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āA second return, but what for? And for whom was I brought back?ā
ćÉĪ¹Ī±ĘĻgĻ Ń cĻĘĻŃ:#0C94CC ā ŃŠ½ĻĻ gŠ½Ń cĻĘĻŃ #CC0C2Eć
|| Azalea|| Nano.ripe ||
ćÉĪ¹Ī±ĘĻgĻ Ń cĻĘĻŃ:#0C94CC ā ŃŠ½ĻĻ gŠ½Ń cĻĘĻŃ #CC0C2Eć
|| Azalea|| Nano.ripe ||
Crack! She landed on the ground with a painful sound. It was only thanks to one of Svarog's gifts - a strange box with a feather symbol on it - that protected her from being detected, that kept the sound from going out and being heard by anyone else. With the hook-shaped rod and the feather square, she was invisible, and she was unhearable. A perfect combination. Elise felt pain shoot up her left leg, she must have made a mistake when landing, failing the roll at the end to absorb the impact of the jump. "Hurts." She whispered to herself, hobbling even more slowly now than before. She had to keep going though, she had no choice. All she knew is that she had to keep moving forward. Was her leg split open?
"Keep... moving forward." She dragged her bad leg with her, gnawing on her lip enough to split it open. How bad was her leg? Did she even want to look? She was lucky that she did not bleed anymore, instead leaving a trail of nearly invisible mist with each step. It was fine, she thought. Blood was far easier to notice. Blood was far easier to detect and then her plan would be ruined. Kore would no doubt be calling her cute right now for how hard she was working. Maybe Zeus would finally respect, her would that be funny? Iris was dead - it was unfortunate. She knew Winter was hoping to one day earn her respect and love as a surrogate mother. What was she thinking? She needed to find the internal graveyard where rulers of Olympia are put to rest after their tenure.
That was when she saw it, with just a glance. Outside, the golden bars entrapping the entirety of the city began to vanish. Disappearing is if made of sugar and dropped into a river. "Winter, you are insane." Elise shook her head, a feeling of pride welling through her. Somehow that girl just never stopped fighting, never gave up until her last breath. "You take care of the fight out there. I will handle matters here." She said, pretending that Winter could hear her. One leg forward. Then the other leg. She continued this until she heard the sound of sobbing. It was faint, almost silent, but she heard it nonetheless. She crept closer, seeing once again, two guards by the door to the cemetary room. She threw a small ball at them - it exploded, releasing a gas that put them right to sleep. Another of Svarog's toys to save the day. With that, the black eagle made her way to Zeus's domain.
A pile of bones was on the ground, unburied, unmarked. Behind the bones was a large tree, and on the large tree were four golden nails, stabbing through the victim's wrists and palms, trapping and pinning them to the tree. Golden ichor blood dripped slowly to the grass, intermingling with the gold already littering the bones. Zeus was crying quietly. He had no hope left, a proud man, broken and turned into this. Elise moved closer, her heart ice cold against the man. She reached for the nails when she was stunned by a voice. "No, human." Zeus's voice was very faint, like a mouse's whisper. How did he see her? Was it - it had to be the electricity she was giving off thanks to Svarog's inventions. "If you remove them, they will explode and you will die." He coughed, but his tone was steady. "I do not want my daughter to lose her closest friend a second time."
Elise put the feathered box away then, needing to speak with Zeus. "Hades has the key and can free the others." She replied, glaring hard at Zeus. "He will break free with the others with the signal. I intended for you to be that signal." Why did Zeus sound so defeated? So pathetic? Where did Winter get her fighting spirit from? Was it from her mother? "She already lowered the cage. The way is open for our allies to enter. Arke will be trapped by enemies from both sides." She narrowed her eyes. "Even if we die. This has to be done to stop Arke. The explosion will be enough of a signal for Hades to move." She picked up the feathered box again, returning to silence. Zeus closed his eyes, sighing. "I cannot stop you, human. But please find another way."
Elise reached for the first nail, using mist to strengthen her arms, pulling it out. She heard the sound of a pin being released and the explosion went off, Zeus letting out a cry of pain as his hand went flying, giving off another explosion where the second nail landed. Elise fell to the ground, hissing in pain as she felt her face being scorched, her palms burned. But now she had an idea. Zeus was in terrible straights. And Elise was not going to let Winter lose her father after only a year of happiness. Elise lost a father once - she hoped to spare Winter that pain. Just in case that was not enough for Hades, she worked on the other hand, the black eagle having an idea now. She released both at once, then created a blanket of mist as strong as possible, covering the blanket with her own body, trying to cushion Zeus from the explosion as much as she could.
Pain burst through her chest, her stomach, as she landed on the ground, on her back. She assessed her wounds, the mist laying all over the room. Bad. Very bad. Fatal? No, not yet. It was becoming harder to think now but Zeus fell to the grassy mound below, panting hard. Elise crawled over to a wall, panting, waiting. Now she placed the sight ring on her finger. All she had to do now was wait. Wait until Winter's eyes showed her where Arke was.