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[Warnings of death and briefly assumed suicide]
Your party stands at the entrance of a large kingdom with a name unknown to you. After having witnessed the event with Gorgo- now named Medusa,- your party had decided to travel somewhere new. You had heard news of a strangely enamoring woman so your party followed the crowd and came here.
You look around, gazing over all the shops and buildings, vendors displaying fine dresses and cloths to passerby's. The square bustles lively with excited children running around, locals, merchants selling to tourists, and clear travelers looking for adventure like yourselves.
[ Stand and Stare ]
You continue to stand and look at your surroundings, slightly mesmerized by the kingdom around you. The choice colors and varieties of beings repeatedly catch your eye, you’re unable to look away! Unfortunately, you start to notice people giving you weird looks and you realize you’re still standing(and blocking) the entrance. The eyes on you fill you with immense feelings of peer pressure, you decide to start walking around.
[ Walk Around ]
You weave your way through the crowd, eyeing the vendors, buildings, and the occasional statue. There’s even a nicely sized fountain in the center of the square which children are playing in. What should you check out first?
[ A Vendor ]
You approach a vendor’s stand. They’re selling gowns, the merchant is holding up a gorgeous red dress when you walk up. They smile at you.
“Hello! Care to view my wares? If you’re looking for something more deadly than gowns, my sister’s booth is right next door to mine!” They motion a hand to the booth next door. It glimmers with weapons of many kinds; battle axes, gladiator and long swords, spiked gauntlets, and strange elixirs in glass bottles. The owner smiles and waves.
( Shop For A While )
When you finish making your purchases you bid the merchant(s) goodbye and decide to continue on.
[ The Fountain ]
You walk up to the fountain, children laugh and run around at your feet. Parents sit on the side chatting comfortably. You look over the edge and at the bottom of the fountain are coins! You reach in and grab a handful.
+25 gold! +13 bronze!
The parents give you judgmental looks. Your morality and backbone depends on whether you put it back or not. Regardless, you decide to move on.
[ A Building ]
You approach a large building and notice it as a library. There's two large windows on opposite sides of the door that look freshly cleaned. Should you go in?
( Stay Outside )
You prefer to stay outside, instead marveling at the library. It's large enough to loom over your party and provide shade for anyone taking a short break from walking around the square. It would likely feel a bit intimidating to any passerby's, but your group has traveled long enough and seen enough that a simple thing like a library doesn’t bother you. It's only a building, after all. Though, standing around soon gets boring, and you decide to move on.
( Go Inside )
You step inside the library and look around. Its covered wall to ceiling in bookshelves, spanning across two floors. There’s a few people milling about, some sitting to read and others browsing the shelves.
You walk around looking at the titles and genres; it's mainly just different forms of educational books, but upon more wandering and inspection you do notice some top hits!
‘The Odyssey: Odysseus’s autobiography of heroism- a series ongoing’
‘Wings of Wax, poetry of an inventor’s nephew’
‘Cooking fit for a God’s table! A recipe book by King Tantalus’
Tempting as these titles are- and maybe you grab one that you particularly like to take with you- you decide to move on. It's not like it's going to get burned down any time soon like that other one(though it is unlikely that has happened yet).
[ A statue ] [STORY CONTINUES]
You approach one of the statues and recognize it as the goddess Venus. Compared to the rest of the kingdom it seems unkempt and neglected. But when you get closer you notice a man admiring it as well. He’s dressed in a green toga with a deep green cloak over his shoulders that goes to his knees, and a striped hat on his head. He also has nicely kept blond hair that just barely brushes against his shoulders. He catches you staring and gives your party a warm smile.
“Nice statue, eh? We don’t got many where I live, so it's a pret’y nice sight to see!” His vibe gives you the comforting feeling of a father figure- the good kind at least. “Travelers, yeah? I could tell by yo’ur get ups; fit for adventure an’ all.
“I assume you’re ‘ere ‘cause ya heard about Psyche, right? She’s one of the King’s daugh’ers, real pret’y, lots of people visitin’ just to look at ‘er.” He’s spot on, so you nod in response. He nods too, his smile growing. “Yeah, thought so! No shame in it, it's why I’m ‘ere after all. Came with my son, he wanted to check it out, but not for the same reason as everyone else.”
