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 Posted: Thu Feb 19, 2015 11:55 pm
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Growing increasingly frustrated by the woman's attempts to waste their time, Erasmus was finding it hard to conceal his disdain at her suggestion. Go look where she was last seen? Wow! Why didn't we think of that?!? Clearly they had needed to seek the wisdom of the gods for such insight!
Of course, the search had begun where she'd disappeared, slowly spiraling outwards, covering more and more ground as the days turned to weeks. All the time, leaving the other children to watch helplessly as their happy family fell to despair. The adults became overprotective, scarcely letting them out on their own like they used to. They'd had more freedom as children than they did as growing teenagers, ready to test their boundaries. Except, those boundaries kept tightening until they were nearly suffocating.
Maybe that's why they had all ended up here, precisely where their mother would have wished they never go.
Then again, despite all else, they were still family. And they depended on each other. That's why, when the falling statue shook the ballroom floor, he turned not to the warrior goddess before him seeking protection, but reached out to his brother for reassurance. What was with the bossy lady anyway? Suddenly, she seemed...almost afraid.
Why?
He wanted to brush it off as another ploy to make them leave, though he still didn't understand why that was such a big deal. However, there was enough truth in her change of demeanor, in her body language, that it gave him pause to wonder what it was she seemed afraid of.
His brother violently tore away, pushing past the silver goddess and moving towards whatever disturbance lay beyond. As his brother forced his way past the hindrance, Erasmus danced lightly in the other direction, circling around Phaenna to follow. "Amatus! Listen, we d--" He saw his twin's reaction first; it was what stopped him in his tracks. Though he'd regret it later, he couldn't do anything but turn to look.
...Dad.
The thought passed...not with the sorrow and anguish associated with losing a parent, because he'd never really been that. But simply...because he had no other way to refer to him in his mind. It wasn't a personal connection through which he took in the scene, but as an observer on the outside. Even if he'd had no personal connection to this strange man...
...it still hurt to see.
He'd always been a rather empathetic sort. Even if he didn't know these strange deity and their troubles, their connections...he could draw some uncomfortable conclusions, similarities to his own family as of late. The woman on the floor, sobbing at her loss...like his great grandmother when Xiulan disappeared. Her children coming from all directions to console her...as the family had gathered in support of Takeko, to fuel the search. Of course...Xiulan was still missing. In this case...there remained little hope for the one lost. There was so much blood...dripping...pooling...who knew these gods could die...? Even they seemed to have limits...
He'd been staring at the scene too long, too wide-eyed, taking it all in as the scene unknowingly etched itself into his memory. Amatus' soft voice broke his trance and he tore his eyes away from the scene to stare at the floor. A blood-red flower lay on the ground nearby, others like it marking the path the god had taken to his final rest. Bending, Erasmus began to reach for the flower...then stopped. Straightening up, he moved towards his twin, silently agreeing with the suggestion by wrapping an arm around his shoulders. He was shaking.
"Let's go. They have their own worries."
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Posted: Fri Feb 20, 2015 6:27 am
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Codebreaking Conversationalist
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Posted: Fri Feb 20, 2015 7:58 am
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 Eros glanced down, seeing a mortal addressing them. A mortal dressed in some strange cloak...
The erote let out a long, heavy sigh. That was a way to incite panic. Sending outside wouldn't be wise? For a moment, Eros considered simply shooting his love arrows at the cloaked mortal to distract him, but perhaps it was better to just explain the situation so he stopped saying those things. After all, he had spoken loud enough that others had probably heard him. And hopefully didn't panic.
Narrowing his eyes, Eros curtly stated, "Mortal, this is now a crime scene." That much was obvious, considering that Adonis did not just randomly bleed out -- there were arrows sticking out of his back. "We must clear the area, the entire area, and that includes the immediate outside of the temple, to figure out what happened here. Now, please leave."
The way he said please hinted that this was not a request.
Eros would force him out if need be, just like everyone else.
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Posted: Fri Feb 20, 2015 11:34 pm
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The Venus Day Festivities have been very eventful this year, though they weren't always festive!
