The House of the Rising Sun

I knew from the moment the man called us specters that we would have to kill Reginald. He saw us as ghosts sent to harm the living and whatever the monstrosities that the Keepers were, they seemed the saviors to him. This knowledge wouldn't have occurred if the others hadn't given him the location of the Underworld Tear. Yes, I could order him to do mostly whatever I desired while we were in the room, but afterward? He'd run straight to the Keepers and give them access to the Underworld.

When I was weaving out a way to have him ...die without him knowing it was his own actions condemning them (I can't -truly- tell anyone to just die, thankfully.) Tal brought up the same thoughts. Good. We were back ont he same page again. Uncomfortable doesn't much describe the sensation of having one's other half out of sync, you know?

She's not a lover, but she's as close to an honest sister as I've ever had. Having that link off-kilter was unnerving. I agreed with her plans and slipped out only to see her stab him with the knife. Her knife. It didn't work, of course, we were ghosts. I popped back in and she improvised with the letter opener. Then I realized what she was doing. Calling her father.

Smart!

After Kathy decided to be stubborn Ben and I finally dragged her away from the statue that Tal said represented one of the Aztec Titans. Lovely. I think the reward I promised might make her eye Rupper and Ben, but with luck, I can switch that favor towards myself. Besides Ruppers in a mood. As we rushed back to the Underworld, he gave me the bird. Twice. For speaking out on his hypocrisy. Whatever. If the drugged-out bard had a skewed conscious in favor of his own faults, that's his problem, not mine. Blood sacrifice was everything in Tal's religion, and I know the druids of old favored them as well... if the Greek disliked how the world worked, he could go suck on the Lethe.

Rupper's hasty decision bit us in the ass when Thanatos greeted us at the mouth to the Underworld with a bone-slicing whirlwind. When it started taking apart ghosts who did nothing but... exist, I had to rush forward with them to try and help. The ghost at the edge of the Elysian Fields still haunted me. I lagged behind those two, the wind tearing into me. For a moment, my vision went hazy... too hazy, and then by the luck of the gods, the wind died.

I channeled my stores of ichor through my body, sealing up the worst of the damage and hobbled over to Wuyi and Rupper. Wuyi was worried, and I assured her that they were scratches. If she knew how bad they had been... nah. No worries there. Rupper pointed out the memories at the bottom of the river and I dove back into the water. Instead of diving under, though, I brought the memories to us, willing the water to follow my commands. I washed the memories onto the shore, like some dismyal underground ocean tide. I tried one final time to grab anything of my past... but I only became infused with the knowledge of Italy and everything about it geographically. Ben's knowledge.

Whereas Tal and Ben seemed to have scooped up their own memories, and Rupper and Kelly? Well, they just channeled Hypnos and made life difficult. By the time I was out of the water, had ordered Kelly to calm the frak down, and was resigned to never recovering anything more of who I was... I was exhausted. I leant against Wuyi as we made our way out of the tunnel a final time into the setting sun. There, we met Tal's father. A gorgeous hunk of godhood who gleamed as perfect as the sun.

And who I wondered was interested in a personal thanks or two. I was in no mood at at moment, and so I slept against Wuyi the entire way. Once at the Sun's pad, Wuyi and I... sampled the delights of the armory, the baths, our rooms, a balcony, and a few other spots with servants who were more than pleased to show off their prowess. I was perked up after that and braiding Wuyi's hair into pigtails when Tal and Ben approached. They sat, told me they were married, and then laughed when I couldn't summon up the words to tease them.

They will rue that day. Not really. I'm glad for Tal, and Ben's a good fit for her. Rhiannon approves. Rhia also approves of Wuyi nestling up to sleep. We spoke some more on serious matters, like why was Kelly suddenly clinging to my other side? Not twenty-four hours ago she was all over Rupper like a puppy and now she was repeating the process. Poor girl didn't even know what she wanted - and I -knew- I was a horrible fit for her. She couldn't even handle naked people! I need to nip this in the bud soon.

Eventually, I grew tired; the events of the day catching up. Tomorrow, tomorrow was going to be interesting.

Still Dead and Still Not Loving It

This journal's going to be less a summary of our escape from the Underworld and more a ponderous pondering of thought for the moment.

Kelly was the first of us to figure out the 'regain important memory' deal and after a shrug, I scarfed mine down as well. What I got was a flash, but it made quite a few things clear. First Thing Clear: Wuyi's been there since before the Village. Intriguing. Second Thing Clear: I had a good reason why I saw attractive women and suddenly need to sway them to my charms. Third Thing Clear: Said second thing was tied to my current ambivalence towards everything. Final Thing Clear: We were truly and utterly dead.

It's hard to broach that subject when everyone's excited about us escaping and being free and... Wuyi's glomping excitiedness, but I finally managed to wap it upside their skulls that we were out of the underworld and that we were ghosts. It's decided we'll head into the city, and so we do.

At a clothes store in Naples (not sure exactly where that is, really) Tal and Ben were being less than their usual selves and Wuyi and I? Well, we decided to fuck the gloom and doom shit and celebrate being out of the Underworld. Dead people need love too! So, we did just that and I think I convinced Wuyi that I don't boast about my prowess without basis. Mwuaha. At least the clothes store will have a story to talk about!