He looks your group up and down with a sudden changed glint in his eyes, something under his cloak shuffles. The gaze reminds you of a predatory bird hunting its prey, locking onto you and giving you the feeling of not being able to run even if you were given a head start. A single bead of sweat chills your backs. He blinks and the shuffling stops and the glint disappears, smile returning.
“You should meet ‘im! Great kid, makes me so proud- you should see ‘im in the arena! A total beast, I tell ya. Guy’s practically got a room full of weapons ‘e’s keeps from his opponents after he wins. Big guy too, I’ve yet to meet someone taller than ‘im.” He gushes happily, a hand holding his cheek. The fast change nearly gives you all whiplash. “I’ll tell ya, when he first hit ‘is growth spurt- Gods, I ‘ad to practically raise the ceilings in the house just so he could fit! Ah, those were the times.”
The man waves a hand. “Anyway, I do think you should meet ‘im. He’s doin’ somethin’ tonight, you should go with ‘im! He’s trying to be more social anyway, this could be good for him and fun for you! No pressure, of course, but just something to think about! If you decide you wanna, I’ll be at the entrance gates at eight, so just come find me and I’ll take ya!”
You feel heavily fathered as he nods his head and walks off. You can only feel sympathy and a bit of pity for his poor antisocial son, wondering absentmindedly if this happens a lot. You decide to keep looking around and that you will make the decision to join him or not when the sun sets.
[ Free Period, mill about ]
[ Free Period End ]
The sun has finally begun to kiss to the horizon, signifying to your party that the time is eight. It's time to decide whether or not to go meet up with that man at the gate.
[ Don't Meet Him ]
You decide against meeting the man. He gave you the ambiance of a kind father, but the memory of his quick switch to a bird of prey, especially with the way he looked your party over as if sizing you all up, was a pretty clear flag that you likely should not engage. Him giving you an out earlier was probably the only one you’d be offered. Plus you never even got his name. It's a no from you, coach!
You instead book a room at one of the kingdom’s inns to stay for the night. After you finish setting all your things down you decide to do what you came here to; find and meet Psyche and find out what all the buzz is about. Unfortunately, by the time you reach the castle and dusk has since turned to night, all you find is a weeping family with one less daughter.
[ Meet Him ]
Against all good reasoning, you push the slight red flags to the backs of your minds and decide to meet the man.
You get up from your current spot and begin making your way to the entrance gate. In the distance you can see the man catch sight of your party and wave. You pick up your pace.
“Ay, mates! Good to see you decided to come along.” He smiles warmly. “Got all yo’ur stuff? You can stay the night with us if ya like, I’d feel bad makin’ ya walk all the way back ‘ere at night. Ah! Man, where’re my manners? Forgot to introduce myself, no wonder you look all worried. I’m Phil! I’ll let my son introduce himself when we get to ‘im, forces ‘imself to be social, an’ all.”
Phil chuckles to himself and waves a hand. “Anyway, just follow me and we’ll be there in a jiffy.”
Your party follows behind as Phil starts walking towards a path leading into the forest offset of the kingdom. He chatters happily, reminding your party of his father status.
“I can't wait for you all to meet ‘im, he ‘as a bit of trouble opening up to people- or even talking to them for that matter-, but he’s a real sweet’eart once you get to know ‘im.” Phil slows his pace so he fits with your party, walking with you rather than in front. It's likely a polite attempt to make you feel more included in the conversation. “Oh, but like I said earlier; total savage in the arena. I swear, he does the gladiator fights more for the fun of it than the money. Guy pro’lly sees red the second he walks through his gate. Announcers like to call him “Blood God” 'cause of how brutal his wins are. That's just in the colosseum though, whenever he visits home he just likes to sit on the floor an’ read.”
You party exchanges a glance, but it’s a good one. It's nice listening to Phil talk so highly of his son, he’s clearly very proud. It's sweet to listen to, and even it makes you a little excited- if not a little nervous, given the nickname “Blood God”- to be able to meet him.
“You’ll be able to tell soon, but he’s adopted, so don't expect ‘im to look like me.” Phil laughs. “Guy’s a total swine.”
