Hadriel watched her charge and the other young demigod leave.
Part of her felt that she should follow him, but other matters needed her attention, and it was not as though he would be going far. This town was fairly small, just a small collection of stores, a couple of bars and a little cinema. Adam would not be far, and if she sensed any sort of danger from him she could be there in seconds.
That gave her some time. Time she needed to speak with the resurrected soul.
“Lady Joan, may we speak?”
“Certainly, what did you wish to talk about?”
The angel gestured to the door and began to drift towards it.
“Please, follow me.”
They made their way onto the roof area, Hadriel with her wings, Joan with a single superhuman leap. The roof was gravelled and accessible from within, but the door was slightly rusted through lack of use, making this as good a location as any other to speak. Both of them stood near the edge of the building, looking out over the town, watching the hustle and bustle that seemed to be making a conscious effort to stay away from the building they stood on.
“Adam was . . . unexpectedly decisive today.”
Hadriel made her observation carefully, curious as to how the saint would respond.
“Indeed, but it is surely a good sign. I had hoped that he would develop the traits of leadership, and this is an indication that he may do so.”
The crimson-winged angel agreed, but that was not what she had been asking about.
“Did you sense it?”
“Excusez-moi?”
The resurrected saint looked at her with confusion. In response, Hadriel gestured out to the town, where the signature of Adam’s power burned with easy-to-sense might.
“Something has changed with our charge. I had felt it before after he returned from his mission in the forest, but it feels more . . . pronounced.”
Lady Joan looked form the angel to the town, and back, a frown touching her face as Hadriel sensed her reaching out with her own powers, studying the signature of their charge.
“I have not sensed anything in particular from him,” Joan stated, drawing her power back into herself. “He has grown stronger, but is that not him simply growing to control his divine powers?”
“No,” Hadriel’s rebuttal was immediate, emphasised by her halo crackling with a tiny current of lightning. “There is something more at play here. Adam has been strong since he came into his power, but that strength has been . . . . blunted. Now it feels . . .”
She paused unsure of how to continue.
“I have felt nothing of difference from him. Can you describe what you feel?”
Hadriel felt a spike of frustration at the question. Did she believe it was that easy? If the angel were more certain she would not be so hesitant.
“It is hard to put into words. His divinity has not grown, but it feels as though it is no longer . . . overshadowed. As his divinity has become clearer his power has been released, unshackled. Not merely his power, have you not noticed how he has conducted himself since we left the Sanctuary?
“His level of confidence has been unexpected, I must admit” Lady Joan agreed. “Adam is no coward, but I had not thought he would take to combat as smoothly as he has done. I would have expected some more hesitation and uncertainty in the face of violence. Yet he has entered combat with the Wild Hunt twice, facing death or worse on each occasion, and he shows no trepidation at doing so a third time.”
That was something worth consideration. It had not occurred to Hadriel, since as an angel uncertainty had never been an issue for her. She knew that she was a soldier from the instant she came into being. Fear, hesitation, she had never experienced any such feelings. As someone who had lived a mortal life, one relatively sheltered from violence, it was understandable why Adam would hesitate in the face of it, yet he had not. That was something, but it was not what Hadriel meant. What made it more frustrating was that it was a . . . a part of it.
“It is strange. Not necessarily an unwanted development, but it is strange. It is as though . . . I cannot put it into words. This is frustrating. I never fully understood how his Awakening had been imperfect. His power was there, but his control was not, but that could be remedied by training. But as we trained he continued to reveal new powers and abilities, seemingly out of nowhere. I feel that despite our efforts he is still . . . incomplete, unfinished. I feel I should be able to see the completed picture and help guide him to it, but that final design is based upon a logic I cannot grasp.”
The angel disliked this, this uncertainty, this incomplete understanding. It was not something she was familiar with. Hers was a life of certainties, of knowing who her enemy was, of what her duties were, and of where her loyalties lay. All else was of minimal importance. That was how she liked things, this . . . being forced to think and puzzle outside of her normal needs and behaviour was unsettling.
“Regardless, I do believe these changes are for the better.” Joan’s words interrupted Hadriel’s thought, but she nodded in agreement. “What do you think of young Mato?”
“Unexpected,” Hadriel had known they would encounter more demigods as time passed, but for the first to be one so powerful and so young was not what she had anticipated. “Three bloodlines, and powerful ones at that. You saw the aftermath of when he fought side by side with Adam. That boy is favoured by his divine progenitors, their marks are like a weight he wears with pride. He is powerful, and shall only grow more so with time and tempering.”
“What do you think of Adam’s decision to bring him with us?” The resurrected soul asked.
It was not an unexpected question.
“I believe it is not the ideal choice, but it is the one that shall cause the fewest difficulties,” Hadriel relied. “The boy seems determined to be part of the attack upon the Hunt, determined enough that if he is denied he shall try to make his own way there, regardless of our wishes. Better to have him where we can see him, Adam is correct in that regard.”
“He is a child.”
The angel was surprised at how sharply the saint spoke her reply.
“He is a demigod with he power to raze this town to the ground with ease. A child he may be, but he cannot be treated as one.”
“You know much about the raising of children?”
Joan’s reply was less sharp than her earlier words, but there was still a note of . . . condemnation? Defiance? Hadriel was unsure, but she was somewhat surprised to hear it from the resurrected saint. Lady Joan was normally highly respectful and deferential to the angel, for her to take such a tone . . . Still, Hadriel preferred it to subservience. After all, a spirited discussion always produced better results than simply having the other party blindly agree.
“I know about power. If it is not respected then it shall inevitably lead to ruin. That boy has power and so he must be respected. That does not mean his every whim must be bent to, but his voice should be heard and answered.”
Her words must have hit home because a grimace touched the saint’s face before she replied.
“He should be returned to his parents.”
“Parents who are mortal. Parents who might love him, but who have no idea of how to raise him to control his powers, nor who can enforce any sort of discipline upon him. What little I have seen shows me a boy with courage and determination, but one so young can easily be swallowed up by the temptations offered by the power he has. How easy is it for a boy, or even a young man, to run wild when there are all too few who can, or even dare, to say no to him?”
Hadriel might be distant from humanity in general, but even she knew of how power could corrupt the young, especially when their parents or other authority figures lacked the power to rein them in.
“I cannot say that you are wrong,” Lady Joan admitted. “Still, I find myself unhappy with this situation. He is so young.”
“Were you not also called at an early age?”
“I was at least a young woman when called to serve! I was old enough to marry, to have children and to make my own choices. This boy . . . if he is past his thirteenth year I would be astonished.”
“I confess that I have some trouble fully connecting to your feelings,” Hadriel admitted, her red wings fluttering slightly as a warm breeze passed over them. “I entered battle less than a day after I was created. It was my role, my purpose, my reason for being, and I welcomed it. I know that mortals are different, but I imagine it is similar to how a mortal knows that a fish can swim in the darkest depths, something they know but do not truly empathise with. To me the boy is old enough to wield his power, to run and to choose, so he is old enough to fight and kill if needs be. And needs may well be.”
Joan grimaced again, turning from the angel to look out over the town as she spoke.
“This is a strange age we find ourselves in. Once, the Almighty and his angels were my whole world, now there are so many other gods, demigods, creatures of myth that I never thought to meet, and I am here, helping to fight them.”
“The mortals of this age have a saying that I think is oddly appropriate,” Hadriel commented in return. “The reward for work well done is more work. You served well before, now you are called to serve again.”
“And I do so readily.”
Silence descended on the roof as both Heavenly agents stared out at the town. There had not been any real resolution to their discussion, but as things stood they had at least reached a point without contention.
--------------------------------------------------------
“Ah . . . er, yes . . . that will be . . . four hundred and twenty-seven euros . . . please?”
I had to hand it to the cashier, she might have stuttered and flattered a bit here and there, but she held it together commendably well. Sure, she’d looked stunned enough to make you think that someone had just slapped her with a live trout when she first got a good look at me, but she hadn’t gone crazy like those people had when we arrived at Le Havre. My private theory was that having me there was bad enough, but when you added in Kali and Athena, both of whom were literally supernaturally beautiful, as well as Joan and Hadriel, who could put most supermodels to shame, you got stuff like that crazy riot.