Anywho! Moving on from the deliciousness that was the dressing room, Tal drags us to meet this scrawny, cowardly man called Reg-something? He was unimportant save for one thing: Once he found out we were specters, he decided to call the Keepers on us.

Right. Keepers. Remember me diving into the Lethe? The memories I received? Keepers were the big giant suits of doom and apparently are trying to pass off as Aliens. Back to the here-and-now.

I should feel bad for how I acted, but I don't. We weren't in a position to allow anyone to have anything on us, and so I ordered Reg to show us respect and to tell us what the hell was going on. When he seemed to waver, I casually mentioned that my next order would be 'die'. He shut up and got down to business, informing us about the state of the world. I want to say this was a one-time thing, but, no... it was part of that havoc of being a daughter of the celts created. Who I was, orginially, and what my father and fate deemed I would act like were two different things. Ice Queen to Life of the Party. The memory jostled some of the frosty nature back. It'll come in handy if I need to tell other people to sit down and shut up in the future.

Kelly, sweet innocent Kelly, mentioned Reg should call 911 for a possessed man outside. I barked for him to drop the phone. The girl nearly gave us away!

Oh, yes, possession. See, when we broke out of the Underworld, we sorta... tore a giant hole in the membrane between there and here. Right. Needs fixing, especially if I want to get on my father's good side to restore us to life because a) I'm not really in the mood to hunt down someone, then my body, and then murder them for my body b) I am NOT being a Shabti. c) I refuse to possess anyone and d) ...My father's a ferryman of the dead... if I come to him possessing a different body, he might not be pleased. He's a jokester, yeah, but... no. Not risking it.

First thing first though: close up Hades.

Dream A Little Dream...

I want to set the record straight. After stealing a peak at Tal's journal (that's what you get for leaving it in the open, Missy!) that I do have common sense, but I'm also trying to think of what the hell is going to happen once we get out of the Underworld because of the following list:

• We will escape. It's a sure thing. Ask me, I'll tell you.
• Escaping with Prommie and Bro is going to put us on the shit list of a ton of gods, most definitely the Triple G's.
• By pissing off said gods, we're going to need allies and by all the stars in the heavens Tal doesn't think beyond the pragmatic and while I love her dearly, she needs a wake up call in the emotions department.

I now know after Tal's voodoo book ritual a little more of what the hell is going on. Kathy was the evil in a can that we sealed away. I get that. There's no blonde hiding behind red hair dye here, I promise. However, Ben created her and he created her -for the greater good- which means that abandoning her in the Underworld probably doesn't even count towards working towards said Greater Good goal.

Of course Tal took it to mean I was gaga over Kathy's naked bits (I wasn't) and just shoved my thoughts aside so I snapped. I was tired of the Underworld, of being surrounded by the angry dead who I could do nothing to help because their living relatives had forgotten the funeral rites to allow them passage across the rivers. I was tired of walking, of fighting, of not knowing anything past the hazy six months in the village. I told Tal to grow a damned heart and snidely mentioned that if Kathy was to be left down here, Ben should be too. After all, he made her and the road to hell is paved with "good intentions". She stormed off and I went to help Wuyi talk with Kathy.

After Ben calmed Tal down, we trekked further to the Lethe and boarded the boat where-as the ferryman (the same one Wuyi and I encountered at the village) treated me like some common criminal. Tch! Anyways. We boarded and then Prometheus just... killed him and tossed him overboard.

I told him it was awesome but really? I was worried. He just tossed the ferryman (who's just doing his damned job) over like he was trash and you know what, he's still not a good guy and why the hell is Tal backing him up?! Ugh.

I'm not even mentioning the damned acid trip Kelly decided to take. Girl needs brains.

Since no one else knows how to pilot a craft, I took up the oar while everyone but Wuyi settled down somewhere on the boat. Wuyi curled up alongside me and stood there while I paddled. I know Tal sees her as flighty, but she's got an honest soul and a good heart.

On the river, the bottom dropped out, giving me warning about a first waterfall that Rupper mentioned only after we landed. I just dove through the air and landed back where I stood, Wuyi with me all the while. Then we came to the cave and it took everything channeled inside of me to just steer the craft. I prayed to my father and he must have listened for we survived through a mixture of luck, the sharpshooting of Ben, Kelly's sand creature, and Tal breaking rocks with her spear. The kicker was Wuyi professing faith in me.

The girl keeps that up and I'll be stuck with a first mate, heh. When it was clear we survived, Wuyi and I... well. Things are a wee more official now, I'll leave it at that.

We arrived at Hypnos' palace and while Tal might find it dandy to lick the boots of a spoiled rotten god who prefers the form of a ten year old boy, but I don't. We've already pissed off the Triple G's, what's one more? But no matter what I did, I had no clue where to start looking for our memories. Kelly was being prudish, Ben was trying to get the kid to challenge him in video games, Tal was staring at lutes, Wuyi was getting restless, and Rupper... well...

Rupper bursts into a song powerful enough to make a god take heed. Hypnos dunks his head into the Lethe and the Palace of Dreams became a Castle of Horror. Something snapped in Kathy, and we awoke. Again. On the banks of the Lethe with the lute, the twin gods, and the titan brothers in tow. And with Kathy no where in sight.

If Tal says "I told you so " I'm going to smack her.