Wouldn't you like to use more than words?

[letsplayamod]

The last thing you recall is likely your own death. Whether it was fast or slow, it's over now. And you're... where are you?

One moment, you were among the living. The next - you may be one of the unfortunate ones who actually died. In which case, you've found yourself flowing in the lazy rivers of the river Styx, unfathomably deep underground. Just for a moment, mind you. It's not long before your consciousness is yanked from the waters by some scary monsters, shoved into a healed body, and pushed through a portal.

Or, maybe you were caught red-handed and sentenced to your doom. But, instead of a proper death, you were whisked down into the Veins of Tartarus. And there's really only one place that could lead to... Or is it?


You've been tossed down here by the will of the Titan, but what you find is A helping hand swooping you up - possibly literally, and potentially out of the grasp of the Titan himself.

Not a moment after, you're whisked through another rift, this one a shimmering gold. Into a realm of slightly more stable platforms and a lot more shit to look through. The area is practically littered with the ill-gotten goods of a thieving God (who is happy to note via pop-up illusion that you are touching his stuff). Here, however, you are safe; assured that Typhon cannot find or hurt you here.

For the moment, you can breathe before the next part comes.

Comments

[tailoredfate]

If only Fate could have spared Quark and Aoi.

[And all the others here. But those two... after everything, it's just so wrong.]

If only one could be spared... I'm glad it was her.

[... She knows that may sound a little heartless, like she didn't care about Quark like she did, or like she's unsettled at yet another child's death. But- it's the truth.]

[rockymountaindie]

[ ... ]

It won't just be her.

It can't. I won't let that be what her second chance is about.

[tailoredfate]

[Aglaea tilts her head to one side. Though he and Alex look nothing alike, just for a moment, it's almost like Phainon is standing in front of her.

... Ha. Even when he was still reeling from the destruction of his village in the first days of his stay in Okhema, Phainon was never as jittery, never as paranoid as Alex. But that boy didn't even understand the concept of giving up, so hearing those words now...]

It sounds like you want to stage some kind of prison break, if you intend to make changes yourself.

[Look. She doesn't even need to say that she's in. If not for herself, than for most of the others here.]

Do you have any idea how to accomplish that?

[rockymountaindie]

I... Not yet. But I know... Cere would know 'em better. But there's myths about people getting free from the Underworld. And they didn't even have a god on their side-

[ No. That's not quite right. ]

They weren't gods. We are.

I'm sick of sittin' around, waiting for the next people to die. I'm the God of Life, right, I... I think it's time to do something with that.

[tailoredfate]

[There's a pause as Aglaea thinks. Of course there are myths like that in Amphoreus, too. People she knows have gone to the Underworld and returned. Mydeimos has described how dying and coming back feels, the way he pushes his way through the currents of the River of Souls to trek back to the world of the living.

...]

... You've been here longer than I. Is this void all there is? Have you seen a river, or heard any running water in the distance?

[rockymountaindie]

[ Alex shakes his head to the first question. ]

There was. Right when I woke up- did you feel it? I thought, for a few moments...I was in a river. Cere and Velvet said it was, maybe...the Lethe?

[tailoredfate]

[She'd been too set in her own thoughts. She'd let her mind drift, trying to make peace with her second death. So much had happened, a rush of feeling as she saw the others, as she spoke to Sayo, saw Zvei and had to focus on anything but that burning inside.]

That... I wasn't sure if it was real. It felt so different from this place.

[But if everyone else saw that, that's good. It's a start.]

In Amphoreus, the river that all dead sail down is the River of Souls. Our path to the underworld. But the man I once told you about - Mydeimos, the true immortal? He fought against that tide to return to the realm of the living. The river has to be the key.

[rockymountaindie]

[ Huh. Aglaea's world having stuff in common with Greek myth doesn't seem too surprising, honestly. ]

It was. At least...I'm pretty damn sure it was. [ Everything was so different from the last time he died. He...fixates on it, a little. ] Then we'll figure out how to use that river to our advantage. It's gotta be a good place to start at least.

[tailoredfate]

Even if we find it, there might be a problem. If it's anything like the River of Souls, there might be a ferryman who travels down it. And while the one I know of is the kindest person you'll ever know... I can't say I'm trusting of anything here that isn't us or Athena.

