Scion - Petro Campaign - Session 91
It seems there was a lot of merit in Adam's pessimistic fears that the coins we thought would be the easiest to acquire are actually turning out to be some of the most challenging. All in all, the last couple of days have been full of dark tidings, and I've been in the center of much of it. I fear that Mikaboshi might know more about my schemes than I thought. >_<
Anyway, after leaving Mercedes, Ike and their band, we emerged in Yomi through the portal I created, and retired to Reikou, my underworld sanctum. For those of you who don't know (though I know I've described it in these journals before), Reikou is a beautifully dark neo-Japanese estate. It's kind of a mixture of a neo-Japanese garden, cemetery, and dance hall complex, with collections of bone torii placed closely together in sequence to form passages between buildings. Bluish ghost lights illuminate the garden-graveyard from stone lanterns, and the clubs thrum with gothic, darkwave/EBM, or industrial beats, depending on which you happen to visit. Toward the back of the complex is a massive bone torii matching the entrance to Kurayashiro, my sanctum in Takamagahara, and beyond it, in an immense cavern in the base of Yellow-Spring Mountain, is my personal residence, a sprawling neo-Japanese mansion lit with the finest club lighting. It's so atmospheric. I luv it. ^_^
And the whole place is populated with ghost and youkai servants (mostly rokurokubi and nopprabo) and shikome guards, which is awesome. A lot of the lesser shikome Tabby has made have ended up there.
Until the beginning of this latest mission, I was spending most of my time on Red Mountain or in Reikou, so I really haven't been gone long, but most of my friends hadn't actually visited the place before, so I enjoyed giving them the grand tour after sending Tabby to go inform mom that we wanted an audience with her ASAP (I was going to send Amy, since she's now the kami seneschal of the place, but she was away at Red Mountain with Sera, no doubt excited over Sera's pregnancy). Then we all settled in to relax, and congregated in my steaming hot communal bath house to bathe and discuss our plans. Oiwa, who excited to see me and Echo, joined us for the bath, which is always deliciously creepy. ^_^
Adam called upon his talent for prophecy, and learned that the meeting with mom was going to be difficult and would force us to make some tough choices. that was not good news. But even worse was the news that our meeting with Hel might put me specifically in danger. >_< I couldn't think of any reason Hel would have it out for me. I mean, she and I have always gotten along, and it's not like I've been trying to seduce her husband Jacob or anything...
We also learned that when we tried to raise the islands, we would find that one of the coins we had acquired was false. At first, I think we all found that pretty discouraging >_<, but then I brought up the possibility that the coin Kalfu and Legba had left in the world was the false one, and that they had given T-Bone one of the real coins among the collections of fakes they had provided.
Hmmm. Now that I think about it, if that's true, it's possible that T-Bone could have accidentally used one of the real coins as the stand it for Izanami's coin...which could be...a problem. But I'm getting ahead of myself.
By the time we finished our bath, Tabby had returned with news that Izanami would see us the next day, but that she wasn't happy (what else is new, right?). To while away the time until then, I invited people to visit Reikou's clubs. Pierre and Charles chose to visit the darkwave/EBM club, but Elisa decided to retire and get some rest (which I'm sure didn't last long when Pierre returned to their room with a couple of hot nopperabo girls in tow ^_^). T-Bone, oddly enough, went to meditate under the waterfall that spills into the back of the gardens. I guess he's still bothered by what happened in the Unseelie Court, and I can't say I blame him. Questions and uncertainties still revolve around the things we learned there...
Anyway, I warned everyone to stay away from Hisame Hall, the hardcore industrial club where the shikome hang out and go crazy. The shikome have a tendency to tear ghosts and youkai who wander into the place to shreds. They wouldn't really be a threat to gods like us, but the place might not be pleasant for most of my friends. I was surprised when Adam suggested that he'd like to check it out, just to satisfy a sense of academic curiosity, of course. ^_^ So I grabbed Tabby and my yomotsu-shikome and escorted Adam to Hisame Hall.