Just me on my own was more manageable, at least enough that people simply went nonverbal when they saw me, as opposed to Looney Toons fan crazy. I got a lot of stares, stuttering, and pictures being taken. I was pretty sure the wings also had something to do with me not getting mobbed. The appearance of an angel made me seem somewhat . . . otherworldly? Divine? Whatever it was it wasn’t too approachable, and honestly, I was okay with that. At least it made my life a bit easier.
So, yeah, I got a lot of attention, but not too much interaction, which meant Mato and I were able to get our shopping done with minimal interference.
Our first stop had been a big clothes store. It hadn’t been one of those that sold all the most fashionable brands or latest trends, but it had the advantage of lots of choices to work with, and that suited me fine.
It had taken some time, but I’d bought us both a whole new wardrobe. We both needed everything, even replacements right down to out scorched underwear. Using the changing rooms had been a bit of a challenge for me, what with my wings and all, but I’d managed it in the end. Some TK had been needed to cut some slits into the back of the T-shirt I chose, but apart from that everything had gone okay. Fresh trainers, some spare socks and underwear, a rucksack, and I was feeling a good deal less like I’d just crawled out of a warzone.
That brought us back to the poor overwhelmed cashier, as I handed her the clothing labels one by one after I tore them from the clothes I was wearing so she could mark them up.
Still, it finally gave me a chance to use one of the cards that I’d gotten from Zeus, without giving anything away. After all, I was just buying clothes, hardly critical information. Everything went through, and the cashier only got distracted by my wings once. It was as I turned to leave that an idea struck me.
“Hey, is there a sports centre in town? Or a health club, something like that.”
She blinked at me, her eyes slightly unfocused, then managed to shake off her distraction and looked at me more clearly.
“Um . . . yeah. There’s a club just on the other side of town.”
“Has it got a pool? A sauna? That kind of stuff?”
“. . . yes?”
Turning around I grabbed two pairs of swimming trunks off a nearby display, eyeballing the sizes, and a couple of beach towels as well, then slapped them down on the countertop.
“Great! We’ll be taking these as well!” I declared.
One more payment later and Mato was following me as I strode down the street towards the sports club the cashier had directed me to, me carrying a couple of bags and with my new rucksack slung over one shoulder. It was actually a bit weird, just walking. When I was outdoors I’d gotten into the habit of using flight to get anywhere I wanted quickly, but with my fellow demigod walking with me that wasn’t really an option. Well, I suppose I could have lifted him with telekinesis and carried him along, but I didn’t have too much practice with that particular use of my power. It was one thing to move him a couple of feet, like back onto his bed, it was another thing to carry him through the air, and I didn’t want to risk using Mato as a test dummy.
“Hey, why’re we going to a swimming pool?”
The younger demigod asked me as he came up beside me.
“Because we both need a shower,” I explained. “We’ve both gone some time without one, and we smell more than a bit on the burnt side. We don’t want to get these new clothes too ripe, so we’ve got to clean up. Once we’re done we can see about getting you a decent meal too.”
That last bit seemed to perk his attention because I saw him straighten up.
“Hungry?” I asked the question without really thinking about it.
“Yeah,” Mato admitted, grimacing slightly. “It’s weird, I don’t get hungry as fast as I used to, but I still feel a bit hungry all the time, y’know? It’s not as hard, but it wears you down.”
“Let's get cleaned up, then we’ll see about finding you some food, okay?”
He nodded, and for a few moments, we walked in silence.
“Hey, why can’t one of those goddesses just make you clothes out of nowhere? You know, just ‘poof’ and there they are?”
I grinned, as this gave me a chance to show off some. I’d spent some time talking with both Kali and Athena, trying to get a decent idea of what they could do. I knew I hadn’t done more than scratch the surface, divine powers like theirs couldn’t just be put in neat little boxes like ‘super strength’, ‘energy blasts’ or ‘enhanced senses’. Yeah, they had things like that, but they were all just facets of their divine nature, and that could get real complicated real fast.
Take Kali, her nature could translate as the goddess of time, death, doomsday, destruction, violence, feminine energy, motherhood over the universe, and a whole bunch of other things. But none of those were completely accurate, she was also something else, something that had flavours of lots of things but wasn’t just them. Calling her the goddess of Ruin was simply a shorthand, a simplification. What that all meant was that while Kali could do a lot of things, from messing with time to flat-out deleting matter and energy from existence, magicking up clothes from nowhere wasn’t in her wheelhouse.
Athena . . . well, she had a different problem.
“Well, Kali couldn’t, it's not really one of her skills,” I explained. “She’s the goddess you want on your side in a fight, but snapping her fingers and making clothes pop out of the air just isn’t in her wheelhouse. Not even if you’re asking for leather.”
That got a grin out of him, so I continued.
“Now, Athena could make something for us, but only if you're into ancient Greek fashions. She’s the goddess of Craft, but it’s sort of locked in to when she was most worshipped. That means she’s great for stuff like bows, chariots, olive oil and handmade weaves, but not so good for anything more modern. I’m pretty sure I could pull off a toga, but I prefer trainers to sandals.”
“Okay,” Mato nodded, then glanced over at me. “Hey, do you think we’ll have trouble using the pool?”
“What do you mean?”
“Well . . . they don’t let pets into pools, right? And your wings . . .”
For a moment it just didn’t click. Then I got the joke and replied with exaggerated indignation.
“Hey! I am not some pet pigeon! And I’ll have you know, I don’t shed!”
With that I crossed my arms and made an exaggerated pout as I turned my face away from Mato, every bit the image of a sulky teenager. I managed to get another laugh out of the kid, and we continued our walk to the sports club trading bad jokes the whole way.
--------------------------------------------------------
Emma leaned against a brick wall and let her back slowly slide down until she was sitting on the pavement. She closed her eyes and let her head tilt back until it was also resting against the bricks. Off to the side, she could see people passing the entrance to the alley she was in, but she knew none of them would notice her. The same spells that kept her hidden from her pursuers kept them from registering her presence as well.
She was tired. She was so God damned tired. It seemed to have soaked into her bones and left her drained of any energy. Even the thought of just getting back on her feet and making her way back to the abandoned apartment she was currently using seemed as daunting a task as climbing a mountain. Her arms slipped from her lap and flopped onto the dirty concrete, but she just didn’t care. At this very moment, it was taking all her remaining energy just to keep from falling asleep.
The last few hours had been hard on her. Making her way to the site of the last battle, making sure none of Adam’s blood was left lying around, making sure none of that red-winged angel’s blood was left lying around. Then there’d been scavenging what she could from the wrecked farmland, and making sure that no curses or infections seeped into the land. Honestly, she didn’t care too much about that last one, but she knew that Adam would have, so she’d gone to extra mile just to make sure she could stay on his good side.
Regardless, it probably was a good thing she’d made sure to purge the area. Somewhere in the fight, the Hunt had done something weird involving souls. Normally that was bad. Souls were powerful, and messing with them without serious precision and power involved almost always backfired. The Wild Hunt had somehow thought it was a good idea to smash a whole bunch of souls from their members together to make some sort of aberrant hyper-condensed hybrid . . . thing! Under almost any other circumstances the souls involved would have been destroyed, or at least horribly mutilated, but the infuriating immortality of the Hunt allowed them to somehow sidestep the consequences. Those involved wouldn’t be in good shape, but they’d recover quickly even though it shouldn’t be possible.
All good for them, not so good for the battleground.
Having souls, even inhuman souls, forced together like that, then torn forcefully apart as the being they composed was unmade . . . well, it was kind of like smashing chunks of highly radioactive uranium together, then blasting them with massive explosive force. There was no big bang and mushroom cloud, nothing so simple. What was left over was sort of a soul residue, something that wasn’t a real soul, but parts of one that had sloughed off due to the damage, mutated irradiated, contaminated. These leftovers weren’t physical, but a spiritual remnant that would just remain, rot and fester, eventually petrifying onto something that would sink into the very land itself, contaminating it. In a few years, nothing good would grow here, insects and animals would abandon it, and people that came here often enough would find themselves . . . changing for the worse. In time things that weren’t ghosts but which were malevolent and cruel would begin to manifest, seeking to feed and spread the contamination by ripping away more spiritual remnants from any victims they could find.