After a while more of walking and the sun will soon slip into dusk, a small campsite comes into view. Phil claps his hands together and lets out a pleased, “Ah! There we are!”, and you all jog the last bit over. You close in to a humble campfire surrounded by neatly placed rocks and a pile of wood, two logs laying horizontal- likely as seats, and a decently sized tent. As you approach, you can hear shuffling from inside the tent.
“Phil? You back? You’re just in time, it's nearly dusk, so I should be goin’ soon. You sure you don't wanna come with me? I can always carry you on the way back if you get tired.” The voice sounds familiar, but you have trouble placing it.
Phil chuckles. “My knees, man! They’d give out before we’d even get there. Come out’a there, I got somethin’ for ya!”
A head pokes out from the tent and- oh! That's where you recognize the deep monotone voice!
“Blade, I met some travelers and I wanted to introduce ‘em to you!” Phil grins, sidestepping to give Blade a clearer view of your party. Blade gives you all a wary look that Phil quickly catches on to. “Now, I know you’re pro’lly nervous, but I think that you could have a lot of fun if you brought them with you for your thing tonight.”
An anxious hum. “Phil-”
“Hey, it's okay! I got’cha somethin’ too, just to make up for it.” Blade’s uneasiness doesn’t seem to change much, but he does get a little curious look when Phil reaches under his cloak and pulls out a sword-like shape wrapped in cloth. Probably a sword. Phil waves him over in order to give it to him.
“Eh? Thought of you when I saw it, come unwrap it and give it a look.”
Blade looks your group over once more before poking his head back into the tent. There's some slight shuffling and Blade steps out; donned in the same ankle-length red cloak as the last time you met him. He steps over to Phil and takes the item from his hands.
“Thank you, Phil.” He mutters under his breath. Phil nods with a smile, motioning slightly for him to unwrap it. He does, revealing an iron xiphos and a black scabbard to match. He stares at it for a good moment before coughing awkwardly and fastens its belt strap around his waist. “I… suppose they can come with me. Since you got me this- this nice gift.”
Phil grins widely and claps Blade on the back. “Ah! Glad ya like it, mate. Well, lets get ya all introduced.” They both turn to your party, letting you go first.
[ Stay Silent ]
You decide against saying anything, whether you have a reason or not is up to you. In return, Phil and Blade give you different looks. Phil still holds his smile, silently giving you time to respond when you feel fit. Blade, on the other hand, watches you uncomfortably. Uncomfortably for both of you, that is. He looks weary to be around strangers- likely either having forgotten your past meeting or simply choosing to pretend it hadn't happened- either way, your lack of response just seems to make him think you’re weird.
It would be a good idea to get your introductions over with.
[ Introduce Yourselves ]
Phil and Blade listen tentatively as you introduce yourselves one by one, listening like they’re genuinely interested- Phil at least seems like he’s going to remember your names.
When you finish, Phil gives Blade a look and lightly nudges him in the side. “Go on, now. It's your turn.” He says encouragingly. Blade huffs, outward appearance switching from ‘anxious antisocial son’ to ‘reminding you that he’s a seven foot tall pig-man’.
“Uh, hullo. You’ve heard my name a good few times by now, not just by Phil if I remember right. I guess you’re, uh, comin’ with me tonight. Well- more now than tonight. I'm headin’ out soon as I grab my sword, but I guess this new one has me covered, so.” He ends bluntly, which is a sign for you to drop your bags down, save for any items you’d like to keep on your person.
“Don't worry,” Phil starts, carefully moving your things closer to the tent. “I’ll make sure nothing bad ‘appens to your stuff.”
Phil nods to you, and with that your party and Blade wish him goodbye, promising to be back safe, and begin off.
Blade leads you through a large field that morphs into a large cliff and continues again at the bottom underneath. A wooded patch sits off to the side providing a clear view of the cliff’s edge and the grassy plain below. He silently walks towards the patch and you follow behind, huddling with him behind a bush.
[ Stay Silent ]
You decide against speaking, it would probably bother Blade or give away your- very clearly a hiding spot- position. Blade stays silent as well and the situation begins to feel a bit awkward. You slightly regret having agreed to come along.
[ Ask What You’re Doing ]
You decide to ask Blade what you’re doing and what the point of being here is. He doesn't look away from the cliff’s edge where his eyes are trained to.
