Sunday, October 30, 2011

Embassy Investigation

Gunnar fell quickly towards the Earth; I took a step and prepared to fly up and catch him, but Laurel saw me out of the corner of her eye and said "don't worry, he's got it..."

Before my eyes, Gunnar crashed into a passing flock of birds, which slowed and altered his trajectory enough to grab on to one of the Embassy's flying buttress structures; it broke but he grabbed another that held, and from there he managed to clamber down the side of the building rapidly without so much as getting a scratch on himself.

Feng gave a slow golf clap and said "Very nice, but can we get on with this, please? I'm on a tight schedule here."

Feng opened the Embassy door and we proceeded inside past the yellow police tape saying "Do Not Enter" in Mandarin Chinese.

Laurel indicated she would remain outside looking after her kids.

The majority of the bodies we located clustered around a big conference table in the rear of the first floor of the Embassy. Nate summoned the Kami of the security camera and got a run-down of what the camera had seen. Pan had been involved, some kind of deal struck. This was definitely getting interesting.

Then we heard a booming voice from a bullhorn outside command in Chinese for "Intruders! Come out with your hands up! This is the National Police service!"

Gunnar and I voluntarily came out; Feng said "Screw that! I'm blowin' this scene. You're on your own from here.", and exited out the nearest window. Kassandra made herself scarce in similar fashion. Nate tried to exit a window but was caught by the approaching Chinese police captain, the same gentleman we'd encountered battling the angels earlier, though from his perspective that hadn't happened yet.

Gunnar and I had already encountered this gentleman out front and he had asked after our companions. Turns out not only had the locals seen us, they'd counted us, and he knew that those of us on the front porch were only a fraction of the suspects he was hunting for.

I produced my INTERPOL badge/passport and tried to convince him I was not interfering but rather assisting with the investigation; He protested this was against protocol and that INTERPOL had failed to notify him in advance. I suggested we could sort this all out back at the station, and he agreed with an indignant huff.
Gunnar suggested we hurry, because if we were where he thought we were in time, it was about to come under attack. This statement clearly unsettled the Captain.

Gunnar did his best to reassure our Chinese friend that we were indeed friends and had cooperated before, or would soon cooperate or...well, something like that.
Damn this time travel; so confusing...

Sandstorm

We were back in the Gobi desert but instead of having the violent storms surrounding us on all sides while we were in a relative calm in the center of it, we were on the edge of that calm center and in the middle of the maelstrom itself. Blinding, cutting sand and hideous lightning striking with improbably rapid succession, far too close for comfort. Progress was slow and difficult. Harlan looked to be the worst for wear and on the verge of giving up. I couldn't find Gunnar anywhere. Laurel erected some kind of energy shield and we started to make better progress, but I could tell with all the energy contained in the storm, Laurel's shield would not hold out indefinitely.

We approached close enough to see Pan off in the distance, as well as the time Avatar, and possibly ourselves? Can't be certain of that, though. Something in the air above caught my eye and I noticed Gunnar riding a Griffin, very high above us, and above the storm clouds. He was pointing in the direction of Pan; Laurel waved back and gave a quick thumbs up to show she had seen the same thing. The noise was still deafening all around us.

And then just as suddenly, everything fell still and quiet, the scene changed, and we were on a city street in Wu-Hai...with Gunnar hanging in mid-air, sans Griffin, and with a very surprised look on his face.

Jumping Jack Frost

Somehow, the time rift flung us into the far future. We encountered a figure familiar to Gunnar, Laurel, and Harlan from their travels in Norway and beyond. A visage I later learned they had previously identified as Jack Frost. There was some tense parley, questions and counter-questions before "Jack" accepted our story that we had genuinely come from the past and were going to need some help to get a little caught up on current events.

Jack's appearance changed and before us stood a hearty young man with familiar features, clad in princely Irish regalia that indicated his day of succession, taking over as guardian of Mag Mell had already transpired. Gunnar and Laurel had yet more questions and learned some startling things, but before we could question Brendan Gair further, the time rift opened yet again and we were flung back to our time...

Sunday, October 23, 2011

A funny thing happened on the way to the Mongolian Embassy...

We came to in a Wu-Hai youth hostel, sharing a room with one Feng T'ien, whose appearance matched a vision Nate had revealed to us earlier.

Feng turned out to be a break-all-the-rules kind of Scion in more ways than one. He is a son of Sun Wukong (of Celestial Bureaucracy fame) but was adopted by Chernobog (of the Rus) and instructed by Veles.

He possessed an interesting claw that seemed of similar make to one the band had seen before, namely that speedy fecker in New Orleans we thought we'd killed then later met on his boat in the harbor bound back to Japan.