So, good thing she cleared it up. It had just been bloody tiring.
Of course, it wasn’t as though she hadn’t managed to profit. Some of the soul stuff that she’d cleared up had gone into a small clay jar of hers, a useful reagent that she’d find a use for later. Then there’d been the copious amounts of ash left lying around. Dragon fire ash, and not even a day old, some of it was even still warm!
Oh, the things she’d be able to do with that. Conjuring dragon fire of her own was one trick that would greatly expand her offensive arsenal, and being able to temporarily command ‘lesser’ flames was another. Sure she wasn’t able to take all she wanted, she’d have needed a small lorry for that, but with just the jar she did have, she had enough to make her a decent threat for some time.
Unfortunately, she’d been a bit greedy, trying to harvest other residual energies, rather than being content with what she had. Emma had been able to seal some away, but the rest had been more potent than she’d been prepared for. If she hadn’t already been so tired then she might have been able to handle it, but a moment of inattention had resulted in the mixture of remnant powers slipping her grasp. It had taken everything she had to dissipate them rather than letting them explode, so now . . .
“Ahh . . .”
Emma’s recollections were scattered as intense pain shot through her arm from just below the elbow. The pain came out of nowhere, sharp and burning, as though someone had just jammed a heated poker into her flesh. Clenching her teeth and turning her exclamation into a hiss she tugged at her sleeve until she could see her bare flesh. What she saw caused her face to contort into an ugly grimace.
More of those snow-white scales had appeared on her arm, this time a whole line of them running from her elbow to the middle of her forearm. The line was thin, barely thicker than the ink chamber of a biro pen, but the flesh around it was an angry red, as though infected and fevered.
She was running out of time.
The simple fact was that her condition was snowballing. What she had done had required a lot of precision, but in terms of raw power, it had been relatively cheap. What she had done shouldn’t have caused more scales to manifest!
But they had.
It hadn’t taken her long to work out what was happening. More scales manifested as she pushed herself, casting stronger magic and wearing away at the seals and limitations she’d worn for centuries. And because those scales had manifested it made the seals that much more fragile, meaning the next time she pushed herself they were that much easier to damage and cause more scales to manifest. It was a vicious cycle, one she could only escape if she stopped using magic for a few decades, hid somewhere quiet, and dedicated herself to forcing the scales down.
She couldn’t afford that! She couldn’t lose this chance, this one chance that she’d been waiting so long for. Adam was the key! If she could just convince him . . .
She hadn’t done enough yet though. What she needed from him . . . it wasn’t any small thing, it was big! Huge! The level of trust she’d be asking from him meant that she was almost certain to be denied. She needed to do something more, something big enough to get her foot in the door, something he couldn’t deny.
Damn it! Even in the privacy of her own skull that sounded manipulative and mercenary. It was also the brutal truth though. She was running out of time, pure and simple. She needed to secure her position with Adam before it was all gone.
God, she was too tired for this!
Despite the pain, despite the stress, despite time running out, all Emma wanted to do was curl up into a ball and fall asleep right there, on the cool and dirty pavement of the alley. Just a couple of hours, was that really too much to ask? Hells, she’d be happy with just one hour. Just some precious time to turn her brain off and escape into the sweet oblivion of slumber.
Instead, she pulled her sleeve down, ignored the pain in her arm and heaved herself to her feet.
She was not going to give up! She could sleep when she was dead! Until then she was going to keep dragging herself along, holding onto her hope until she succeeded or until there was nothing left of her! She wasn’t in a good spot, but that was okay.
She had some ideas to work with.
--------------------------------------------------------
I watched Mato and did my best to keep my seething jealousy from showing on my face. It was something of a struggle, but I was working with the advantage that the kid was thoroughly distracted at this point.
Our trip to the sports club had gone great. For a fairly small town the sports facilities had been awesome, a nice big pool, a jacuzzi and a sauna big enough for me to spend some time in, even with my wings. That, plus a nice long shower in the spacious changing rooms, had left me feeling way better, and my fellow demigod had also perked up some. There were no more scorch marks on us, I had the ash and dirt out of my feathers where it had really been starting to itch, we had fresh clothes on, new shoes and actually looked partway civilised.
The only hiccup so far had been that I’d forgotten to get a comb for either of us, but that wasn’t too bad. Thanks to my divine airbrushing I could now somehow pull off the whole ‘sexy bed hair’ look, and Mato was young enough to make it look natural.
My good mood had felt pretty much bone-deep by that point. Sure, there’d been some gawkers, staff at the club or other attendees, but there seemed to be some sort of unspoken rule that they stay at a distance. Some of them took pictures with their mobiles, and I’m pretty sure there were a lot of calls being made, but I honestly didn’t care. I was feeling better, and I was willing to deal with it later. Maybe not the smartest way to handle it, but I didn’t want to ruin things.
Something else did though.
As promised I took Mato to the club’s restaurant once we were finished. Yeah, it wasn’t like I was going to get anything, but his stomach was audibly growling by that point, and I’d have had to be made of stone not to notice the puppy dog eyes he was making at me. Once we got there I was impressed by just how much the kid ended up ordering. A whole lasagna, meant to serve two, a salad, a plate of spicy chicken wings, two plates of prawn starters, a bowl of boiled veggies and a plate of garlic bread. I thought it was way too much for him to eat, but I figured I could take what was leftover back with me to act as a snack for the rest of our group.
More fool me, at the rate he was going there wasn’t going to be anything left.
There was a special sort of torture to watching him fall upon the spread of food as though he was the personification of a biblical swarm of locusts. Piece by piece the delicious-smelling food disappeared, and I could do nothing but watch as I straddled the reversed chair across the table from him. I had ordered a glass of orange juice, freshly squeezed and everything, but as always it just tasted of water. Still, I drank it slowly, enjoying the sensation of the bits of pulp swirling around in the juice as I did so.
“Aren’t you going to eat anything?”
He finally spoke to me after half the lasagna, the chicken wings, the plate of prawns and all the garlic bread were gone. I would have been offended it took him so long, but given his sheer enthusiasm for the food I was willing to forgive him.
“I want to, believe me,” I admitted. “But there’s no point.”
I really did. I wasn’t quite at the point where I’d be willing to trade my right arm for a burger I could taste, but I was getting worryingly close to it. Most of the time I could distract myself, and the fact that I didn’t get physically hungry helped. Still, the memories kept on sneaking up on me when I wasn’t laser-focused on something like combat, or when I just had some free time. I’d be doing some training, or taking a shower, or just lying in bed before falling asleep, and I’d start to remember the taste of freshly fried chips, or a nice curry, or chicken ramen, or any one of a hundred other foods that I’d enjoyed over my life. I’d remember how they tasted, how I’d reacted to those tastes, and I’d start to lick my lips, drool, and generally get ready to eat, even though nothing was coming. I didn’t get hungry, but I was getting cravings.
I was starting to sympathise with the mythological Tantalus. The guy might have been an evil piece of work, killing, cooking and then serving up his own son to the gods in an effort to trick them, but we were in the same boat when it came to being tormented by food and drink.
Trying to distract myself from that particular topic I tried to focus back on Mato. Who dragged my attention right back to it.
“What do you mean?”
I bit back a sigh. Of course, he’d ask, why wouldn’t he?
“You know I said I had some angel in me?” I slightly raised one wing in emphasis, causing him to nod in reply. “Well, some angels are weaker to some sins than others. My ancestor was weak to gluttony, so she sealed away her sense of taste for food. Lucky me, I got stuck with it as well.”
“So, you can't taste anything?”
Mato looked horrified at the idea, looking down at the uneaten food before him and then back at me with visible pity.
“Nope,” I admitted, holding up my glass of juice. “This . . . it just tastes like water with some bits in it. Any food I eat just tastes of nothing. On the plus side, I don’t actually need to eat anymore, so it’s not like I’ve got to eat tasteless food to survive, so that’s something, I guess. Still, I hope you don’t mind me watching you with burning envy as you eat.”
I made an exaggerated grimace of jealousy, showing my teeth and narrowing my eyes as much as I could to play up the comedic angle. While it was the truth I didn’t want him to take me seriously, I didn’t want to drag down the mood.
