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Apr. 14th, 2008 05:50 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
korafoxThird-to-last installment. *sniffsniff*
(disclaimer: all fictional.)
The first true safehouse we had found since we went on the run, and we were leaving it so soon. In the middle of the Canadian wilderness, there was a cabin popuated by a Templar, a Mason, and a punk hacker kid named Simon. Oh, and we found an old acquaintance there, too...Dex and Doc had a very "joyous" reunion, after which we two medics got to the business of patching everyone up after our ordeals in the bowels of the military base.
We left there better-equipped than we had been in months. Bank account, internet connection, and weaponry. We were heading back to Chicago...figured that we could accomplish several tasks there in a shorter amount of time.
The city was in the midst of a storm, and where it wasn't raining, the clouds were still so thick that it was like perpetual twilight. Driving into downtown, we thought to make the Gorgon's Eye our base of operations once again. But we found a very different scene from the dilapidated establishment we had left behind last time. The place was running again, but the clientele looked like no one we wanted to tangle with. Even so, Sam went ahead and jumped out of the car. Since the rest of us were highly opposed to doing something so quintessentially crazy, we told him to meet us at the library main branch and drove off.
The library was deserted. Seems it had been closed down for awhile, so we went around to the back and did some good, old-fashioned breaking and entering. The package waiting for Mori was at the front desk, and while the others went to retrieve it, Dex and I decided to check the underground area that used to house Mysteries.
Place was cleaned out. If we survive this end-of-the-world thing, we're going to be rebuilding this organization from the ground up. We gave the rubble a going-over, anyway. Our search was not entirely fruitless--I found a sliver of wood that was either a piece of the True Cross or...a splinter off a packing crate. And Dex found a note that had been left behind. It was in a few different languages, so Mori had to translate it for us.
"Beware the box". If only we could learn to do the smart thing for once.
Sam found us, shortly. He brought bad news. Seems that the "dark force" which had been growing in the city--the "Empress of Chicago"--was none other than our old friend Prioress Sancti. She'd made some sort of a deal that allowed her to command the Shadows, and now she wanted some "favors" from us. In exchange for our lives, she wanted Mori's box, a silver key and box we had last seen in the possession of a couple demons, and...Dex.
But there was nothing we could do at the moment except try to stay one step ahead of her. To that end, we still needed to find somewhere to stay the night. Maximus' mansion turned out to be a bust--some construction company had finally gotten to it and was in the middle of tearing it down. So we found refuge in a small church instead.
I do feel very awful about what happened. Mori never should have opened the box, even if Dex's spirit guide said to. Especially if it said to. Even once we opened it, we could have stopped there and not read the strange arcane scrolls we found inside. But the presence of several Shadows, along with the insistence of the spirit guide, caused us to act somewhat more desperately than we should have. Sam held off the monsters with the threat of grenades, and Mori grabbed a scroll and read from it. Immediately as he finished, his face contorted with pain and green lightning flashed through the room. As it struck me, the pain overwhelmed me and I felt the fire surround me.
I awoke shortly thereafter from a tranquilizer-induced unconsciousness. The interior of the church was charred--it was not a large space and little remained of the area around the altar. But everyone was injured, so we needed to stay until morning and hope we could sneak out unnoticed. We did end up leaving a good portion of our cash, but that hardly makes up for the damage I caused.
Today we planned to go hunting for Seclesti. We started with the last location we had seen the Clerics--the altar in South Side. It was eerie, driving through there. As violent as it used to be, the complete desertion was almost worse. At least before, humanity owned these streets. Now they're just a breeding ground for Shadows.
They'd sealed off the grate near the altar, that led into the sewer network. I was just about to force our way in when we heard a voice behind us.
The man in grey robes...last time we had seen him was all that long time ago, when we were rescuing people from the Shadow monsters' lair. Seemed like the intervening time had not been kind to him...he could not even remember who he was, and I don't think he was entirely there, mentally. But he did show us the way to an unblocked sewer entrance, even if he wouldn't enter for fear of “It”.
“It” turned out to be something so horrible I could not believe it had been sitting under Chicago all this time. A fleshy, tentacled mass that sat in a cavern as big as several city blocks. Worshippers surrounded it, and a high priest presided over their chanting.
I think we all knew the fight was unwinnable from the start. I’m also sure that we all felt like we needed to at least try to put a stop to this horror. I suppose we made out as well as we could have hoped--the high priest was dead, along with the masses of followers, but the mountain of flesh may have been stronger than ever for their sacrifices.
We needed someplace to clean up; the sewers had been running with blood in addition to their usual effluvia, and none of use was going to be able to go anywhere without attracting unwanted attention.
We were running out of places to stop and rest. I didn’t want to drag my parents into this again, but...we really had no safe places to go.
At first I thought they were both just out of the house. It was the middle of the day, after all. But once we got past the gate and inside, it became very clear that no one had been home for weeks, at least. And they certainly didn’t leave willingly--everything was thrown around and rooted through, and much was missing. Probably my parents got picked up around the same time the military threw us into their cells. It’s the last thing I wanted, to bring this new life of mine down on their heads. I hope this didn’t happen because of the last time I visited--but I suppose that’s a selfish wish. It’s ultimately my fault anyway, because if I wasn’t what I am, no one would have bothered them.
