Going underground
Aphrodite disappeared. Orabella started crying as she put her clothes back on. The others discussed what to do. They had decided on an advance scouting party when Giles's phone rang. It was Alexandra.
"Do you know where Orabella is?" Alexandra sounded worried. Giles assured her that they did. "Is she okay?" Again, yes. Alexandra explained that she'd just figured out that one of her old prophecies wasn't about her, as she'd thought, but about Orabella. She was fated to be kidnapped and murdered, but it was essential that she be kept safe, because they were going to need her later. The fate of the world was at stake. Exactly how, she wasn't sure, but Orabella was important. Also, could they bring her back with them when they came back to London?
Giles didn't think they were going to have any chance of getting her on a plane if she didn't want to go. Alexandra thought she might want to if she knew the request came from her. Giles handed Orabella his phone.
Orabella cried harder as Alexandra spoke to her, but after a while said, "OK," and gave Giles his phone back.
The group divided into Team Scout and Team Bling. Team Scout started walking, leaving Team Bling to follow by minibus once a suitable amount of time had passed.
Tyler took the lead for Team Scout, since he knew where they were going, and Giles and Cammeron followed. As they neared the cave, Giles noticed some paw prints on the ground, which seemed to be those of some kind of cat, about the size of a leopard. Three or four such cats, in fact. Hadn't Aphrodite mentioned wildcats?
Giles began following the cat tracks, but it turned out the cats were also heading towards the cave. They were getting close to it when a cat leapt out of the undergrowth and attacked Giles. He was grateful for his bullet-proof vest when the creature's claws scraped across it. Cammeron, in a display of loyalty to his team, leapt forward with his obsidian knife and cut its throat.
It was a tabby. In every respect it resembled a domestic cat, except for being considerably larger. But they had no time to contemplate it, as another three cats leapt out of the undergrowth.
It was a tough fight, but when all three cats lay dead, only Tyler had taken any damage. Giles skinned the cats, suspecting them to be titan-affected in some way, and they took the fur with them.
Meanwhile, Team Bling had driven up the mountain road, and Miguel executed an impressive handbrake turn to stop in front of the man that Tyler had seen outside the cave. So impressive, in fact, that the man ended up lying on his back covered in gravel.
Several more people emerged from the cave, including a tall man with a goatee beard, a hairy chest and a medallion, who was immediately nicknamed 'Johnny Nitro' by Miguel. "Get the girl!" He shouted to the others who began approaching the minibus. Andre engaged the central locking, and threw some dragon's teeth out of the window. Miguel summoned his Millwall supporters, who just happened to be out for a late-night kickabout on the mountain. Apart from Johnny Nitro, the others began backing away, and the arrival of Team Scout with their armfuls of cat fur only served to hasten them.
Johnny Nitro, whose real name turned out (not entirely unsurprisingly) to be Nicholas, engaged them in conversation. He expressed surprise at how organised they were, said he wanted his relics back, and finally fled by flying up into the air. While an attempt to stop him by leaping into the air after him, the scions managed to severely injure him and he flew away leaving a trail of blood dripping behind him. It was a simple matter after that to knock out all the others.
What to do next? Several of the unconscious presumably-cultists had mobile phones on them, and since several of them had recently been called by the same number, it seemed reasonable to assume that this was Nicholas.
This gave them an idea. Perhaps Orabella could 'persuade' him to come back again? Miguel handed her his phone, and pointed out that the number was listed as 'Johnny Nitro'. Orabella took a picture of herself (not strictly necessary as Miguel had taken quite a few photos while she was praying naked, although strangely enough the ones featuring Aphrodite hadn't come out properly) and sent it to Nicholas. They waited, and after a little while a flying figure appeared in the sky.
It didn't take them long to kill him after he landed. There was no question of getting any other relics off him though, as the moment his feet touched the ground, a ring of flames shot up from the ground around him. As he died the flames consumed him, leaving only a patch of ash on the ground.
Nicholas's followers seemed a bit more tractable once they'd been woken up again, and a concerted attempt was made to convert them to the worship of other gods. Alphonse, former worshipper of Typhon, who'd told them that they were too late to stop his master's return, was easily persuaded that Dionysus was a better bet when Andre started offering around sips of wine. In the end, seven of the nine people agreed to worship Dionysus while one opted for Heimdall and one (a woman) for Artemis.
While Orabella was trying to avoid the new Artemis-worshipper, Giles quizzed his own convert. Filipo told them about how they'd all been part of a Typhon cult until Nicholas had shown up with his group of Satanists and their old leader had disappeared.
The next step seemed to be to explore the cave. There they found another cultist, dead, who appeared to have shot himself. He was relieved of his gun and torch, and the group continued until they came to a blank wall at the end of the tunnel.
Having consulted Alexandra and been informed that what they sought was 'beneath', Cammeron used his echo sounding on the floor and found that there was a staircase leading down below them. A few good holy rampages later, the concealed trapdoor smashed, and with Orabella in tow they decended the stairs.