[... Still. While she doesn't trust their new companion, they still need information.]

We should ask Fenyx about this. At the very least, she can clearly scout where we can't.

[rockymountaindie]

We can grill her on everything once we- well. Once we're all together again.

[ Because at this time we still believe Aoi will be joining them along with Quark. ]

I don't wanna distract her from bringing them here.

[tailoredfate]

.... Indeed. Aoi and Quark deserve at least somewhat of a comforting welcome, given our circumstances.

[Yes she's leaving out Seymour. She can't say she cares about Seymour, after what he did.]

[rockymountaindie]

[ no yeah alex is right there himself honestly <3 ]

Yeah. Exactly. Dying's...not easy. Even when you've done it before.

[tailoredfate]

It isn't. Not at all.

[Almost idly, her hand reaches up to her chest, pressing to the spot over her heart.]

Even more so when what you've been told about the afterlife doesn't match any of this. I'm sure in addition to everything else he's feeling, Quark might be extremely confused in an afterlife without bribes and the tallying of wealth.

[rockymountaindie]

[ Alex wrinkles his nose in...some kind of amusement. ]

'Course that's what his people... Yeah. It ain't what I'm used to too...but that's an improvement for me. For him, he'll probably be quaking in his boots.

[tailoredfate]

[... She's glad it amuses Alex. She can still remember those weeks ago, Alex's death, and...]

... He left money for you, you know. For the Divine Treasury his people believe in.

[No judgement. No rolling of her eyes. She's respectful of everyone's beliefs, because nobody gave her any grief when she was making shrouds for the dead.]

He wanted you to be able to bid on your next life. I'm sure he hoped it would be a better one.

[rockymountaindie]

[ Alex startles slightly. It draws his attention from the unfolding chaos in the cauldron. ]

H-he what?

[ His profits. His currency. When he promised he would not go soft, that he wasn't that sort of person, he— ]

...I-I... I didn't know. I...

[ Oh. Oh, he's feeling some kind of way about that. Just as much of a way as Quark offering for him to come live in space. ]

[tailoredfate]

[It's easy enough for Aglaea to keep her attention on him as well as the cauldron. She'll make sure Alex sees if anything important happens.]

He could have given you a bare minimum, like those who offer up so little to temples and altars and only do so for the act of it. So that they can feel good, and be seen doing good. But no... he gave you something that he thought would help benefit your next life.

[She... was glad, that the younger ones in their group had him for another few weeks after she died, at least.]

He was... a lot softer than I think even he knew.

[rockymountaindie]

[ Yeah, it's good Aglaea is doing that, because Alex just. Turns away and kind of covers his eyes, because he is crying. ]

The jackass tryin' to tell us he didn't care...

[ But, of course he does. If he didn't, he wouldn't have offered his home.

It makes him both angrier at Seymour and himself. He wishes he told him, while alive, just how much everything meant to him. Not hold it back, behind awkward shame. ]

[tailoredfate]

It's always the ones who act like they don't care that care the most.

[... She still thinks to all those centuries ago. For all the moments she and Hysilens bickered, for as much as Hysilens seemed to only focus on her role as Cerydra's sword... she'd been the first. The only person who came to Aglaea to check on Aglaea when the first Flame-Chase Journey began to wear on her. Everyone else asked for the Goldweaver, but Hysilens...]

... And those are some of the ones we must treasure the most.

[rockymountaindie]

[ A loud, messy sniffle as he nods. He can't seem to force any other words out, at the moment. ]

[atu709]

No story but the one we pen ourselves.

[ she chuckles. ]

Perhaps it's time we all embraced our godhood a little more while we're being ignored like this. As a group of tremendously optimistic fools I used to know might say: fuck it, right?

[rockymountaindie]

That's more like it.

[ Alex grins, despite everything. ]

We're still up and walking around. That means it ain't over.

[atu709]

We're not getting any deader than dead, after all. We'll need to be strategic about it, but I'm so tired of being consigned to the void.

[rockymountaindie]

[ A small shudder. ]

Trust me... The void ain't all it's cracked up to be.