Once there, I freed my shikome side like always when I go to Hisame Hall and let the madness and hunger and lust take over. Tabby knows to watch over me when I do, to keep the other shikome from taking advantage of me. She likes to claim me as her own there anyway, and in Hisame Hall, only she is allowed to slake her lusts with me.
Well....she and Adam. I immediately dragged him out onto the dance floor amidst the thrashing, dancing shikome as he marveled at the chaos and abandonment of the demon women around him. As always, the club's dim lighting draped the shikome in shadows as they danced ecstatically or made love or fought each other like feral cats. And in some dark corners they just cluster together, holding each other in a communal group of writhing bodies like maggots. I know that description makes it sound disgusting, but in fact there's something very touching and warm about that sort of closeness...the sort of oneness they can share at times.
But I wasn't really interested in that; I wanted Adam. I should have known better after our experiences in Lanka, but maybe the naughty part of me just didn't care. As we danced, I turned on the charm...which, in retrospect, was a little awkward given how pregnant I am...but I guess it just goes to show how hot and enticing I can be even in my "delicate condition." I don't really remember everything clearly, but I know that Adam very nearly gave in to my seductions, and that only a supreme effort of will on his part kept us from resolving the sexual tension that constantly vibrates between us.
Melanthea wasn't happy about that, by the way. >_< She told me so when I slept briefly later. Dancing so closely together with Adam made her uncomfortable, and she'd prefer that I refrain from such erotic displays until after she's born. I felt pretty bad about that. >_<
Adam and I stayed at the club all night, even after I eventually moved on from him to Tabby. He dragged me out of the club as the time for our meeting with mom approached and I quickly made my way to Echo so that I could bite her and subdue my shikome side (the taint that I carry seems to dissipate in her, so she's my salvation when I need to force down my inner shikome). As soon as I saw her I fell upon her and rode her to the ground with kisses that turned into bites. Her blood tastes so good.
It wasn't until after I regained control of myself that I really noticed Hrimsa standing there, watching us with some degree of academic curiosity. Echo had been helping her try on some new and more...exciting clothing. Stuff more along the lines of what I would wear. In other words, clothing that was a bit more sexy than Hrimsa's standard fare. And I realized that she was doing that to piss off Adam, because she was jealous of the fact that we'd gone to club together. Since Ray left, I think Adam's the only person she really feels threatened by in terms of her relationship to me. I assured her that Adam was a perfect gentleman and that nothing happened between us at the club, which appeased her somewhat.
Adam and I cleaned up and then my sister, Miyako, arrived to escort us to our audience with mom. Over the past two or three years, as Miyako has also matured into a goddess, she's gained a lot of confidence and lost many of the shy, retreating parts of her personality, which have been replaced mostly by spite . She doesn't seem to care much about people at all, at least not until they're dead. The ghosts are all she cares about. Them and our mother. And she actively hates me. I don't think she's actually as jealous of me as she once was...but she feels I've betrayed mother several times in the past, what with Miko and Persephone and all. And Miyako can certainly bear a grudge. That's okay, though. I'm always as perky and sweet as can be to dear Miya-chan. She hates it. ^_^ Really, though, I do love her like the little sister she is. Which she also hates. ^_^
Mother was in a foul mood, but at least she heard our request. I spoke for all of us, of course, and T-Bone sort of disappeared prior to entering the audience hall. He wanted to be prepared in case we had to steal mother's coin, which kinda rubbed me the wrong way at first but ended up being a good idea. Well...good for the group, maybe. Not necessarily for me.
Izanami told us that the coin was very precious to her, and that she would not part with it without something equally valuable in return. I could sense the hint of malice and revenge creep into her voice as she told use that Maneki, daughter of Bast, had been cursed by a ghost prior to her awakening as a Scion. The ghost had marked her, claimed her soul as was its right according to the ways of Yomi. But Bast had awakened Maneki before the ghost could claim her due, and so Maneki was spared her fate.
Izanami wanted Maneki's life and soul in exchange for the coin. According to the ways of the realms of the dead, she has a right to it. But that's not why she asked for it. She asked for Maneki's soul because she knows how much I adore Maneki, and she wanted to make me feel the same sense of loss she had felt when I took Miko from her.
