get in, then finding the door itself was not going to do much good at all. "We can go prepare for the trip while you do that much."

Not that it was much to prepare, honestly. Mostly he wanted an excuse to tell Cosine everything without anyone else around. It seemed better to tell her everything before she saw it for herself, at least. He knew he likely should have spoken of this a long time ago, but hopefully his love would be less upset with him if he admitted his failing before being cornered into doing so.  

[midnight_medea]

Valyrmora gave a nod and stood from the chair she had perched in. She felt hopeful and although she could not go herself, they could go for her and bring back news of the realm. Perhaps she would be able to relax a little more if she knew what was going on.
"Thank you both." She said, "I will speak with Ianthe first." The goddess turned and walked off in search of him.

Cosine watched her go and gave Ankou a smile. She had to admit the Underworld was somewhere she had been curious about, how could she not be her children were part of it too now. Still she knew it was not an entirely safe place, who knew what they might find.
"And how do we prepare for such a trip?" She asked, she knew something troubled him, though she also knew she did not need to ask, he would let her know in his own time.