He alluded to Veles working with whomever Nathan Pritchert seem to have been making deals with after repossessing Nathan’s shadow. Yeah, that was something new I forgot to mention. Nate has no shadow now. Said it happened as a result of a special deal he worked out to prevent a nuclear reactor in New Jersey from going critical.

I spoke with Feng in Russian and he turns out to speak it fluently as well. I alluded to the Sino-Russian conflict and how it must especially be difficult for him, with a foot in both camps, so to speak. He just smiled and rather dodged my question politely. He indicated the role of Mongolia as an important game piece in the conflict, and that recently something mysterious happened at the Mongolian Embassy, with all of the embassy staff dying en masse but with no signs of violence or forced entry. The police had sealed off the area but whatever happened probably has traces of the divine, so these mortals might as well be Keystone Kops in trying to figure this one out. Feng indicated to all of us that it would be a good idea to apply our combined Scion wits to the investigation and get over there posthaste. Sure, it was a sealed crime-scene area and technically illegal, but...

We made our way through the city streets, with Feng leading the way. Of course, the rest of us being non-Chinese, we stuck out and were noticed by the natives, but there wasn't much we could do about that.

We pushed past the security tape and made our way to the front door of the Embassy. Feng picked the security lock of the chained door in seconds, looked back with a smile and pulled the door open, which is when everything went sideways and the Embassy vanished and we got sucked yet again to some other place in space-time...

More Little trouble in Big China

So anyway, bit of a scuffle, and Pan sticks this really weird looking sword into the Time Avatar...presumably the half-white, half-black angel thing of Laurel's previous vision...and suddenly everything goes sideways and weird.

...and we find ourselves in downtown Wu-Hai, China, near the Mongolian border. The buildings are very traditional and it's hard for me to gauge if we're still in the 21st century or not. A government official wearing traditional looking garb accosts us and tells us to stay put, first in Chinese, then in English.

I address the man in Mandarin Chinese, saying I know this is going to sound like a funny question but what year is this?

"It's 2011, of course", he answered, with a puzzled look on his face. Suddenly we are surrounded by menacing yet angelic figures that remind me very much of the figures that acted as sentinels guarding Horace in the Terra Incognita originating at Pan's hotel property in Southern California...As I learned later, a now very pregnant Laurel (learned later because she wasn't showing at the time due to some special ability she picked up along the way) ducked into a nearby residence with Kassandra close behind. The Chinese policeman(?) seemed to cast a veil of protection over that building just in time, as the Angelic figures began to spew forth destructive laser-like beams that washed over the newly erected protective shield. It was holding for now but I could tell it was only a matter of time.

I summoned the Ichor in my body to form a thin but powerful protective coat over my body but beneath my armor and clothes, a technique I'd picked up from Ciara after the whole business in Helheim and all.

Harlan dashed inside the police station nearby, headed for the upper floors. Gunnar rushed in to challenge the nearest Angelic figure, taking a swing at it with his axe but doing only minimal damage.

I declaimed my intellect, swearing we would find a way to vanquish these foes; I then declaimed my courage, swearing we would face these enemies down...I then turned a quick pivot and hurled Gae Bolga into the chest of an Angelic figure perched on the roof of the police station, against whom I had the clearest line of sight. The blow seemed to knock it back a half a step and it seemed genuinely surprised to see the ancient spear protruding from its own chest.

At the same time, Nate got a piece of one with his gun, I think. The angels let loose another volley against the residence where Laurel was hiding with Kassandra (and later, I learned, actually giving birth to her twins, as a result of the time dilating effects).

There was a great whooshing sound overhead and looking into the sky I saw a somewhat older Jack Cook flying in on an impressive Griffen-like creature, accompanied by what looked like the son of Nate and two other young heroic men I could not identify.

The jig was up and the Angels reached...inside themselves...and seemed to pull their chests apart, exploding into bursts of pure plasma energy....Nate was able to jump away and grab Gunnar, too. I wasn't so lucky but the body armoring Ichor sustained the bulk of the blow. Gae Bolga blasted out from the one Angel's chest and I caught it as it rocketed back towards me, reverting it back to its compact form in one smooth motion. I was later told I looked like one of those cartoon characters that survive a cartoon explosion...hair singed a bit and all wild, soot on the face, etc, looking like a Scottish coal miner, but otherwise no worse for wear.

Harlan had the misfortune to have the building collapse around him and got banged up pretty bad, but at least he survived.

Laurel and Kassandra's building survived the blasts, though it collapsed the protective shield, but it gave enough resistance to let the building's natural sturdiness take the rest.

I felt myself coughing and choking a bit in the whirling dust left by the explosion; my glasses were caked in it. I removed them, rubbed my eyes, but when I opened them, I was someplace else entirely....

A place called Vertigo...