Mom and I got into an argument then, and it wasn't pretty. To paraphrase, I asked why she was being such a bitch and why, when she had entrusted me with so much else, she was unwilling to entrust me with the coin, and she replied that it was a gift from someone who was once very precious to her, at least until "that pompous slut" stole him from her. Of course I knew she was talking about Hades, and then I lost my temper over the way she was referring to Persephone, who is one of my dearest friends. I told mom that I would not have her talk about Persephone that way, and that I'd learned a hell of a lot more about being a goddess from her than I had from my own mother.
Well...that didn't go over well, and Izanami told us that she was finished with us and would not grant us the coin. Then she turned and stalked out of the chamber. Echo begged me to let her go after my mother. She said she thought she could talk Izanami into giving us the coin. I didn't want to let my wife go speak to my mother alone, not when mom was in such a foul mood. But then T-Bone's voice whispered in my ear, "Don't worry. I'm here, and I'll keep an eye on her." So I grudgingly let her go see what she could do, though I had no idea what she could offer.
I paced around quite a bit waiting for Echo and T-Bone to return. I don't get really mad very often. Sure, I get ticked off about things all the time, but my anger doesn't really last long or run deep. But I was really steamed this time. So when Echo and T-Bone returned and I realized that Echo had attempted to seduce my mother in exchange for the coin, I was furious! I was mad at Echo for doing such a thing, but not really that mad. I mean, she loves me more than anything else, and she only did it for my sake. I couldn't really blame her, not after the way I've prostituted myself to Erebus for the greater good. But I was livid over the idea that my mother would take advantage of my wife that way. At least...until Echo and T-Bone calmed me down. Yes, my mother is fond of Echo. Who wouldn't be? But they both assured me that she resisted Echo's charms and made no motion to betray me in that way.
I realized that despite her anger, she respects me and my marriage, and I felt very small and very sad for my mother, who must be so terribly lonely and must envy me a great deal. And later, when I thought about it more, I felt that I had betrayed her again. And the accusing look on Miyako's face told me that she felt the same. >_<
The only saving grace of the whole thing was that while Echo was distracting Izanami, T-Bone managed to steal Izanami's coin. It was apparently wrapped in paper charms, though, and fortunately, thanks to me, T-Bone knows enough about Tsukumo-gami to recognize the potential of such charms. So he made sure to carefully remove the charms from the real coin and replace them on one of the fakes. Mother probably won't even know they've been switched until she learns that we've raised the death titan's tomb, assuming we succeed.
When I thought about it later, though, I began to feel incredibly sorry for what we had done. We really did steal one of the only connections she has to the bright and beautiful life she had before death made her the Queen of the Underworld. Right now T-Bone is carrying Izanami's coin (I'm carrying the one from the Unseelie Court since I made an oath over it), but as soon as I get a chance, I'm going to ask him if we can trade coins. I feel responsible for the piece of my mother's life that we now hold, and since we intend to keep the coins (spread among us) so that we can access the titan's tomb whenever we wish, I feel that I need to do something to get mother to bequeath the coin to me for real. I don't want its theft to become a wedge between us, if I can help it.
Anyway, with the coin in hand, we left Yomi pretty quickly. Adam opened a portal to Helheim and we all stepped through into the deadly cold of Hel's realm. Hrimsa was happy to be home, and she skipped about us, bending to kiss each of us on the head to grant us protection against the killing cold. Then we made our way toward Hel's palace.
We were stopped at the bridge leading into the realm by Modgud, a lesser goddess who guards the entrance into Helheim. She warned us away, saying that it wouldn't be a good idea for us to see Hel right now. Jacob was away and Hel as in a foul mood since Jacob is her heart (the only warm, feeling part of her), and his absence always left her cold and bitter. But there was more to it than that. Adam and Hrimsa pressed Modgud and she admitted that it was dangerous because Mikaboshi had visited Hel and had attempted to strike a deal with her. If Hel would turn me over to him, he would provide a small army of troops from Soku-no-Kumi for Jacob to command during the Ragnarok. >_<
[Private note - WTF!?]