Since he grinned back at me I must have succeeded, so I cast about for another topic to get on, one that would distract us both from my issues.
“So, what’s it like being a giant bear?”
Mato just blinked at me for a moment, caught off guard by the topic change, then grinned the grin of every kid that had been offered the chance to talk about their latest favourite toy.
“It’s incredible!” he enthused. “I’m so strong, and everything looks so small! It feels like I’m invincible, all that power in me. And the world’s different. I can smell so much, hear so much! My sight’s different, but even that’s sharper in some ways. It’s awesome!”
I couldn’t help but smile at the sheer exuberance in his words. It was nice to see, a reminder that even in all the mess we were having to deal with there was still some . . . wonder to be found.
“Is it hard to change forms like that? Going from being a guy to being a bear . . . isn’t it disorienting?”
The kid looked at me, his head tilted slightly and confusion clear on his face.
“Is it weird when you transform?” he asked.
“I don’t transform,” I explained. “How I am, I’m like this all the time.”
Trying to inject humour back into a suddenly awkward moment I raised a wing, giving him a careful wave with it, then gesturing to the reversed chair I was straddling.
“These are awesome, but they make sitting on a chair a hassle. And lying down. And other things. Do you know how hard it can be to go down a narrow corridor with them? I keep on leaving scratches and tears everywhere!”
Okay, that got a grin out of him, so a small victory I guessed.
“No,” he commented, after taking the time to wolf down another couple of prawns. “I mean, when you use your transform power, does it throw you off?”
“Mato . . . I don’t transform,” I explained. “What makes you think I do?”
He looked at me strangely, as though I’d just told him I was going to eat the colour blue and it was going to taste the way petrol smelled.
“Yes, you do.”
“Huh?”
My reply was little more than a bemused grunt, taken aback by the absolute surety in his words.
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“My change, my power to turn into a bear, it’s . . . it’s not just something that I make by running my power in a certain way,” Mato tried to explain. “There’s something in me, a sort of lump or knot of power. It’s not solid or real, but it’s made up out of power, and it’s always there. Do you get what I mean?”
I nodded slowly. What he was describing sounded like some sort of etheric organ. Sort of like my core or the channels that ran through my wings and body. Constructs of power that existed within me without a physical presence.
“Well, you’ve got one too,” the younger demigod stated with certainty. “And it just feels like mine, something that’s meant to change you, make you stronger, make you more, y’know?”
Okay, that caught me by surprise.
“You’re sure?”
“Mmhmm,” he confirmed, around a mouthful of lasagna which he industriously chewed and swallowed. “It’s not the same though. Mine feels all furry and hard and hot, but not in a bad way. Yours . . . I feel it and it feels . . .”
He paused, his face scrunching up as he tried to find the words he wanted.
“It feels like a really big spring, but all . . . small, but still big,” He frowned again, waving a hand animatedly as he tried to explain. “It's like . . . okay, it’s not a spring, not really. But it feels like a spring, y’know. Like a huge metal spring that’s been pressed tight, but it’s just being held down by a little bit of metal, and that bit of metal is all that keeping all that pent-up force back. And because it's such a huge spring there’s loads of force there, like enough to send a truck flying! And it feels big too, not just the spring being big, but everything! The spring the force inside it, the bit of metal holding it, everything, it’s all really big!”
I had to reach out with my TK to catch a bowl of salad that almost fell off the table as it was knocked by Mato’s elbow. Still, I kept listening. He might be rambling a bit, but something about what he was describing was striking a cord. I felt like he was right, but I wasn’t sure why. The sensations he was trying to put into words, pent-up force, great size made small, for some reason thinking about them sparked a sort of itch at the back of my mind. There was something there, but I couldn’t quite reach it.
Great. Just one more part of my divine nature that I wasn’t able to get a proper handle on.
“Thanks for telling me. I guess it’s one more thing to work on when I’ve got some spare time.”
“You didn’t know about it already?”
The younger demigod looked at me with mild confusion.
“Let me guess,” I replied, with a tired smile. “As soon as you got your powers you knew all about them right away, right?”
He nodded and I wasn’t surprised. That was just the way it was for demigods, or at least, how it should have been. Their divine blood sparked into life and they just instinctively knew what their powers were. Oh sure, they had to work out what tricks and synergies they could pull off the old-fashioned way, with imagination, experimentation and lots of hard work, but the basics were meant to come instinctively. Me, on the other hand . . .
“Things went a bit wrong during my Awakening,” I explained. “It was a whole mess, and in the end, I got my power, but the instruction manual got lost, so I’ve been having to work things out on my own. Well, not on my own, Joan and Hadriel have been helping me, and then Kali and Athena showed up, they’ve all been helpful.”
I paused, a thought occurring to me. None of them had sensed anything in me like Mato had. Well, neither Joan nor Hadriel had, they’d have told me for sure if they had known anything. Kali I could see sensing something and then holding off on telling me until it was more fun for her, like when we were in a spar and she wanted a better challenge. Athena, on the other hand . . . I still didn’t have a good grip on her. She’d been helpful, but the feeling I got from her was that she wasn’t as . . . invested in me as the others were. Joan and Hadriel had a divine mission to back me up, Kali had sworn her oath to Shiva, but Athena felt more distant. It didn’t help that I couldn’t forget what Emma had told me, to be wary of her.
That didn’t matter right now though. What mattered was that there was an exploit available right in front of me.
Okay . . . gotta watch myself, I don’t want to dehumanise Mato by thinking of him as an exploit item. Still, this info, if it was accurate, could be priceless, I’d be an idiot not to ask for more.
“Can you feel anything else?”
Again, the young demigod’s face scrunched up as he visibly concentrated.
“Sort of,” he said, though there was notable hesitation there. “I can feel that knot that’s your transformation, and I can feel something else sort of hiding behind it. I can’t make it out because the other one’s in the way, like the moon in front of the sun. I can feel the outline of the edges, but it’s not enough to get the full picture, y’know? I think there might be other stuff there, but they’re not as big, not as clear. I can feel that they’re there, but that’s it, I can’t tell what type they are or how strong they are or anything.”
Well, wasn’t that intriguing and unhelpful? Mato had told me something interesting, but lacking in details. I had a transformation power, he seemed to be pretty confident of that. And that also was important. This thing about another hiding behind it . . . did that mean another transformation? Gods in general were almost always known as shapeshifters, be they Greek, Babylonian, Shinto or Hindu, and I had a lot of cultures behind my bloodlines. That made for a lot of potential forms.
My first thought was of a dragon. Specifically, the one that tried to flame grill me in our last fight with the Hunt. That thing had been awesome! So huge, so fearsome, so powerful. More than that, the sheer confidence it had practically oozed, the towering self-assurance that had been every bit as clear as the red of its scales . . . there was something captivating about it. Sure, it had been terrifying, intimidating, even overwhelming, but even so, there was something about the mythical beast that I couldn’t help but find magnificent. Being able to become something like that . . .
I was reminded of an old joke I’d heard somewhere. ‘Always be yourself! Unless you can be a dragon. In that case, be the dragon! Always be the dragon!’
Amusingly accurate, but I didn’t think I’d end up being that lucky.
What he’d said about being able to feel other ‘stuff’ in me was also intriguing. Sure, it wasn’t much to go on, but even the suggestion that I had untapped powers of some sort was important to know. Once this whole mess with the Hunt was sorted, one way or another, I’d hopefully have an opportunity to try and follow up on it.
That was for the future though. Much as I wanted to chase more potential power now I simply didn’t have the time. It wouldn’t be long before we were fighting the Wild Hunt again, I was going to have to make preparations.
The first, and what should have been the most obvious, was not to be an idiot. That shouldn’t have been too hard, I liked to think I wasn’t stupid. But I was having to reevaluate that mental assertion as I went over what I’d done wrong in the last two fights.
The first, and foremost, was that I hadn’t used my Greek Gifts. In the first fight, I hadn’t really known what to expect, so when I’d been waiting for something to happen I’d chosen not to wear the armour I’d been given thinking that I might have to save someone or talk them down. If that was the case then showing up in armour wasn’t going to inspire calm. I should have put it on as soon as I saw the explosions, but I’d forgotten in my haste to find out what was happening. For that matter, I should have been wearing the helmet of invisibility, since observing while hidden would have been a sound tactical choice. I hadn’t worn either of them to the second fight since I hadn’t wanted to appear threatening while Mato’s safety was unsure.