I managed to survive the whole China adventure but it was one helluva ride. Oh, and I came out of it de-aged approximately ten years. More on that in a bit, but first a musical interlude by U2 to set the mood...



my favorite lines, and rather what this trip left me feeling like:

Lights go down, it's dark
The jungle is your head
Can't rule your heart
a feeling so much stronger than
a thought
Your eyes are wide
And though your soul
It can't be bought
Your mind can wander

Hello, Hello (¡Hola!)
I'm at a place called Vertigo (¿Dónde está?)
It's everything I wish I didn't know
Except you give me something i can feel,
feel

The night is full of holes
As bullets rip the sky
Of ink with gold
They twinkle as the
Boys play rock and roll
They know that they can't dance
At least they know...

I can't stand the beat
I'm asking for the cheque
The girl with crimson nails
Has Jesus round her neck
Swinging to the music
Swinging to the music
Oh, Oh, Oh

Thursday, October 6, 2011

Little Trouble in Big China

So upon leaving the Great Henge, Nate went back to the 'States to collect Harlan and Kassandra, while Gunnar, Laurel and I resolved to make our way to China to investigate Pan's alleged activities; we would get their via Italy and Greece first. Italy, because that was where the nearest Henge was when we exited into Europe. Our first stop would be Athens, Greece. We'd managed to break Marie free from the other band in the Great Henge and Laurel was determined to bind her securely on her pantheon's home turf in the mortal world so she could collect her later. Laurel also had a chance to speak to Apollo, who gave her some advice. I was only half-listening, so don't look to me for an accurate assessment of all that.

Amazingly, though, on the time it took us to traverse the route from our drop-off point in Italy to reach Greece, I was able to learn and master Mandarin Chinese, both spoken and written...via some helpful books on the subject I picked up in Italy, having learned Italian earlier in my travels.

We boarded the Olympic Air flight bound for Beijing via New Delhi, India but whilst still airborne and before even touching down in Beijing, we suddenly found ourselves in what looked to be the Gobi Desert, surrounded on all sides by the most intense thunderstorm activity I've ever seen...on a large sandy plane...with none other than the Greek God Pan himself (now adorned in some funky new armor) and a strange, angelic figure I took to be some kind of Avatar...of Time?

Yeah, then things started to get a little weird....

The Man from Moneygall

So anyway, I managed to make my way all the way across the US, from the West Coast to the East Coast. Now I'm able to actually read Japanese instead of only speaking it. I started off reading children's Manga and by the end of my trip I was thumbing through Miyamoto Musashi's Five Rings, in the original. Also happened to chat up a nice Japanese business traveler on my way to DC.

I met up with the other band members and we were ushered into the White House. Since Ireland has good relations with the US, plus my being an INTERPOL man, the fact that I was a foreigner seemed to be no great hindrance...though I admit I was a little star struck when I met the President. This man who had recently paid tribute to his family roots back in Moneygall, Ireland, and evoking memories of another American President who visited the Emerald Isle ages ago with the Irish surname of Kennedy...

Anyway, we arranged to meet a Los Angeles Class Sub somewhere in the Atlantic; our mission was to seek out what we suspected was one of Tesla's soul-sucking devices that we theorized was at the bottom of the Atlantic and responsible for the recent East Coast earthquake. We also met the kids but made them stay on the surface with Dorothen on the boat.

Oh wait, now I remember...Harlan didn't go do his thing in New York until after all this, because of whom we met after we took care of business below...right...gosh, it's so hard to keep track of that guy...what else can you expect from a Scion of Loki, am I right?

Anyway, down below was...interesting. Had to play lots of "telephone" since only Laurel and I could communicate without the need of equipment, and there was a shortage of equipment, and...

Oh yeah, Laurel and Harlan briefly died when I pushed them beyond the barrier, which I was only able to do because of now having the aforementioned Death Senses. We quickly evacuated them back to the submarine and were able to revive them. I performed CPR on Harlan and brought him back. Kassandra revived Laurel, who related what had happened and also that Azzeeza was there and we had to get her out, so back into the deep we went, Nate and I adjusting the rod settings and out popped Azzeeza. We brought her back to the surface with us, and young Brendan Gair was so happy to see her again.

We next ran into one of Kane's flunkies in a fancy boat who said all kinds of pretentious crap. Harlan later showed us how he was able to steal the likeness right off this guy's face, who was himself a body double for Kane...it's all really weird sh*t and I don't pretend to understand half of it. Harlan indicated he was headed next to NYC to "go f*ck stuff up for Kane"...and Kassandra would be going with, along with Ciara, who indicated her mom would be sending her on a quest soon to restore her broken geas from the Wolfsheim incident.