WTF!? I know I've been a thorn in Mikaboshi's side since day one, but we all have. Maybe Adam, Elisa, and T-Bone's paranoia is rubbing off on me, but now I'm worried that Mikaboshi must have some idea of what I'm up to with Erebus. >_< I was all ready to tell Hel that Mikaboshi wouldn't even be in control of Soku-no-Kumi when Ragnarok rolled around (I hope), but fortunately, cooler heads prevailed and besides, it never really came to that.
[End private note]
Anyway, there was some talk that maybe I should stay behind, but Adam ultimately decided that Hel wouldn't do anything to us if he could invoke the right of hospitality, forcing her to treat us as honored guests at least as long as we were within Helheim. So we all crossed the bridge into Hel's realm.
We were greeted in her palace by a sluggish zombie servant and escorted to meet with Hel herself. She was seated in a torture chamber subjecting several ghosts to excruciating torture, and the ghosts had all been made to look like Sif, which added a perfectly psychotic twist to an already disturbing scene. >_< Eventually, she gave us her attention, though, and when she did, Adam immediately asked for her hospitality, which was duly granted. Grim and cold, she took us into a less unpleasant chamber for our audience with her, though I could tell that she was conflicted. She purposely sat facing a portrait of Jacob, I suppose so that his benevolence would help her remember her good side.
Adam took the lead this time and argued our case. He explained what we were trying to do with the coins and the danger of allowing them to fall into the titans' hands. And even though I didn't like the way she kept glancing at me, it eventually became obvious that she had decided to do the right thing and not turn me over to Mikaboshi. She agreed to give us the coin, and in exchange, all she asked was that we grant Jacob the use of one of the artifacts from the death titan's tomb during Ragnarok. We gladly agreed.
Hel led us to fetch the coin, but as she entered one of her palace's treasure chambers, four shinigami, each surrounded by several shitidama, manifested and struck her down. O_O I guess Mikaboshi wasn't happy that she didn't accept his deal. Fortunately, she wasn't dead, but she was gonna be if we didn't do something, so we went into full-on attack mode. I was going to grab Hel and retreat with her into the ground, but then she just disappeared. I glanced at Adam and the knowing smile on his face told me that he'd shunted her out of time so that she could make her getaway while we dealt with the bad guys.
It was a brutal fight. Charles opened up with his sun-enhanced gun play and blasted one shinigami straight back to the hell from which it was spawned, while Elisa did much the same to a second shinigami. Even as those shinigami disiintegrated, all the shinigami flung out skulls which rolled to the ground and then unfolded into gigantic skeletons - giving us four extremely powerful gashadokuro to deal with as well.
Pierre bellowed a voodoo invocation with a booming laugh and dispelled the shitidama while I started desperately bolstering the more vulnerable of us against the shinigami's deadly blows. T-Bone, as usual, flitted between our enemies to interfere with their movements. Adam shifted targets as necessary, but largely focused on the gashadokuro, especially when Hrimsa got in over her head by trying to go toe to toe with one of the immense undead beasts.
I ordered Tabby to take on one gashadokuro while the other shikome took on another, and once Pierre had gotten rid of the shitidama, he went after a third. Sadako and the rest were barely able to chip their target's rock-solid skeleton, but Mercy's powerful thrown attacks shattered the skeleton like glass, and Tabby had little difficulty tearing splintered chunks from hers.
Unfortunately, Hrimsa was no match for her gashadokuro, and I barely had time to bolster her body before it crushed her in its iron grip. Thanks to my aid, she weathered the injury fairly well (it would have killed her otherwise), but she was still wounded and from the way she reacted, that sort of pain was a new experience for her. Tabby got grabbed by her gashadokuro about then as well, but fortunately, Mercy saved both Hrimsa and Tabby, exploding both gashadokuro's skulls with pairs of thrown scissors (her signature weapon ever since she hooked up with Chiaki).
Charles and Elisa finished off the last of the shinigami while Pierre and Adam killed the remaining gashadokuro, leaving us in the clear. I rushed to Hrimsa, who was collapsed in pain on the ground and gently stroked her shoulder, comforting her with my words while I healed her wounds. By the time Hel returned with a troop of her giant guards, Hrimsa was good as new, though still a bit traumatized from the ordeal.