“Phil didn’t tell you what you were signin’ up for?” You indicate no, the method of how is up to you. Blade huffs and you think it might be a laugh. “And you just agreed to it anyway? No questionin’ him on what you’re joinin’ his son for at night alone? No concern there?”
You think he might be making fun of you.
Blade shakes his head lightly, what looks like a smile forms on his face. “Yeah, well, it's fine. You'd be right to be concerned to come with me, but lucky for you, I don’t just go around killin’ random people outside of the colosseum. You came to the kingdom to get a look at Psyche, right? Well we’re here right now with the best front row seats in the house.”
Hm. Outside at night, alone, in a wooded patch next to a cliff, watching or waiting for something- or some one, given context clues- from behind a bush. You wonder if Phil’s son is a creep.
“I’m not weird, I know you’re thinkin’ it.” He speaks up, voice gruff and on the edge of defensive. “They’re sacrificin’ her tonight. Any second now her family will be walkin’ to the tip of the cliff to leave her to be taken and wed by a serpent beast. Sucks for it, ‘cause my brother wants a big tooth and I’m here to get one for him.”
Oh! Maybe Phil was serious when he said he was a sweetheart. That’s nice.
You all crouch there for another minute when, just as Blade said, the King and Queen, along with their two other daughters, weep as their third daughter walks ahead. She's dressed in a flowing wedding dress with blue accents that match the tears running down her cheeks. They come forward and she sits on her knees at the ledge, facing out towards the drop. Her family surrounds her with hugs and goodbyes, promises to find her when she comes back reincarnated.
It's not long before her family needs to leave before the serpent will arrive. They stand, whispering their final goodbyes, and solemnly leave Psyche. It's at this time that Blade seems to pick up interest and begin examining the area around Psyche, on a clear look out for the serpent that will indefinitely soon appear.
Your group sits there for a few minutes waiting for the horrible visitor to show up, but something else catches your party’s attentions. Psyche lifts her head slightly, fearful tears beginning to dry. She nods as if responding to someone, then her mouth moves and it becomes evident to you that she is. She stares forward as she slowly and shakily gets to her feet and walks closer to the edge. Your eyes widen with realization but before you can act, Blade is already out of the bushes, running towards her.
“Wait-!”
But you’re all too late, and she steps off and plummets. Blade skids to a stop on his knees to avoid the same fate, a hand stretched out over the cliff’s end.
[ Stay Put ]
You stay where you are in the bushes, paralyzed by what you just saw. You hope it not to be true, that she somehow survived, but the floor underneath is just grass and flowers, it’d take a God’s blessing to survive that fall. You hope- pray- that Blade had caught her, that he was fast enough and his outstretched hand had grabbed hold of hers. When he stands, arms empty and hoofed hands balled into fists, you understand that he likely had hoped the same.
You watch him start his way back through the field and you run to get to him.
“Didn’t sign up for that, goin’ back to Phil.” He grumbles, voice mixed with anger and grief, maybe a pinch of disconnect. You can only nod and follow him back.
[ Go Over To Him ]
You force your bodies to move and you run to Blade’s side, making it there just as he sits up to his knees.
“Gods, wasn’t- wasn’t expectin’ that.” His voice quavers softly. “I- I, uh… well, not much reason for the, uh, serpent to show up now.”
He gets to his feet and, only shaking a little bit, brushes the dirt from his pants. You look over the ledge and your eyes widen.
The corpse, expected to have painted the grass red, is nowhere to be seen. You look around frantically for the body and gasp when you find it moving. You quickly shake Blade’s shoulder for his attention, pointing madly at the moving alive body of Psyche.
It snaps him out of his state of shock.
“Wuh- how in the hell?!” He gaps, confused and strangely a little frustrated. “I don’t get to yell that often, my voice will give out! And she just wasted it on gettin’ saved by fairies?! That's not fair at all!”
He throws his hands in the air and covers his face with them, groaning loudly.
“She dies, so no snake, but then she’s not even dead?! I mean, like-! Good for her, I guess!- but I gotta get that tooth or else Theseus is gonna nag my ear off-!”
At that moment you all look up to the sound of a threatening hiss from behind you. Speak of Thanatos and he’ll arrive; the face of a large black python slithers up, stopping only a few feet away, watching your group with interest and hunger.