After we got back to the DC area, we debriefed the Prez, then proceeded to a mystical "Henge" in Virginia, which led us to a connection to what is known as the Great Henge...where we faced off opposite Kane, Ixion, and Cordelia as well. Words were exchanged, things got a little heated, and Nate got attacked by this white mask that did a kind of face-hugger attack on him and Nate went just a tad crazy for a time....frankly I'm still not sure he's back 100% where he was...if I recall the entity's name was Mikaboshi or something similar. Anyway, when Mikaboshi went all ape-shit on Nate's face, that apparently broke some divine Geas that governs all Great Henges and that being that they are neutral, holy ground and you don't start up shit on neutral, holy ground. Not even Titanspawn. Even Titanspawn have to follow the rules of the universe, apparently. Anyway, those guys had to GTFO in a hurry, which was good because I think that would've been a tough fight since we were down to a skeleton crew at the time and lacking our heaviest hitter, Ciara.

We then had an hour to kill before the Henge could send us back anywhere. I decided to talk strategy with Gunnar and Laurel while crazy Nate rocked himself and mumbled and drooled a bit...sometimes murmuring in Japanese, sometimes in English...and even though I understood the words perfectly in both languages, they didn't cohere together in either language either.

California Dreamin' (again)

Now where was I...Oh yeah; So anyway, back into Mag Mell we went. Odin meets up with Manannán mac Lir, who turns over custody of Loki to Odin, who didn't look to happy about it. Outta the frying pan and into the fire, perhaps? Not that I pretend to understand Norse ways or their internal politics.

What next? Well, Nate heads off to America but before I can head back to Dublin to be with my sweetie, Laurel fills me in on what went down with Ixion, her house, Ciara and Kassandra nearly dying, yada yada. She then asks me to please recover a pine box with a pair of kids' baseball gloves, something she doesn't want Ixion to find if she can help it. Oh, and to look for Marie's ghost. Which necessitated yet another side trip to Mag Mell, and a quick lesson in Death Senses from Manannán mac Lir.

Oh, and evidently Harlan has been up causing quite a ruckus for Kane's company in NYC, and the plan is for us all to eventually meet the American President in the White House, introductions to be provided by our own Nate Prichert, soon to be of the FBI, if he can ever get around to finishing his training.

But when the Heroine of the Norwegian Sea, otherwise now known enigmatically as "The Doctor", asks you a favor, well, I just couldn't say no. So I let Aisling know it was off to California with me and then I'd be on to DC.

When I landed in SFO, I discovered that the entire Bay Area was under mandatory evacuation. I was getting roped in with the civilians to waiting evacuation busses; I flashed my INTERPOL badge to a local CHIPs officer, who put me in contact with a San Francisco PD detective. I explained I was needing to investigate a recent incident at a Berkeley area home related to an INTERPOL case, and that I'd be responsible for my own safety. They insisted on having the SFPD detective accompany me, so I said fair enough, and off we went.

I knew mentally what to expect, but the sheer sight of the moonscape that was once Laurel's beautiful home that until recently I had spent many a comfortable night was still quite a shock, and I gasped in spite of myself. I also noted their wedding present, the Astrolabe, had been hurled down the block and was crashed into a neighbor's home. I thanked the detective for driving me to this location and said I needed to walk the scene, and thus I began my investigation. After an hour, I finally located the pine box, and I was relatively confident Ixion probably hadn't seen it or disturbed its contents. I also determined that the salted area where they had been keeping Marie's ghost had been disturbed and that Marie's spirit was no where to be found. The other ghosts in the area were all on the move and not sticking around, having their own apparent rendezvous elsewhere.

Obviously, I couldn't heft the Astrolabe with me round the country, but I figured the least I could do would be to heft it back onto their property. Even as mostly a hole in the ground, this was still a prime piece of California real-estate in the Bay Area. Laurel should be able to sell it for a reasonable rate of return, I imagined. I proceeded to the Astrolabe and hefted it overhead. I thought of the corny Guinness brewery adverts back home, especially the ones that say "Guinness For Strength", and consciously struck a pose and said that out loud and laughed.

I looked at the ashen-faced San Francisco PD detective with the saucer eyes, gave him my most casual shrug and said simply in my friendliest brogue..." 'Tis actually lighter than it looks...."

The detective had gunned the engine before I'd even finished talking and pealed out of the neighborhood well above the posted residential speed limits, sirens blazing...

Well, so much for me ride. Feck all, I'd have to run/jump/fly my way out of the mandatory evacuation zone until I could find a place where normal transportation systems were working and then hop on a bus to the nearest airport, then catch a commuter plane to the nearest major hub, then make my way to Reagan National Airport in DC, or Dulles or BWI or whatever worked. I'd just have to wing it.

Before I left, I did swing by Chinatown and found a bookstore with self-instruction books in Japanese writing systems and bought a few things....it was going to be a long cross country trip no matter what I did, so I might as well occupy my time doing something useful....