Opps...gotta go now. I'll write more later! ^_^
Anyway, after leaving Mercedes, Ike and their band, we emerged in Yomi through the portal I created, and retired to Reikou, my underworld sanctum. For those of you who don't know (though I know I've described it in these journals before), Reikou is a beautifully dark neo-Japanese estate. It's kind of a mixture of a neo-Japanese garden, cemetery, and dance hall complex, with collections of bone torii placed closely together in sequence to form passages between buildings. Bluish ghost lights illuminate the garden-graveyard from stone lanterns, and the clubs thrum with gothic, darkwave/EBM, or industrial beats, depending on which you happen to visit. Toward the back of the complex is a massive bone torii matching the entrance to Kurayashiro, my sanctum in Takamagahara, and beyond it, in an immense cavern in the base of Yellow-Spring Mountain, is my personal residence, a sprawling neo-Japanese mansion lit with the finest club lighting. It's so atmospheric. I luv it. ^_^
And the whole place is populated with ghost and youkai servants (mostly rokurokubi and nopprabo) and shikome guards, which is awesome. A lot of the lesser shikome Tabby has made have ended up there.
Until the beginning of this latest mission, I was spending most of my time on Red Mountain or in Reikou, so I really haven't been gone long, but most of my friends hadn't actually visited the place before, so I enjoyed giving them the grand tour after sending Tabby to go inform mom that we wanted an audience with her ASAP (I was going to send Amy, since she's now the kami seneschal of the place, but she was away at Red Mountain with Sera, no doubt excited over Sera's pregnancy). Then we all settled in to relax, and congregated in my steaming hot communal bath house to bathe and discuss our plans. Oiwa, who excited to see me and Echo, joined us for the bath, which is always deliciously creepy. ^_^
Adam called upon his talent for prophecy, and learned that the meeting with mom was going to be difficult and would force us to make some tough choices. that was not good news. But even worse was the news that our meeting with Hel might put me specifically in danger. >_< I couldn't think of any reason Hel would have it out for me. I mean, she and I have always gotten along, and it's not like I've been trying to seduce her husband Jacob or anything...
We also learned that when we tried to raise the islands, we would find that one of the coins we had acquired was false. At first, I think we all found that pretty discouraging >_<, but then I brought up the possibility that the coin Kalfu and Legba had left in the world was the false one, and that they had given T-Bone one of the real coins among the collections of fakes they had provided.
Hmmm. Now that I think about it, if that's true, it's possible that T-Bone could have accidentally used one of the real coins as the stand it for Izanami's coin...which could be...a problem. But I'm getting ahead of myself.
By the time we finished our bath, Tabby had returned with news that Izanami would see us the next day, but that she wasn't happy (what else is new, right?). To while away the time until then, I invited people to visit Reikou's clubs. Pierre and Charles chose to visit the darkwave/EBM club, but Elisa decided to retire and get some rest (which I'm sure didn't last long when Pierre returned to their room with a couple of hot nopperabo girls in tow ^_^). T-Bone, oddly enough, went to meditate under the waterfall that spills into the back of the gardens. I guess he's still bothered by what happened in the Unseelie Court, and I can't say I blame him. Questions and uncertainties still revolve around the things we learned there...
Anyway, I warned everyone to stay away from Hisame Hall, the hardcore industrial club where the shikome hang out and go crazy. The shikome have a tendency to tear ghosts and youkai who wander into the place to shreds. They wouldn't really be a threat to gods like us, but the place might not be pleasant for most of my friends. I was surprised when Adam suggested that he'd like to check it out, just to satisfy a sense of academic curiosity, of course. ^_^ So I grabbed Tabby and my yomotsu-shikome and escorted Adam to Hisame Hall.
Once there, I freed my shikome side like always when I go to Hisame Hall and let the madness and hunger and lust take over. Tabby knows to watch over me when I do, to keep the other shikome from taking advantage of me. She likes to claim me as her own there anyway, and in Hisame Hall, only she is allowed to slake her lusts with me.