Looking back at least part of my decision had been based on what Emma told me, about not trusting Greeks bearing gifts. I’d been unwilling to trust in them when it came time to use them, and that had tilted my judgement against them. I could understand why I’d done it, but looking back it had been a mistake.
The armour, at least, I should have worn both times. I’d been lucky that my weak spot had never been targeted or hit by accident, but that was just part of it. Wearing that armour would have let me tank more damage. I wasn’t sure how much, but it would have at least been more than I’d endured in each fight.
Another mistake was not going in with as much preparation as I could. I’d gotten distracted earlier in the day, reading on the internet, catching up on how the world had developed and on how the appearance of my little group had been taken by the world. I could have done more to get ready, to put some vague ideas I’d had into effect as a means of adding options to my arsenal.
This was my third try, I couldn’t afford to give it any less than 100 per cent effort!
Noticing that a waitress was walking by, rather slowly as she got an eyeful of us both I noted, I waved her over.
“Umm . . . yes? Can I help you?”
I offered her a friendly smile, then regretted it as her face turned red and her eyes glazed slightly. Hurriedly I waved around us in general as I asked my question.
“Do you know if there’s a garden centre anywhere nearby? Preferably one with lots of different plants available.”
For a moment I was worried that she wasn’t going to answer, but she blinked and seemed to recollect herself.
“There’s . . . there’s one just outside of town,” she offered. “It’s quite big, and I think they sell lots of different breeds, even exotic stuff like flytraps and cactuses.”
My smile stayed on my face, but I could feel it shifting to something that might show a few more teeth than before.
“That sounds just like what I’m looking for,” I replied. “Can you give me directions?”
A few moments later I was watching as Mato was finishing off the last of the boiled vegetables and the garlic bread. Impressively, everything else was gone. I also had the directions I needed, so I knew where we’d be heading next.
“So, what do you want to get at the garden centre?”
I grinned at the younger demigod’s question and answered with one word.
“Weapons.”
--------------------------------------------------------
Watch Demigod Forum
Thread: JOAN OF ARC CONFIRMED!
Post: 1
User: TheFrenchConnection (Titles: Threadmaster)
It has been CONFIRMED!!! Joan of Arc was sighted and positively identified in the French port city of Le Havre! We’ve got pics!
[LINK] [LINK]
This is awesome! France has her patron saint up and about, and she’s in the company of two angels and some others! More news will be published as it becomes available.
Post: 2
User: Cakes4EVA (Titles: None)
Olkay, this is awesome! It’ll be a great boost to the French nation pride. Since Arthur showed up the UK has been soaring on a wave of nationalism that might be scary if he wasn’t such a good guy. Having such a powerful figure as Joan show up should make for something of a soft counterweight.
Post: 3
User: BrickoBrak (Titles: Confirmed Source)
I don’t know how much of a difference it’ll make that Joan is back. No offence to her, but Arthur is a King, not to mention he came back with the whole of the Round Tabel to back him up. Joan seems to be on her own, and at most she was a kingmaker back in her mortal life. Arthur was a mythical figure, and wielder of probably the most famous sword in the world and his deeds are synonymous with kingship, rule and the greatest of knights. Joan is less famous, and was most definitely a more mundane mortal in her life. I don’t want to sound like I’m putting her down, but it’s unlikely that she’s a match for Arthur, at least in terms of raw power or the resources she can draw upon. It is a proven fact that the fame and pervasiveness of a legend impacts the power of the legend in question, and King Arthur is unquestionably more famous than Joan of Arc.
Post: 4
User: HearMeRaw (Titles: None)
Screw You! are you so up your king’s ass that your going to just put down any woman that’s a threat to him?! Bet that your one of those assholes that’s always saying tyht women beong at home raising the children, right?
Well screw you again with some rusty pliers! Joans gonna show you that we don’t need the whole patriarchy trying to keep us down. Oh, and about Joan not having the resources like Arthur, check your math! Arthurs got knights, but Joans got ANGELS with her! Angels beet knights!
Part: 5
User: BrickoBrak (Titles: Confirmed Source)
@ HearMeRaw
My statements have nothing to do with Joan’s gender or nationality. I was just stating my opinion on the situation and the facts as I knew them. I have no doubt that Joan shall prove to be a woman of exemplary power and character. I simply believe that the power behind each of them will be influenced by their histories and legends.
Part: 6
User: Burning HUNKALove (Titles: BANNED AND BLOCKED)
This user has been Banned and Blocked permanently from any interactions on this site due to rampant misogyny, inflammatory comments and offensive sexual references. On a personal note: You aren’t worth the words.
Moderator: Tinker Warden
Part:7
User: HearMeRaw (Titles: None)
@BrickoBrak
You know wat? Screw YOU again! I don’t need your pussyfoot wording, I know what you meant! I’d really like to tell you what I really feel, but I dnot want to get banned by the Mods, you aren’t worth it!
Edit: @BrickoBrak
Okay, I’ve just read the ABSOLUTR MINDCRAP above and you know what? Youre notso bad. I still think you’re a patronising asshole, but at least you’ve got some god damned courtesy, that puts you above the damned misogynistic mouthbreather above!
Part: 8
User: StupidCupid (Titles: Official Matchmaker)
@ Anyone who knows.
How does this guy keep getting back here? For that matter, how the hell does he write up half a page of that crap so fast? I’m pretty sure he didn’t have something personalised to Joan of Arc just waiting to be used.
Part: 9
User: 27Vectors4Home (Titles: Long time member)
@ StupidCupid
He’s a longtime lurker who keeps on cooking up new accounts using false data. He’s always posting misogynistic crap like that whenever someone brings up capable women or girls in any form. I think he’s got some sort of standard piece of trash that he can quickly edit and tailor to a specific target with some sort of program. That or he’s cracked enough in the head that he’s sat down and written that sort of bullshit about all the famous women in history he can think of. I know he’s put up stuff about Guinevere, Boadicea, Cleopatra, and even the Virgin Mary. He’s also gone after actresses and celebrities with rants that are suited to the situation, but are too long to have just been written. Well, maybe if he has mad typing skills, or a really good dictation program.
Whatever the case, just ignore him. The guy isn’t even worth the time I’ve spent writing this up to you.
Part: 10
User: TheFrenchConnection (Titles: Threadmaster)
Come on guys, we’re getting derailed here. This is a thread to discuss Joan of Arc’s confirmed return, not to discuss gender equality or that one asshole we all hate.
Stay on topic or I’ll lock this thread for a full day.
Part: 11
User: MarcusSonofMacross (Titles: Historian)
Has anyone been able to identify the folks with Joan? The pictures are pretty good, but apart from the two angels the others are out of focus. Are there any other pictures up yet?
Part: 12
User: EyeSpyLittleEye (Titles: Confirmed Analyst)
@ MarcusSonofMacross
Actually, I think there’s only one angle there, the woman. The guy is dressed in modern clothes, and wears sneakers. The red head clearly has a halo but he doesn’t. my guess is that he’s a nephilim that Joan’s found and the angel with the red wings is there to help her.
On a related note, I’ve been trying to identify the angel, but I don’t have enough info to work with. If anything else gets posted about her please let me know.
Part: 13
User: RedFishnBlueChips (Titles: None)
If the pastor at my church ahd mentioned more angels like that redhead then you can bet that I’d have paid more attention to his sermons. If that’s the fashion of heaven then I’ll have to make sure I get their when I die.
Part: 14
User: ReadySetGo!(Titles: Confirmed Source)
I was able to get a look at the first official report of things from Le Havre, and it’s big!
