[PRP] Artifacts 101 (Lucky, Gale, Rep, Mark, Carl)

[Baneful]

It made Rep so angry to see the flashback where the legacy had decided that it always wanted to be special, that it always wanted to be more than it was. To him it was classed as unforgivable arrogance, of overstepping its station. It made him resent it more than ever. It was a little s**t who needed a thrashing since it had no ******** parents to give it one. It needed to realise it was meant to go back to ******** sleep.

It was Alice's fault for trusting it, why had she trusted it?

Whatever, none of it mattered, all that mattered was keeping up the attack. His muscles ached, finding himself using different ones than he usually used while wielding Circe, but he could feel the familiar crackle of a charge through his arms, through the way it felt. He'd seen Cael use her charge so at the very least he knew how it looked and knew how to hold her for the shockwave, he just had to hope against hope that it connected.

HP: 30
DMG: 33
Charge: 3/3 - CHARGE USED
 

[Molten Tigrex]

AMAZON BASE

Lucky immediately turned to Carl and paled a little bit.

"Of course he will." Lucky finally looked down once she'd pushed the actual teapot his way. He sighed shakily and reached for it, pouring a tea-colored tint into the pile of sugar filling his teacup. He was going to regret trying to get clever with her. "Well, it was worth a try."

But he at least knew better than to interrupt her any further when she was so eager to tell a story. Lucky was so invested in the one-sided conversation that he got a double-startling as Mark yelled into the headset, and Charlotte responded. He winced and cupped a hand to one ear while the feedback receded. Charlotte was unveiling something, and it looked dangerous.

"Whoah, hey - Cae- Carl, don't -" Lucky stood up and nearly clapped Carl on the shoulder. Only, Carl hadn't even moved from his seat, and Lucky was left, hand raised, looking down on a very frightened kid. He looked back at Charlotte, still standing awkwardly between Carl and the jar of mystery. "Er -"

It was the perfect opportunity to ask what she really got out of the deal she'd made. Or to gloat that in the end, no matter what noble purpose her organization would claim, it was Hunters cleaning up their mess. Or, simply to be spiteful that she had wastefully killed so many in pursuit of Creation, only to change her mind when she didn't like whatever she'd created.

"Safekeeping. Sure." But this was one of those times it was best not to push their luck. He didn't fully grasp the machinations behind this alliance, but he did recognize her little hint as to whom she was deriving this power from - Death. It didn't make the idea of touching the jar any more appealing. But he could at least look her in the eye when he spoke next. "You're doing the right thing."

Even if it was for the wrong reasons.

Lucky understood Carl's silent plea well enough - it still made Lucky nervous to see any part of their Fearless Leader showing fear. It almost made him seem... human. Not that Lucky was any more eager to handle Charlotte's 'sacrifice'. But what choice did he have? Frowning, he carefully took the jar from her, with both his hands as well.

zoobey

 

[Zoobey]

ARCTIC BASE - REP

It felt like for that single, disorienting second that nothing that happened, there was resistance, there was something pushing back-

- And then the attack tore through green and branches and leaves, slicing through what felt like pure dissonance and the nest dissolved, slowly losing all shape and form. Branches, debris landed all directions, slowly dissolving into fine green filaments that struggled to complete themselves again.

'Go', whispered the weapon, very faintly, and without explanation Rep was at the base of the elevator, Alice tugging at his coat, pressing him forward as the elevator closed-

- There was a clatter on the ground as the scythe finally lost form and returned to its totem stage, what just looked like a simple grey stone without colour or substance as the elevator continued to surge upwards.

The feeling of something chasing them remained.

xBaneful

 

[Baneful]

ARCTIC BASE - REP

Rep was glad to get away from the thing, even briefly but he knew it wasn't over by any stretch of the imagination. The clatter of stone on the ground made him jump in surprise before hurriedly picking the totem up, terrified that it would break or come to harm.

He carefully stowed it in one of the pockets on the inside of his coat, close to his heart, with the full intention of defending it with the same ferocity he'd defend his own life. He was amazed she'd lasted so long within the field and so far from her bonded, but she was something other than most weapons.

Tracey was tolerant for a change, hating that he couldn't defend his hunter but willing to set aside his resentment of Circe while she was helping them or at least going in the same direction they were.

"Come on Come ON." he said, pacing as the elevator ascended ever upwards.

 

[Zoobey]

AMAZON BASE - LUCKY

"Oh please," Charlotte said, not even impressed at Lucky's attempt, "You're doing the right thing. I prefer luxury and comfort." And that was probably the best explanation Lucky could ever get on her every motive and why.

"Can we go now," said Carl rather urgently, trying his best to avoid looking at the strange jar.

"You are free to go any time," she stirred her tea idly, unnmoving, "as long as it is disabled, so will all its creations be. I mean you can't possibly think that these countless sentries were actual humans - though-"

- Here, she turned to smile curiously at Lucky.

"Though what?" said Mark through the headset, "If you mean Lucky's infection, I gave him an antidote."

"You'll see soon enough. Let me know how things work out, or really, I'll figure it out. I'm sure we'll have lots to catch up on next time." Charlotte didn't even mind that Lucky was having the weirdest flip-flop crisis of his day, she simply waved him off like she would a small pet dog, and let the both of them leave through the elevator.

Mark was waiting, entirely jittery, downstairs. "We got to lose the headsets once we get back," was his first thought as he looked at the empty foyer and then beckoned them out. They walked through a courtyard of silence. "Okay, once we get back, you're going to have to give me that jar Lucky, because I seriously don't- wait-"

The Death assistant paused, as if suddenly realizing something very important. "Aren't we missing some- where's Carl?"