Well....she and Adam. I immediately dragged him out onto the dance floor amidst the thrashing, dancing shikome as he marveled at the chaos and abandonment of the demon women around him. As always, the club's dim lighting draped the shikome in shadows as they danced ecstatically or made love or fought each other like feral cats. And in some dark corners they just cluster together, holding each other in a communal group of writhing bodies like maggots. I know that description makes it sound disgusting, but in fact there's something very touching and warm about that sort of closeness...the sort of oneness they can share at times.
But I wasn't really interested in that; I wanted Adam. I should have known better after our experiences in Lanka, but maybe the naughty part of me just didn't care. As we danced, I turned on the charm...which, in retrospect, was a little awkward given how pregnant I am...but I guess it just goes to show how hot and enticing I can be even in my "delicate condition." I don't really remember everything clearly, but I know that Adam very nearly gave in to my seductions, and that only a supreme effort of will on his part kept us from resolving the sexual tension that constantly vibrates between us.
Melanthea wasn't happy about that, by the way. >_< She told me so when I slept briefly later. Dancing so closely together with Adam made her uncomfortable, and she'd prefer that I refrain from such erotic displays until after she's born. I felt pretty bad about that. >_<
Adam and I stayed at the club all night, even after I eventually moved on from him to Tabby. He dragged me out of the club as the time for our meeting with mom approached and I quickly made my way to Echo so that I could bite her and subdue my shikome side (the taint that I carry seems to dissipate in her, so she's my salvation when I need to force down my inner shikome). As soon as I saw her I fell upon her and rode her to the ground with kisses that turned into bites. Her blood tastes so good.
It wasn't until after I regained control of myself that I really noticed Hrimsa standing there, watching us with some degree of academic curiosity. Echo had been helping her try on some new and more...exciting clothing. Stuff more along the lines of what I would wear. In other words, clothing that was a bit more sexy than Hrimsa's standard fare. And I realized that she was doing that to piss off Adam, because she was jealous of the fact that we'd gone to club together. Since Ray left, I think Adam's the only person she really feels threatened by in terms of her relationship to me. I assured her that Adam was a perfect gentleman and that nothing happened between us at the club, which appeased her somewhat.
Adam and I cleaned up and then my sister, Miyako, arrived to escort us to our audience with mom. Over the past two or three years, as Miyako has also matured into a goddess, she's gained a lot of confidence and lost many of the shy, retreating parts of her personality, which have been replaced mostly by spite . She doesn't seem to care much about people at all, at least not until they're dead. The ghosts are all she cares about. Them and our mother. And she actively hates me. I don't think she's actually as jealous of me as she once was...but she feels I've betrayed mother several times in the past, what with Miko and Persephone and all. And Miyako can certainly bear a grudge. That's okay, though. I'm always as perky and sweet as can be to dear Miya-chan. She hates it. ^_^ Really, though, I do love her like the little sister she is. Which she also hates. ^_^
Mother was in a foul mood, but at least she heard our request. I spoke for all of us, of course, and T-Bone sort of disappeared prior to entering the audience hall. He wanted to be prepared in case we had to steal mother's coin, which kinda rubbed me the wrong way at first but ended up being a good idea. Well...good for the group, maybe. Not necessarily for me.
Izanami told us that the coin was very precious to her, and that she would not part with it without something equally valuable in return. I could sense the hint of malice and revenge creep into her voice as she told use that Maneki, daughter of Bast, had been cursed by a ghost prior to her awakening as a Scion. The ghost had marked her, claimed her soul as was its right according to the ways of Yomi. But Bast had awakened Maneki before the ghost could claim her due, and so Maneki was spared her fate.
Izanami wanted Maneki's life and soul in exchange for the coin. According to the ways of the realms of the dead, she has a right to it. But that's not why she asked for it. She asked for Maneki's soul because she knows how much I adore Maneki, and she wanted to make me feel the same sense of loss she had felt when I took Miko from her.