The first party, as some may have thought of it, was the Battle of Venus Temple. The Erotes and Graces, led by Eros, and their mortal allies, stormed the temple, taking it back from the forces of evil, the Naga! The Naga stood strong, and attempted to fight back against the forces of Venus to retain their stolen temple, but they could not hold out, and the Erotes and Graces trumphantly took their temple back.
While a few naga escaped, most were captured by the returning Venus, who lassoed them all together and threw them downstairs into her dungeon.
Venus initially blamed her Erotes and Graces for the disaster, but after a Long Talk with Eros, Venus learned the truth of the matter, and was appalled at Eris. This was a clear victory, and they immediately set to holding their traditional party at Venus Temple! Many came to welcome Venus back home and celebrate in her love and affection.
Some other faces returned towards the end of the party. Anteros, saved by his mortal love Yukiko, returned to Venus, just in time for her to make a small exit from the room. Upon her return, Artemis briefly arrived to talk to her, before leaving once again herself, as Empress Nadira, below in the dungeons, managed to make her own daring escape.
It was then that Ares arrived, but he was not there to necessarily welcome Venus back. Disappointed in her extravagence and her relationship with Adonis, Ares made quite the entrance by shattering a statue and scraping the walls with his sword --
But perhaps Adonis made the most dramatic one, crawling to Venus' throne and dying in front of her, arrows in his back.
The cherubs declared they saw no one outside but a fleeing naga family, giving them a rather immediate set of suspects. Venus, though, could only be suspicious of Ares, despite his gruff wasn't me and agitated looks. Why was she so quick to throw blame, though? Could she have known something herself? Did Artemis tell her something?
At the end of the night, there was one question:
Who could have killed Adonis?
=====================
(( This marks the end of the ORP! Thank you all for playing! Prizes will be announced in the upcoming days, along with everyone's favorite tradition: Guess the Babydaddies!
With this post, the Angwi Naga are considered to have escaped. They are now in Dragnid Forest.
And thus begins our murder mystery! ))
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Posted: Mon Feb 23, 2015 4:04 pm
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The party was over. Remnants of a celebration cut short still strewn about the marble floor. A shadowed figure with a faint, dark trail following behind pushed a fallen cup aside with its foot as it floated across the cluttered dance floor.
Adonis' body had long been removed, but the blood still stained the once-pristine marble. The beautiful little anemone flowers had already wilted in the deathly silent temple.
This was quite the Venus Day celebration. Ares returned, drawn by battle. Had he injured Venus' lover in a fit of jealousy? The Naga clan had been imprisoned by Venus, but the clever matriarch was able to escape and free her kin. Could they have taken revenge? What about the Goddess of the Hunt - was it her own jealousy? She'd suspiciously delivered a message to Venus following an uncharacteristic absence from a party thrown in her favor. And then there was that tiny little cherub arrow. Perhaps it was unseen forces conspiring against the House of Venus.
The figured brushed over the spot on Venus' temple floor where Adonis had taken his last breath. Flexed his last flex. The end of the snapped cherub arrow still lay on the floor. They picked it up and deposited it in the shadowed cloak.
After carefully investigating, the shadow swept through a crack in the wall, disappearing before leaving any trace, with the exception of removing the broken cherub arrow from the cluttered floor.
----
Adonis' lifeless body lay, in all his oiled, muscled beauty, on a smooth slab of marble in the courtyard of Venus' home on Dolandor. Flowers and offerings surrounded the altar. A tribute to the God.
The shadow slipped between columns, slowly approaching Adonis. As the figure moved from the shadows into the bright sunlight, it materialized, revealing a feminine figure hidden under a purple cloak.
She timidly approached Adonis, aware of how exposed she allowed herself to become. She gazed upon his beautiful face and reached a delicate hand towards his golden mane. Even in death, he remained the portrait of absolute beauty. His fatal wounds covered and hidden behind his body, so all those paying tribute would remember him as he was: Venus' beautiful companion.
A sharp sound from nearby caused the stranger to react quickly. She flared her cloak, swinging it over Adonis' body, allowing the billowing purple cloak to settle upon his body. Once more, the stranger shifted into shadows and disappeared in the same manner in which she entered Venus's sacred home.
Adonis's body disappeared.
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