First off, yeah that really is Joan of Arc. The man with her is a confirmed demigod, not a nephilim, a demigod with god and angel blood in him. No name for him yet, but he’s confirmed ot be from England, Joan brought him over to France for some reason. Here are some more pics that were attached. [Pic] [Pic]
Next thing is that the angel with her has been named as Hadriel. I don’t know if that means anything to anyone, but that’s the name on the report. Pics are attached. [Pic] [Pic]
Okay, now for the big news! Thise two women with them . . . they’re goddesses, and not just any goddesses. One’s Athena, as in one of the head honchoes from Olympus Industries! Just last week she was showing reporters around the new factory in Chicago, and now she’s here in France. Make of that what you will, I know I’m going over the implications. And you know what, that’s not all! You know what the name of the other goddess is on the report? KALI! As in the goddess of destruction from the Hindu pantheon, and a goddess that Artemis herself has gone on the record as saying she does not want to tangle with. The same Artemis that hunts rogue demigods and half demons for sport. That Artemis doesn’t want to tangle with her!
And Athena and Kali are there with Joan of Arc and an angel.
I’m not sure what that means, but here’re the pictures attached to the report. [Pic] [Pic] [Pic] [Pic] [Pic]
Part: 15
User: JInJen31 (Titles: None)
Holy Crap! Is this for real? Angels, goddesses from different cultures, a demigod and a reborn saint. Is anyone else thinking that this looks like the prelude to something bigger?
Part: 16
User: EyeSpyLittleEye (Titles: Confirmed Analyst)
Hadriel is not an angel that has shown up in any of my research. It is now known that most of the Third Generation angels aren’t know to mankind, so that’s not too much of a surprise. Her halo does give some indicators of her rank and position, but they aren’t to clear. I’m fairly sure that she’s a warrior, a soldier of some type, but her choir is more confusing. The setting and markings on her halo seem to indicate that she’s a Power, but there are also indicators that she’s a Throne as well.
I admit, I might be misreading it, the books I’m using for reference are over a hundred years old and are copies of even older books. One thing I can tell for sure is that those red wings mean that she’s been fighting and winning for a long time. If she wasn’t then she’d have Fallen.
Part: 17
User: RedFishnBlueChips (Titles: None)
So, what’s with her walking around wearing less than the average stripper? If she’s a warrior then shouldn’t she be in armour? Not that I’m complaining. Who doesn’t love a sexy warrior angel? But shouldn’t she have a chainmail bikini at least?
Part: 18
User: HearMeRaw (Titles: Temp banned)
This user has received a 10 day ban due to abusive language and personal comments exceeding the rules of this thread. This moderator recognizes that you were somewhat provoked, but that does not excuse the breaking of the rules. Please take some time to calm down.
Moderator: Tinker Warden
Part: 19
User: (Titles:)
User: EyeSpyLittleEye (Titles: Confirmed Analyst)
@ RedFishnBlueChips
Armour is a lesser concern for most angels, given that their bare skin is as hard to break as iron. Her choice of garb is unusual though, but I believe that the sin of lust is often associated with the colour violent or pink. Given that her wings are red, the colour of wrath, I think it’s unlikely she’s dressed like that in an attempt to attract attention or entice the eyes of others. In all likelihood she has lost her armour in some way and just not bothered to replace it. Her current clothes meet the minimum for decency, so she doesn’t pay it any more attention.
@ HearMeRaw
Hey, steady on! Yes, that might have been a bit suggestive, but I hardly feel it demands such a . . . detailed reply.
Part: 20
User: FutureCelebrity121 (Titles: True Blue)
Hey, what does it mean that Athena’s there, instead of back at Olympus Industries? I mean, she’s the face of the company, their main rep and the head negotiator on deals. She can’t just leave like this, can she? What’s it going to do to my share value?
Part: 21
User: ReadySetGo!(Titles: Confirmed Source)
Okay, I’ve got some more info, and you’re not going to believe it! it turns out that they aren’t all there with Joan, they’re all there with the demigod! That’s right, that lucky SOB has those four supernatural hotties following him around! Is anyone else seeing red and turning green?
Okay, on a more serious not, just how important is he to get this kind of back up?
Part: 22
User: StupidCupid (Titles: Official Matchmaker)
Well, first off he’s ridiculously hot! I mean, I’m straight as an arrow, but if he was asking I honestly don’t know if I’d say no. So . . . are we looking at a divine harem here? Was anime right all along?!
More seriously, My guess is that we’re looking at a Nephilim that’s also a legacy for two bloodlines, one from Greece and one from India. If he’s got two such noteworthy goddesses with him then he’s got to have some pretty strong ancestors too. My guess would be Shiva and Zeus. And given that he’s got an angel and a saint at his side I’d guess that his angelic parent must be pretty high up there on the heavenly totem pole as well.
Part: 23
User: Beloved_Benny_Hill (Titles: Confirmed One-man band)
That’d mean he’s crazy important though. So far the most famous Nephilim in the world is Jason Warwick, and he’s being trained by a cherub, and a young looking one at that. What’s it mean that this guy merits a warrior angel and a saint?
Part: 24
User: ReadySetGo!(Titles: Confirmed Source)
I’ve managed to get some more info! The demigod’s name, it’s Adam West!
Hope you guys aren’t expecting more, because that’s the last that my contact will be able to provide. They’re already risking a lot of heat by letting this slip, so be grateful!
There are also some new picks, of the girls and some fresh ones of Adam himself. Enjoy.
[Pic] [Pic] [Pic] [Pic] [Pic] [Pic] [Pic]
Part: 25
User: FutureCelebrity121 (Titles: True Blue)
Okay, is anyone else starting to feel a bit stalkery? I came here to get a look on the fresh scope with Joan of Arc, I wasn’t ecpecting this.
@ ReadySetGo!
Thanks for the pics, they really were awesome, and I’m going to have the one with Adam straddling that chair printer in a poster and hung up on my wall. Still, aren’t you going a bit far by giving us his first and surname? Yeah, Jason went public, but that was at a press conference he called. Getting his name from some paperwork and then putting it up here feels as bit . . . skeevy. Wouldn’t his first name have been enough, this could put his family in danger, y’know.
Part: 26
User: ReadySetGo!(Titles: Confirmed Source)
@FutureCelebrity121
Hey, this was going to get out eventually. No way were those documents actually going to stay confidential. The only difference is that you’re reading it here, not in some French rag after a reporter bribed someone to get a look at them.
Part: 27
User: GOOHYFA#87 (Titles: None)
Wait, has it been confirmed that Joan is here because of the nephilim? Maybe he found her, and she’s acting as a trainer or something. He might be her student or squire, wouldn’t that be mor likely? The same goes for the angel, maybe she’s there for Joan.
Part: 28
User: TheFrenchConnection (Titles: Threadmaster)
@ GOOHYFA#87
Maybe, but that still doesn’t explain Athena and Kali. The Heavens don’t really have any antagonistic relationships with any of the pantheons, but they aren’t that close either. Without some sort of external factor this alliance seems very unlikely to have formed on its own. A demigod would be the simplest explanation. Well, that or a joint enemy.
Part: 29
User: HoneyCakesRBest:) (Titles: Confirmed Problem Child)
Come on! You can’t just suggest that and not give us any ideas of who you mean!
Part: 30
User: P45Bester(Titles: None)
Hey, has no-one noticed that this guy’s name is Adam West?
. . .
. . .
Well, if nobody else is going to say it then I’m going to say it first.
HOLY BLOODLINE BUFFOONARY BATMAN!!!!
Part: 31
User: NevaGonnaSurrender (Titles: Confirmed Determinator)
Hey, can we get back to Joan. She is the meant to be the main focus of this thread, right?
What I want to know is if she’s going to be working with the French government. King Arthur may have caused some upheaval in the UK, but Joan doesn’t have a history of ruling herself. I think it’s likely that she’ll agree to work with them, at least in some way. If they’re smart then they’ll put her in charge of their supernatural assets. All resurrected souls have shown that they’ve gained knowledge while in whatever afterlife they were in, so Joan’s bound to know all sorts of secrets and general knowledge that would be invaluable in such a position.
Part: 32
User: 27Vectors4Home (Titles: Long time member)
Has there been any confirmation of Joan’s abilities? Based on her legend she should be able to perform some miracles, was a banner barer, led armies, and was also a kingmaker. Then there’s her unjust burning and her legacy as the patron saint of France. That’s a lot of aspects to work with.
-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-
It was interesting to read again, but Adam was only mentioned peripherally from then on. Rather than contiune he returned to the main index of new threads and tried to find one focusing on the demigod, something more recent.
-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-
Thread: New Demigod: Adam West!