Mom and I got into an argument then, and it wasn't pretty. To paraphrase, I asked why she was being such a bitch and why, when she had entrusted me with so much else, she was unwilling to entrust me with the coin, and she replied that it was a gift from someone who was once very precious to her, at least until "that pompous slut" stole him from her. Of course I knew she was talking about Hades, and then I lost my temper over the way she was referring to Persephone, who is one of my dearest friends. I told mom that I would not have her talk about Persephone that way, and that I'd learned a hell of a lot more about being a goddess from her than I had from my own mother.
Well...that didn't go over well, and Izanami told us that she was finished with us and would not grant us the coin. Then she turned and stalked out of the chamber. Echo begged me to let her go after my mother. She said she thought she could talk Izanami into giving us the coin. I didn't want to let my wife go speak to my mother alone, not when mom was in such a foul mood. But then T-Bone's voice whispered in my ear, "Don't worry. I'm here, and I'll keep an eye on her." So I grudgingly let her go see what she could do, though I had no idea what she could offer.
I paced around quite a bit waiting for Echo and T-Bone to return. I don't get really mad very often. Sure, I get ticked off about things all the time, but my anger doesn't really last long or run deep. But I was really steamed this time. So when Echo and T-Bone returned and I realized that Echo had attempted to seduce my mother in exchange for the coin, I was furious! I was mad at Echo for doing such a thing, but not really that mad. I mean, she loves me more than anything else, and she only did it for my sake. I couldn't really blame her, not after the way I've prostituted myself to Erebus for the greater good. But I was livid over the idea that my mother would take advantage of my wife that way. At least...until Echo and T-Bone calmed me down. Yes, my mother is fond of Echo. Who wouldn't be? But they both assured me that she resisted Echo's charms and made no motion to betray me in that way.
I realized that despite her anger, she respects me and my marriage, and I felt very small and very sad for my mother, who must be so terribly lonely and must envy me a great deal. And later, when I thought about it more, I felt that I had betrayed her again. And the accusing look on Miyako's face told me that she felt the same. >_<
The only saving grace of the whole thing was that while Echo was distracting Izanami, T-Bone managed to steal Izanami's coin. It was apparently wrapped in paper charms, though, and fortunately, thanks to me, T-Bone knows enough about Tsukumo-gami to recognize the potential of such charms. So he made sure to carefully remove the charms from the real coin and replace them on one of the fakes. Mother probably won't even know they've been switched until she learns that we've raised the death titan's tomb, assuming we succeed.
When I thought about it later, though, I began to feel incredibly sorry for what we had done. We really did steal one of the only connections she has to the bright and beautiful life she had before death made her the Queen of the Underworld. Right now T-Bone is carrying Izanami's coin (I'm carrying the one from the Unseelie Court since I made an oath over it), but as soon as I get a chance, I'm going to ask him if we can trade coins. I feel responsible for the piece of my mother's life that we now hold, and since we intend to keep the coins (spread among us) so that we can access the titan's tomb whenever we wish, I feel that I need to do something to get mother to bequeath the coin to me for real. I don't want its theft to become a wedge between us, if I can help it.
Anyway, with the coin in hand, we left Yomi pretty quickly. Adam opened a portal to Helheim and we all stepped through into the deadly cold of Hel's realm. Hrimsa was happy to be home, and she skipped about us, bending to kiss each of us on the head to grant us protection against the killing cold. Then we made our way toward Hel's palace.
We were stopped at the bridge leading into the realm by Modgud, a lesser goddess who guards the entrance into Helheim. She warned us away, saying that it wouldn't be a good idea for us to see Hel right now. Jacob was away and Hel as in a foul mood since Jacob is her heart (the only warm, feeling part of her), and his absence always left her cold and bitter. But there was more to it than that. Adam and Hrimsa pressed Modgud and she admitted that it was dangerous because Mikaboshi had visited Hel and had attempted to strike a deal with her. If Hel would turn me over to him, he would provide a small army of troops from Soku-no-Kumi for Jacob to command during the Ragnarok. >_<
[Private note - WTF!?]