“The King never told me he was providing me dinner before my dessert.” It hisses. Blade frowns, frustration dissipating seemingly instantly.
“Rude of you to assume there was dessert to be served at all.”
“I know of you, do not think your colosseum reputation precedes you, so called Blood God.”
Blade breaks eye contact with the basilisk to give your party a look, and nods to a pathway on the side of the field leading down to the ground below. “You run down there and check if she’s okay, I’m gonna kill the snake.”
The serpent laughs. “You can certainly try, swine! But I shall warn you, I possess fangs the length of the sword at your waist, and I intend to plunge them deep into your carcass until it is drained of your mortal red blood.”
“Welp,” Blade breathes a stark breath, grabbing the handle of the sword at his hip. “Blood for me, then.” He steps forward, fresh xiphos glinting in the light of the moon, and disappears from sight as you follow his words and rush down. You wonder vaguely if he’s more of the main character than any of you are.
Quick on your feet, you practically fly like Hermes down the path to the flower field at the bottom. Through the field in the distance you can see a glamorous house with golden columns and silver walls. You close in and through the window you see Psyche, alive and presumably happy, based on the smile on her face. You watch a man whose form shifts and differs depending on whoever is looking at him, his being different in the eyes of everyone, except for a pair of molten gold wings etched to his back. He walks up behind her and wraps his arms around her waist, rests his chin on her shoulder and whispers soft murmurs into her ear.
She laughs. The shroud of the darkness of night cloaks his form from her view, but from the looks of it she doesn't seem to care.
There's shuffling from behind you and you turn to face it. Blade walks up to your group with his clothes soaked in blue and gold blood- blood of a god- and a sword-length tooth in his hand. He blinks confusedly at your stares and glances into the window you had been looking through before he arrived. He quickly looks away, holding up his free hand to the side of his face as a block.
“And you thought I was the creep, jeez. She seems safe to me, and I got my tooth, so we’re goin’ back to Phil now. We can come check back in in a few days.”
[ Refuse ]
You shake your head no. Blade raises an eyebrow at you and grimaces, giving you a look of disgust. He seems to think something over before shrugging and sliding the tooth into a gap on his belt.
“Uh, well if you’re not gonna respect their privacy I can still be all bloodthirsty, I guess. This just means Phil and I get whatever loot you have.” He unsheathes his sword, still coated in blue-gold blood.
He takes no more than a few slashes of his sword to slice each of your throats. You all collapse to the ground and slowly choke on your blood until your vision goes black.
[ Agree ]
You nod. He nods back and sets the tooth into a secure strap on his belt. “Good, let’s get back soon, I wanna bathe.”
After walking with brief chatter- “He’ll be back in a week or two, only Gods can kill other Gods, and ‘Blood God’ is just a nickname.”- you all make it back to the campsite. Phil catches sight of you and waves, cooking a finely sized fish over the fire that still burns.
“Ay, mates! Took ya long enough, been waitin’ forever back ‘ere! How’d it go?” He smiles as you sit next to him. Blade pulls the tooth from his belt, handing it to Phil.
“Got the tooth the nuisance wanted.”
Phil harps a laugh. “Aw, mate, he was jokin’ about that! Ya didn’t ‘ave to go and get ‘im that damn snake’s tooth!” Phil snickers into his hand. Blade’s face goes blank.
“What?”
_________________
A few days pass before Blade exits his tent and turns to your group.
“I’m goin’ back to check on how Psyche’s doin’. You stay and watch Phil while I’m gone, make sure he doesn’t die.”
Phil laughs and waves a joking fist in the air. “I’m full of youth, ya know! I can ‘andle myself!”
Blade only rolls his eyes in response, but he has a lighthearted smile on his face as he waves and leaves.
He comes back again that night blood free.
“Her sisters were there, really surprised that she was alive and they all seemed to have a good time just seein’ each other. Turns out that they’re gonna visit again tomorrow, I have a bit of a bad feelin’ about them, though, so I’m goin’ again just to be sure they don’t try anythin’.”
Phil gives him a thumbs up and with that Blade pads his way into the tent, likely to sleep for a few hours.
It's midday by the time Blade decides he’s going to head out again.