"Do you know where Orabella is?" Alexandra sounded worried. Giles assured her that they did. "Is she okay?" Again, yes. Alexandra explained that she'd just figured out that one of her old prophecies wasn't about her, as she'd thought, but about Orabella. She was fated to be kidnapped and murdered, but it was essential that she be kept safe, because they were going to need her later. The fate of the world was at stake. Exactly how, she wasn't sure, but Orabella was important. Also, could they bring her back with them when they came back to London?
Giles didn't think they were going to have any chance of getting her on a plane if she didn't want to go. Alexandra thought she might want to if she knew the request came from her. Giles handed Orabella his phone.
Orabella cried harder as Alexandra spoke to her, but after a while said, "OK," and gave Giles his phone back.
The group divided into Team Scout and Team Bling. Team Scout started walking, leaving Team Bling to follow by minibus once a suitable amount of time had passed.
Tyler took the lead for Team Scout, since he knew where they were going, and Giles and Cammeron followed. As they neared the cave, Giles noticed some paw prints on the ground, which seemed to be those of some kind of cat, about the size of a leopard. Three or four such cats, in fact. Hadn't Aphrodite mentioned wildcats?
Giles began following the cat tracks, but it turned out the cats were also heading towards the cave. They were getting close to it when a cat leapt out of the undergrowth and attacked Giles. He was grateful for his bullet-proof vest when the creature's claws scraped across it. Cammeron, in a display of loyalty to his team, leapt forward with his obsidian knife and cut its throat.
It was a tabby. In every respect it resembled a domestic cat, except for being considerably larger. But they had no time to contemplate it, as another three cats leapt out of the undergrowth.
It was a tough fight, but when all three cats lay dead, only Tyler had taken any damage. Giles skinned the cats, suspecting them to be titan-affected in some way, and they took the fur with them.
Meanwhile, Team Bling had driven up the mountain road, and Miguel executed an impressive handbrake turn to stop in front of the man that Tyler had seen outside the cave. So impressive, in fact, that the man ended up lying on his back covered in gravel.
Several more people emerged from the cave, including a tall man with a goatee beard, a hairy chest and a medallion, who was immediately nicknamed 'Johnny Nitro' by Miguel. "Get the girl!" He shouted to the others who began approaching the minibus. Andre engaged the central locking, and threw some dragon's teeth out of the window. Miguel summoned his Millwall supporters, who just happened to be out for a late-night kickabout on the mountain. Apart from Johnny Nitro, the others began backing away, and the arrival of Team Scout with their armfuls of cat fur only served to hasten them.
Johnny Nitro, whose real name turned out (not entirely unsurprisingly) to be Nicholas, engaged them in conversation. He expressed surprise at how organised they were, said he wanted his relics back, and finally fled by flying up into the air. While an attempt to stop him by leaping into the air after him, the scions managed to severely injure him and he flew away leaving a trail of blood dripping behind him. It was a simple matter after that to knock out all the others.
What to do next? Several of the unconscious presumably-cultists had mobile phones on them, and since several of them had recently been called by the same number, it seemed reasonable to assume that this was Nicholas.
This gave them an idea. Perhaps Orabella could 'persuade' him to come back again? Miguel handed her his phone, and pointed out that the number was listed as 'Johnny Nitro'. Orabella took a picture of herself (not strictly necessary as Miguel had taken quite a few photos while she was praying naked, although strangely enough the ones featuring Aphrodite hadn't come out properly) and sent it to Nicholas. They waited, and after a little while a flying figure appeared in the sky.
It didn't take them long to kill him after he landed. There was no question of getting any other relics off him though, as the moment his feet touched the ground, a ring of flames shot up from the ground around him. As he died the flames consumed him, leaving only a patch of ash on the ground.
Nicholas's followers seemed a bit more tractable once they'd been woken up again, and a concerted attempt was made to convert them to the worship of other gods. Alphonse, former worshipper of Typhon, who'd told them that they were too late to stop his master's return, was easily persuaded that Dionysus was a better bet when Andre started offering around sips of wine. In the end, seven of the nine people agreed to worship Dionysus while one opted for Heimdall and one (a woman) for Artemis.
While Orabella was trying to avoid the new Artemis-worshipper, Giles quizzed his own convert. Filipo told them about how they'd all been part of a Typhon cult until Nicholas had shown up with his group of Satanists and their old leader had disappeared.
The next step seemed to be to explore the cave. There they found another cultist, dead, who appeared to have shot himself. He was relieved of his gun and torch, and the group continued until they came to a blank wall at the end of the tunnel.
Having consulted Alexandra and been informed that what they sought was 'beneath', Cammeron used his echo sounding on the floor and found that there was a staircase leading down below them. A few good holy rampages later, the concealed trapdoor smashed, and with Orabella in tow they decended the stairs.