WTF!? I know I've been a thorn in Mikaboshi's side since day one, but we all have. Maybe Adam, Elisa, and T-Bone's paranoia is rubbing off on me, but now I'm worried that Mikaboshi must have some idea of what I'm up to with Erebus. >_< I was all ready to tell Hel that Mikaboshi wouldn't even be in control of Soku-no-Kumi when Ragnarok rolled around (I hope), but fortunately, cooler heads prevailed and besides, it never really came to that.
[End private note]
Anyway, there was some talk that maybe I should stay behind, but Adam ultimately decided that Hel wouldn't do anything to us if he could invoke the right of hospitality, forcing her to treat us as honored guests at least as long as we were within Helheim. So we all crossed the bridge into Hel's realm.
We were greeted in her palace by a sluggish zombie servant and escorted to meet with Hel herself. She was seated in a torture chamber subjecting several ghosts to excruciating torture, and the ghosts had all been made to look like Sif, which added a perfectly psychotic twist to an already disturbing scene. >_< Eventually, she gave us her attention, though, and when she did, Adam immediately asked for her hospitality, which was duly granted. Grim and cold, she took us into a less unpleasant chamber for our audience with her, though I could tell that she was conflicted. She purposely sat facing a portrait of Jacob, I suppose so that his benevolence would help her remember her good side.
Adam took the lead this time and argued our case. He explained what we were trying to do with the coins and the danger of allowing them to fall into the titans' hands. And even though I didn't like the way she kept glancing at me, it eventually became obvious that she had decided to do the right thing and not turn me over to Mikaboshi. She agreed to give us the coin, and in exchange, all she asked was that we grant Jacob the use of one of the artifacts from the death titan's tomb during Ragnarok. We gladly agreed.
Hel led us to fetch the coin, but as she entered one of her palace's treasure chambers, four shinigami, each surrounded by several shitidama, manifested and struck her down. O_O I guess Mikaboshi wasn't happy that she didn't accept his deal. Fortunately, she wasn't dead, but she was gonna be if we didn't do something, so we went into full-on attack mode. I was going to grab Hel and retreat with her into the ground, but then she just disappeared. I glanced at Adam and the knowing smile on his face told me that he'd shunted her out of time so that she could make her getaway while we dealt with the bad guys.
It was a brutal fight. Charles opened up with his sun-enhanced gun play and blasted one shinigami straight back to the hell from which it was spawned, while Elisa did much the same to a second shinigami. Even as those shinigami disiintegrated, all the shinigami flung out skulls which rolled to the ground and then unfolded into gigantic skeletons - giving us four extremely powerful gashadokuro to deal with as well.
Pierre bellowed a voodoo invocation with a booming laugh and dispelled the shitidama while I started desperately bolstering the more vulnerable of us against the shinigami's deadly blows. T-Bone, as usual, flitted between our enemies to interfere with their movements. Adam shifted targets as necessary, but largely focused on the gashadokuro, especially when Hrimsa got in over her head by trying to go toe to toe with one of the immense undead beasts.
I ordered Tabby to take on one gashadokuro while the other shikome took on another, and once Pierre had gotten rid of the shitidama, he went after a third. Sadako and the rest were barely able to chip their target's rock-solid skeleton, but Mercy's powerful thrown attacks shattered the skeleton like glass, and Tabby had little difficulty tearing splintered chunks from hers.
Unfortunately, Hrimsa was no match for her gashadokuro, and I barely had time to bolster her body before it crushed her in its iron grip. Thanks to my aid, she weathered the injury fairly well (it would have killed her otherwise), but she was still wounded and from the way she reacted, that sort of pain was a new experience for her. Tabby got grabbed by her gashadokuro about then as well, but fortunately, Mercy saved both Hrimsa and Tabby, exploding both gashadokuro's skulls with pairs of thrown scissors (her signature weapon ever since she hooked up with Chiaki).
Charles and Elisa finished off the last of the shinigami while Pierre and Adam killed the remaining gashadokuro, leaving us in the clear. I rushed to Hrimsa, who was collapsed in pain on the ground and gently stroked her shoulder, comforting her with my words while I healed her wounds. By the time Hel returned with a troop of her giant guards, Hrimsa was good as new, though still a bit traumatized from the ordeal.
Opps...gotta go now. I'll write more later! ^_^