[ Stay At The Campsite ]
You decide to stay at the campsite with Phil again. You wave Blade goodbye as he leaves. Unfortunately, you miss the point of the assignment, so despite Phil’s friendly chatter you still feel like you made a mistake.
[ Join Him ]
You stand and tell Blade you’re going to accompany him. Luckily, having been camping with him for the past few days shows to have helped him warm up to you because he agrees without any encouragement from Phil.
You make it to the house Psyche inhabits about half an hour before dusk. You make your way to a window where you can see Psyche and her two sisters talking, their voices muffled. Blade notices your struggle hearing.
“They’re askin’ about her husband and what he looks like. She’s havin’ a hard time answerin’.” You nod along and let him translate muffled to clear, pigs have very good hearing, after all.
“Mm… they’re tryin’ to convince her to do somethin’, get her to look at him while he’s asleep.” he makes a quote motion with his hooves. “ “How can you tell that he isn't the serpent Father set you up for if you haven’t seen him?” says one of them, “He’s probably disguised so he can kill you and feast on your body, he’s just waiting for the right time”- jeez her sisters are rude.”
Blade crosses his arms. “Watch, this is gonna be some kinda Pandora situation.”
“I suppose you could be right…” Psyche’s voice speaks up, clear enough you can hear. One of her sisters speaks again.
“Of course we’re right! A life like this is without a doubt too good to be true, there’s hardly any reason to believe your husband to be truthful. Tonight bring a candle and knife to bed, and while he sleeps ignite the candle and plunge the knife into him when the light reveals the serpent.”
Blade steps away from the window and the voices become muffled again, he’s probably heard all he needs. He motions his head to the path leading back up the cliff. “We’re gonna hang out in the wooded spot until night so I can find out if she does it or not.”
And that you do. Soon enough, the sky darkens and time reaches the hour most go to bed. Blade stands and you all head back out quickly yet silently, reaching the house and window just in time to see Psyche light the candle.
“Knew it, total Pandora scene. Curiosity got to be too much for her, I guess. Bet it’ll be her emotional downfall in a few seconds.”
[ Take The Bet ]/[ Don't Take The Bet ]
You tell Blade your answer. He chuckles lightly either way, giving a soft, “Alright.”
You watch as Psyche stares, completely captivated by her husband’s looks. Her eyes well with tears at the realization of her actions and mistrust, that her husband was not the beast her sisters led her to believe. The knife drops from her hand and clatters to the floor, but before she can put the candle down, a melted glob of burning wax drips onto her husband’s- Cupid’s- arm, waking him instantly with a jolt of pain.
The look on his face when he sees Psyche and what she’s done is full of sorrow and betrayal, you can only imagine what he could be thinking. Instead of finding out through words, Cupid shuts his eyes tightly, sitting up quickly and throwing the blanket off of himself. Tears flow from his eyes as he spreads his wings and escapes through an open window, emotions likely flooding his mind too much to stay.
The gush of wind from his take off extinguishes the candle. It slips from her hand and Psyche collapses to the ground, burying her face into her arms and the bed sheets as she sobs heavily.
If you accepted the bet, Blade puts out an open hand. You sigh and hand him the money you’d found in the fountain earlier. If you hadn’t, Blade simply huffs to himself. “Knew it.”
You all step away from the window and begin back up the path, watching anymore would be invasive.
“It’s always somethin’ with situations like that, ‘s like no one learned anythin’ from Pandora. When are we gonna understand that not everythin’ needs to be explained? Plus look what happened; she caved in to curiosity, like Pandora, and got thrown into emotional distress. Nothin’ good happened to either of them, Pandora screwed everyone over, and Psyche just kinda ruined her own relationship.” He rolls his eyes, but his voice sounds sympathetic.
“Welp, not much to do now, anyway.” He shrugs and you continue back to the campsite in an agreed upon silence.
_________________
You stay with Phil and Blade for the night, but as the sun rises you inform them that you will be moving along now. Blade nods in understanding and Phil gives you all big hugs. You briefly tell Blade to tell Big T hello for you. He chuckles and agrees. You exchange goodbyes, thank them for letting you stay, and wish them well on their own adventures.
You leave and as you stroll down the path leading to your next exploit you absentmindedly wonder if you’ll ever run into them again. That would be nice.