Post: 1
User: 7thHeaven777 (Titles: Threadmaster)
Well, things kept getting derailed on the other threads, so here we go, a thread specially devoted to our new winged demigod.
Now a quick reiteration of the facts as we know them, and as have been confirmed by verified sources.
- Adam West is a UK citizen without a criminal record or any known association to any activist groups.
- Adam West recently arrived at the city of Le Havre in the company of Joan of Arc, a warrior angel named Hadriel, the Olympian goddess Athena and the Hindu goddess Kali.
- Adam West has shown physical changes since becoming a demigod, including changed and enhanced appearance, wings, and control over a wide number of elements.
- After setting off a minor riot with his appearance, and that of his companions, he contacted the local police and informed them that he had arrived in response to a prophecy delivered to Joan by an angel. It simply told him of a time and a location. Given the firepower he had backing him the official stance was decided as ‘hands off’ and he was left to follow through.
- Following Joan’s prophecy resulted in a massive fight at the dockyards in Le Havre, resulting in considerable property damage.
- In the aftermath, it was confirmed that Adam and his allies had clashed with the Wild Hunt, and that a younger demigod had been kidnapped by them. During this time Sir Lancelot of the Round Table came to meet them and after unknown discussions chose to join in their efforts to rescue the demigod.
- The latest news suggests that they were able to save the demigod, and seem to be recovering from their efforts. There are some pictures of Adam and a younger boy going shopping and going to a restaurant. [Pic] [Pic] [Pic] [Pic in swimming gear!]
Part: 2
User: HerculesFan96(Titles: Confirmed Body Builder)
First!
On a different subject . . . angel boy is SHREDDED! I mean, seriously! Look at those abs! You could grate cheese on those things! How many crunches did he have to do to get those?! I WEEP TEARS OF JEALOUSY!!!
Now that I’ve got that out of my system . . . what’s the story with Lancelot? I thought he was over in France looking for King Arthur’s Sheath. Why’d he join up with Adam?
Part: 3
User: NotaWerewolf (Titles: Confirmed Not a Werewolf)
@ HerculesFan96
Maybe they’re working together to find the sheath? Adam’s with Joan, so there’s a connection to the local . . . hero of the land? Is that a good way of putting it? Anyway, Arthur’s the UK equivalent, right? Them working together makes some sense.
Unless you count Joan’s perfectly understandable potential beef with the English, who sentenced her in a court so crooked it resembled a pretzel and then burnt her aliove. Yeah, I only just thought of that.
Part: 4
User: GimmeBagelsOrGiveMeDeath (Titles: Confirmed Baker)
She doesn’t seem to have any trouble working with a British guy though. So . . . maybe she’s not holding a grudge? If she does then it’s going to cause all kinds of international tension, you can bet on that.
Part: 5
User: NinjaDeParis (Titles: None)
I can tell you that the news of Jeanne’s return has already spread across France like you wouldn’t believe! I took a walk down Avenue des Champs-élysées this morning and everywhere you looked there was Jeanne d’Arc stuff. It’s like every stores, home and apartment in the city has dug out anything related to her and put it out on display. Posters, paintings, statuettes, everything. I even saw some shop assistants dressed up in cosplay of her!
I know that King Arthur coming back was a big thing in the UK, especially since he trashed Balor, but I don’t think I really got it until now. Seeing everyone reacting like this is kind of surreal, but its also pretty cool.
Part: 5
User: ManInTheKnow[oo] (Titles: Confirmed Source)
Attention all! I think I’ve found out why this is all going down!
I found [THIS] picture on social media this morning. As you can see, it’s a large object flying over some farmland. Not a very good picture, but you can see why it got enough hits to get my attention. I ran it through some verification software, and I can confirm that it ISN’T fake.
It was enough to get me interested and I was able to * gain access to several camera’s in the same area, after calling in some favours. After trolling through them I was able to find these pictures.
[Pic] [Pic] [Pic] [Pic] [Pic]
That’s right bitches! We’ve got a freakin’ DRAGON within three miles of of the town where Adam and his new friend are shopping and having a meal! These pictures were taken last night, and after some more digging I found out that some fields and roads not too far off were found torn up, blasted and partly melted! Is anyone else starting to get the picture here?
Lancelot is a dragonslayer, at least according to his legend. He joins up with Adam and his allies, and then theres a confirmed dragon in the area. It doesn’t take a maths genius to do the adding up here.
Part: 6
User: NotInvincibleSaddly (Titles: Long Time Member)
@ 7thHeaven777
Thanks for the pictures, but I’m a bit concerned at you getting them. Especially the one of him in the pool. Don’t get me wrong, I loved them, and that pool shot is going up on my wall, but isn’t it a bit skeevy to have taken them?
@ ManInTheKnow[oo]
Thanks for your pics too. That third one was extra awesome, showing just how big the dragon was. Are we really sure that Adam took that thing on? Because I wouldn’t be willing to go near that thing without a whole line of battle tanks to back me up.
Part: 7
User: GimmeBagelsOrGiveMeDeath (Titles: Confirmed Baker)
@ NotInvincibleSaddly
Are you kidding? That thing might not be up there with Godzilla, but it’s big enough to be in the kaiju threshold. Do you know what happens when the military goes after a kaiju with tanks? Let me tell you, it doesn’t go well for the tanks. If you’re after a kaiju you want some sort of war mech, preferably emulating a powerful kaiju, or some sort of superweapon. Anything else is just fodder!
Part: 8
User: 7thHeaven777 (Titles: Threadmaster)
@ NotInvincibleSaddly
I do get where you’re coming from, but I didn’t take any of these pictures myself. They were acquired from social media accounts with the pictures being free domain. Yes, they might not have been taken on quite the up and up, but since they were there I used them here.
Part: 9
User: WeatherVane13 (Titles: None)
Okay, I’ve run some measuring software on the images available, and there terrifying. I mean that. That thing is HUGE!!!
Now, there is some margin for error, but the general breakdown put this things wingspan somewhere between 150 and 200 feet across, and it measuring from snout to tail tip somewhere between 100 and 150 feet. I tried to work out how much that thing weighs, but without any data on its internal organs I couldn’t get a decent results. Still, we’re talking tonnes in the hundreds, maybe more.
One again, magic is telling physics to hand over it’s lunch money and then go cry in a corner. Something that big shouldn’t even be able to move, let alone fly! That dragon should have it’s limbs snap under its weight, I don’t care if its got bones made of solid titanium, the cartilage and muscles shouldn’t be able to hold together.
But, somehow, it doesn’t. Instead this biological impossibility not only holds together, it somehow manages to fly as well, in utter defiance of everything science tells us should not be possible.
I have a master’s degree in biology and physics, they’re framed and up on the wall of my study. I’m looking at them right now and I’m wondering just what they’re really worth in a world where a dragon not only exists, but also flies and breathes fire hot enough to liquify tarmac and concrete.
You know what? I need a drink.
Part: 10
User: UniversalUntruth987 (Titles: Confirmed Self Helper)
Ah, the sane man’s response to an insane situation, slug back enough alcohol that it either starts making sense, or you don’t care anymore.
In all seriousness though, this kind of reaction is more common than you might think. Mankind has spent millennia slowly building up our understanding of the world, learning the rules and the whys of how things work, and every civilization on the planet has been built on that knowledge. Then the Black Sun happens and we find out that there are powers that can override the rules we thought immutable. Even worse, we’ve tried to understand how that happens and rather than a new set of rules it basically comes down to ‘because we’re strong enough to say so’.
Shapeshifting that ignores conservation of mass, destructive blasts that basically delete matter from existence, lifeforms without any biological matter, the list of things once thought impossible but which now take place daily just goes on.
More than one studious mind has broken itself trying to understand the seeming incomprehensibility of magic.
Part: 11
User: PartyHarder4Ever!! (Titles: Confirmed Party Animal)
@ : WeatherVane13 and UniversalUntruth987
C’mon, don’t be such downers! We’ve just seen a dragon! A DRAGON!!!! This time last year they were just special effects and puppets and tricks. Now, we’re seeing the real thing! Where’s your sense of wonder. I mean, yeah, theat thing is terrifying. But isn’t it also magnificent?! We’re living in an age of magic and miracles! Isn’t that worth something? Do we have to try to analyse it to death in some twisted need to understand and control?
