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...
Sunday, October 30, 2011
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.
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...
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...
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....
...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
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....
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....
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