Molten Tigrex

 

[Zoobey]

[ ARCTIC BASE - REP ]

The elevator suddenly shook, the lights flickering and then dimming as all power went out. He could hear something clanking below him, the noise rapid, getting closer and closer, he could almost feel the tendrils from the legacy reforming and stretching upwards towards him-

- And then without warning the lights were on again and the elevator hummed sturdily upwards as the doors finally peeled open.

Alice was already waiting for them in the foyer, and in moment she was at the exit door next to the security cameras, guiding the way out slowly, steadily. If Rep however, tried any moment to contact anyone through the headset, it was dead silent.

Something creaked behind him, and he could hear metal tearing and bending and feel the nausea rising again, but even turning around, even stopping the ascent forward could mean certain death.

Baneful

 

[Baneful]

ARCTIC BASE - REP

When the elevator shook and stilled, Rep instinctively crouched in the dark, his heart hammering as he felt nothing more than utterly trapped. There'd be nothing he could do here if it caught him, basically in a tiny cage suspended over oblivion.

When the lights came back on he scrambled towards the door and out of it. He did try the headset, mostly to warn the others what was coming but the reception this far down was non-existent. He didn't wait any longer as he could FEEL the creature gaining on him, breaking into a run back the way he'd come in from the snow.

Once he got there he had no ******** idea what he was going to do, where could you even run?

 

[Zoobey]

Even then, the headphones were oddly silent, only static coming from the other end. Outside it was still cold and stiflingly dark, a different barrage of senses, more controlled, sterilized.

As the show plummeted all directions, half blinding, Rep could still hear something chasing after him, the vestiges of nausea creeping up, something clanking in the distance-

- But the further he moved away from the entrance the quieter it got until there was nothing at all than just howling snow and wind and a strange blanket of darkness. All the voices were gone, and the security of his own weapon had returned, numbing otherwise harsher weather.

Minutes later through vast icy wasteland, Alice appeared again, a ghostly apparition that floated above the ice. Her form flickered briefly, and then she tried to beckon him forward, unable to explain properly where they were going.

Baneful

 

[Baneful]

ARCTIC BASE - REP
Rep felt better to be out of the facility, even if it was out to the open harshness of the elements. Snow wasn't as much of a problem to him as the confined spaces had been, up here he could move, he could see a little just by the moonlight as he ran, his boots well suited for the snow if nothing else. It was colder than he remembered without Tracey though and he found himself concerned he hadn't worn enough layers.

He knew he'd finally left the boundary of the base when the cold was suddenly numbed, it was as if someone had wrapped a warm blanket around him, or rather warm wings. He exhaled a little in relief, finding it less difficult to run and move in the deep snow. The darkness retreated too, his night vision kicking in as his artifact once again had traction and power. It was like turning on a ******** light in his immediate vicinity for a few meters. It was more than welcome and gave him hope that he wasn't going to be trapped here, that there was a way out. This was his favourite place to be and he knew how to survive here.

At Alice's appearance he gave her a nod and followed, anywhere but back towards the chaos he'd left behind.

<> Tracey said. <>

 

[Zoobey]

They walked a fair distance away, just the flickers of blue and gold occasionally blotting the landscape, until they arrived at what looked like a terribly dilapidated house, somehow surviving through the snow. The door took no effort at all to open and inside was a portal-

- To Halloween.

Closer to the portal, Alice looked a lot more solid, and as she stood next to it, the strange ephemeral nature of her existence on Deus had also disappeared as well. She was very close to resembling how she should be, more substantial and real than Rep or Tracey, and now it was clear she was beckoning Rep quite urgently.

"This way," she whispered, "He can't follow us here. It's a shortcut!"

Baneful

 

[Baneful]

ARCTIC BASE - REP

Rep travelled quickly, hoping that Alice was taking them somewhere safe soon, well aware the whole time that he didn't have a map, almost certainly didn't have any GPS reception to speak of and that he was basically just following an apparition. Still, there was a cabin out here and he entered it gladly, shaking some of the ice off of his hair.

He stopped dead when he saw the portal.

"Uh." he said. "We die there if we are there too long." he said. "Just so you know. Tracey can only protect me so long."

He didn't want to outrun a legacy just to die some other horrible way.

 

[Zoobey]

ARCTIC BASE - REP

"I know, silly," she said and she was grinning at an impossibly wide angle and it looked unsettling at best, "That's why I'm helping you!"

She disappeared into the portal, leaving Rep with very few options.

Baneful

 

[kuropeco]

ARCTIC BASE - GALE


He kept yanking until - finally - the vent came free. Gale made a noise of satisfaction that turned into a breath of exasperation at Samuel, his eyes narrowing slightly. With a sigh, he pulled out his own runic dagger, gripped it tightly in his hand, and muttered, "Here goes nothing."

Then he stepped into the pipe, hoping very much he wasn't about to die.

zoobey

 

[Baneful]

ARCTIC BASE - REP

Rep sighed heavily and placed a hand on the spot where he knew Circe's totem was.

He stepped in.

 

[Zoobey]

ARCTIC BASE - GALE

It was a misstep, and immediately, Gale began to plummet. At some point while literally freefalling down a pipe, Gale's head hit metal, his elbows and knees hit more metal, and he fell into something decidedly soft and warm.

There was green everywhere, shaped into strange pods, not dissimiliar to the pods on Deus Ex. They were covered in pulsating vines and each pod had a person sleeping inside.

A second later after this observation, Sam fell on top of Gale.

kuropeco