Part: 12
User: ManInTheKnow[oo] (Titles: Confirmed Source)
@ PartyHarder4Ever!!
I get where you’re coming from, and yeah, the dragon does look amazing. The problem is that its huge, and huge things need to eat huge amounts of food. I don’t know about you, but I don’t relish the idea of having humanities spot at the top of the food chain being usurped, no matter how magnificent our usurper might be.
Part: 13
User: 7thHeaven777 (Titles: Threadmaster)
@ Everyone.
Hey, we’re getting off topic here. This thread is meant to discuss our favourite winged demigod, not go into another discussion on the pros and cons of the return of the Legends. There’re more than an hundred other threads dedicated to that, so lets keep on track here, okay?
On another note, Adam and his friend have been seen making purchases, weird purchases. One of the shop attendants put on her social media account that he bought seeds for blackberry brambles, rose plants and the Araucaria Araucana, also known as that Monkey Puzzle Tree. All these plants have one thing in common, at least as far as I can tell. Once they get full grown they are not plants you want to run into without wearing protective clothing, not unless you want to get cut up.
What might Adam have planned for these I wonder?
Part: 14
User: 40YearsofFREEDOM (Titles: None)
@ Everyone + 7thHeaven777
I do appreciate the effort you’re putting into this thread, but I don’t know about the rest of you, but I’m feeling a bit on the stalkery side, monitoring private media accounts to get up to the moment info on this guy. Yeah, Adam’s fascinating, especially with he company he’s keeping, but this is getting intrusive.
Part: 15
User: CalmBlueLagoon=$$$$ (Titles: Temp Banned)
This user has received a 10 day ban due to abusive language and personal comments exceeding the rules of this thread. This moderator recognizes your right to a personal opinion on the subjects discussed, but even so there are rules of behaviour upon this site. Please take some time to calm down.
Moderator: Keyboard Wizard
Part: 16
User: 7thHeaven777 (Titles: Threadmaster)
Well, the Mods eem to think we should tone back the cyber stalking, so we’ll have to fall back on more acceptable fun.
Okay everyone, I’m taking bets on what Adam’s powers are going to be confirmed as! We’ve got wings for sure, and we know he can mess with elements, but that’s it for now. I’m going to be putting up some suggestions for powers. Feel free to vote on them, or add your own suggestions.
[]Divine Fire []Divine Lightning []Heavenly Sword []Summons Lesser Angels []Petrifying Gaze (Maybe a salt variation) []Healing []Weather Control []Weapon Manifestation []Purifying Aura
Just to be clear, the only thing that’s being gambled here are bragging rights, got it? If anyone even hints at putting real money on this the Mods are going to come down on us like a ton of bricks.
Part: 17
User: CollageHopeful1998 (Titles: None)
Okay. I’ll vote for Divine Lightning, Healing and a Purifying Aura.
Also, I’d like to offer up some more options. Remember, its all but confirmed that he’s got divine blood from the Olympian and Hindu pantheons. So . . .
Shapeshifting (Because practically every god and spirit in Greek mythology could shapeshift. In fact, I’m pretty sure there was a legend about Zeus seducing some princess in the shape of a swan. Kinky.)
Cursing (Again, every Greek god seemed to be able to do this in one form or another, so it stands to reason that a powerful descendant might get that.)
Archery Mastery (Mastery of the bow and being able to use it was pretty common among the Hindu heroes and demigods. Rama, Arjuna and Karna were all famed heroes that could bring down armies with their arrows.)
Summon Elephant (I’m just including this one because I find the image of an angelic demigod riding an elephant into battle awesome for some reason.)
Part: 18
User: NotInvincibleSaddly (Titles: Long Time Member)
Okay, this I can get behind.
Divine fire seems like a must, and I like the idea of turing enemies into salt statues, that’s nice and biblical. I also agree with Shapeshifting and Archery Mastery, both seem in keeping with Hindu and Greek divinities. As for suggestions . . .
Immortality (I think this is one that you missed. Lots of demigods gained this in legend, though it tended to be conditional, such as never dying unless they broke and oath, or something like that.)
Part: 19
User: BuzzBuzzBuzzzer!!! (Titles: Confirmed Nuisance)
Hey! Hey, I’ve got one. How about-
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Doug stopped reading there, the thread devolving into a series of proposed ideas, suggested versus scenarios and speculation on who, if any, of his companions Adam was involved with.
“This . . . this is crazy.”
The one who commented was Chris, who’d been reading over his friend's shoulder. He then started to pace around the room, nervous energy in his every movement.
“We passed crazy a couple of days ago,” Doug replied, swinging in his chair to face his friend, then turning back to his computer.
A few taps brought up a picture of Adam, clad only in swimming trunks as he climbed out of a pool using the ladder steps. It was a pretty good picture, one that used the lighting of a sunny day to highlight the water as it dripped from his wings, his hair and his glistening chiselled muscles.
“This is Adam?!?!” He exploded. “The Adam that lived here with us, who helped you set up that bookcase that fell down, who keeps forgetting to put the fan on when he fries his steaks, who always finds an excuse to never change a lightbulb?!”
Doug had known Adam for years. His friend was slim to the point of being lanky, with skin that stayed pale despite all his hiking, and was cursed with that perpetually messy brown hair. He liked his walks but hated gyms, which was why he’d never managed to bulk up. That was the image that Doug had in his mind, and it didn’t match what he was seeing on the screen.
But at the same time . . . he could see things he recognised. The shape of the nose, the eyes, that tilted smile, the way he slumped over that chair when he straddled it. All of them were Adam, just refined and perfected past the point where genetics and good living could hope to reach. Then there were the other changes, his darkened skin, his hair, his eyes, those wings . . .
“Adam. And he’s running around with angels and goddesses!”
There was no heat in Chris’ words, only a sort of tired disbelief.
Doug could understand why, the last couple of days had been almost surreal for both of them.
It had started when his auto searches for anything about Adam or Joan of Arc had suddenly started to go off like crazy. Joan’s appearance and confirmation had alerted them both, and soon they’d found out about her companion, Adam West. From there they’d both been glued to their computers, watching as more and more information was released, finally seeing pictures of their friend, now that he’d gotten a divine makeover.
It was all just . . . crazy, as though the world had suddenly been skewed into the absurd. Still, they couldn’t just deny reality.
So,” Doug asked. “How long do you think it’ll be before we have to worry about reporters banging on the door?”
That was a real concern. Adam might look different now, and there were several Adam Wests in the UK, but sooner rather than later someone was going to notice this particular Adam was missing, and then it wouldn’t be too far a stroll to reach the right conclusion. And then . . . well, they weren’t too sure. Certainly, they’d have a few unpleasant days of reporters and investigators trying to learn all they could about Adam. Still, with him not actually here that could only go on for so long. His parents were sure to have it worse, of that they were sure. And it was what came next that was of greater concern.
Demigods were powerful and valuable, and one with connections to at least three major powers, like Adam, was an even greater prize. There were a lot of rumours on the various sites, some credible, some ridiculous. Doug was pretty sure that the government wasn’t kidnapping demigods wholesale to be cloned and produce an army of super soldiers. Even so, acquiring the means to apply subtle pressure to a powerful demigod was far more believable. Things like tracking his friends and family and offering them ‘security’ in exchange for his cooperation.
“I think we’ve got some time,” Chris stated, flopping onto the only other chair in the room and staring back at Doug. “The new look should help us there. Also, he’s not been stopping to do any interviews or answer questions, so that should delay IDing him for a bit more.”
“Yeah, but then what?”
“Honestly, I’m hoping that him working with Lancelot will mean he gets in good with the King. If that happens then his friends and family, us included, should get some protection, right?”
“That could work,” Doug agreed. “It’s not like we’ve got too many options aside from waiting and hoping for the best.”
There was silence for a moment as the two friends considered the situation. Then Doug spun his chair around and faced the computer again.
“I’ll send a message to Adam’s folks. Let them know that there’s more info on him. I imagine they’ll want to see the latest pictures, get a good idea of how he’s changed.”
“Yeah. They’ll be happy with any news,” Chris agreed.
Silence settled in the room again, as both of them got lost in their thoughts.