We were there for awhile. Everyone took turns cleaning themselves up, and I took care of the injuries we’d sustained. As we were finishing up, there was the noise of an engine outside. A limousine was idling in the drive, back doors open and waiting.
Dex kept me covered with her sniper rifle, and I went out to see what was going on with the limo. It turned out to be entirely empty, which immediately pointed to the involvement of vampires. I took a look around the property, and thought I caught a glimpse of something up one of the trees. Had Dex take a potshot at it, but all I got was a quick sight of some sort of orb as it went zipping over the fence.
We decided to take a risk and see where the limo would take us. Immediately after most of us got in, the doors closed and it went zooming off. Lights came on and blinded us so we couldn’t see the way we were going, but as soon as we reached our destination we knew exactly where we were.
I remember this place from our very first mission. Vermillious’ mansion...the vampire guess turned out to be correct. We were ushered inside and into a dark back-room.
The Vampire Lord of Chicago certainly looked like he was having a bad day. Looked like we interrupted him in the middle of torturing someone. But he looked disheveled and tired, and I must admit to a sort of satisfaction in seeing him like that after all the trouble he’s given us.
Seems he wasn’t the one who wanted to talk to us. Another vampire--much older--came out of the shadows. I find it amusing that the legend of Dracula has some basis in reality, but I didn’t much care for the “man” himself. Damned vampires always act so superior. Though, he wanted our assistance. Apparently someone was trying to raise Cain, which was yet another sign of the coming apocalypse. Vampires weren’t all happy with it...guess they’ve gotten kind of used to the world and the status quo.
Vermillious gave us a bit of an update as to what had been going on in Chicago during our extended absence. Basically, the combination of the Prioress’ and the Seclesti’s ambitions had made the city into a bad place to be. After that, the limo took us back to my house.
I’ve come to expect this sort of behaviour from Sam and Darren, but when Dex runs off on her own, there’s no excuse. Sam and Mori managed to keep on her trail, and radioed back that she was on her way to the Gorgon’s Eye.
We jumped in the car and followed as fast as we could, and reached the bar just as the three of them came running out, Prioress in tow and shadow-monsters tearing after them. The Prioress shouted to drive to Maximus’ mansion, and we sped off. As soon as we arrived on the property, she went scrabbling at the floorboards and to reveal a sigil beneath them. There was a bright flash, and a circle of power spread out to cover the mansion. The Shadows could not cross.
The Prioress was back to her old self. Whatever had been going on, it was obvious that she was shaken to the core now. She told us that she was the one responsible for the storm that hung over Chicago. She’d try to dissipate it so we could travel in relative safety during the day, but it would take some time.
In the meantime, we needed to decide what to do with the contents of Mori’s box. The Prioress told us we’d had another Book dropped right in our laps--apparently they don’t have to look like a bound volume. I wanted to burn the thing, but Mori became more and more opposed to the idea. Finally there came a point where his countenance changed, and he grabbed the box and dashed for the door. We tried to stop him, but he was moving with an almost supernatural speed. Mori vanished into the midst of the Shadows that milled around the barrier. I burned many of them, but Mori was gone.
He turned up on our doorstep the next morning, without the box. And of course, not remembering a thing.
Dawn was breaking over the city. Never thought that the sight of the sun could be such a relief.
We may have lost the Book, but there were still things that needed to be done before we left the city. The Seclesti had control of a church downtown, and we were going to go cause general mayhem. If we could find the Book there too, it would be an added bonus. When we arrived, there was only one priest there to meet us. He seemed resigned to his fate, which seemed similar to the priest in the sewer’s sacrifice to the flesh monster. These people are so eager to give their lives to evil...one would think that only those devoted to good would be so willing.
We killed him, when he would not tell us the location of the Book. Seth turned all angelic again, and started demolishing everything in sight. We went into the back, and found something more in keeping with the tone of this place. After Seth finished tearing it apart and we determined that all there was here was a tunnel down into the sewer, we got the hell out of there.
Checked Mr. L’s gallery. Thought there might still be something left (such as the silver box, but wasn’t holding out hope for that one), but the upper level was completely cleared out. After that, we just needed to obtain transportation to our next destination: Rome.
Dex saw that Maximus had written a pilot into his address book, so we took one last visit to Bellmont’s “church”. I don’t think he was very happy to see us, but he gave us full access to the jet plane and pilot.
We were off to Wisconsin, and then to Vatican City.
(disclaimer: all fictional.)
The first true safehouse we had found since we went on the run, and we were leaving it so soon. In the middle of the Canadian wilderness, there was a cabin popuated by a Templar, a Mason, and a punk hacker kid named Simon. Oh, and we found an old acquaintance there, too...Dex and Doc had a very "joyous" reunion, after which we two medics got to the business of patching everyone up after our ordeals in the bowels of the military base.
We left there better-equipped than we had been in months. Bank account, internet connection, and weaponry. We were heading back to Chicago...figured that we could accomplish several tasks there in a shorter amount of time.
The city was in the midst of a storm, and where it wasn't raining, the clouds were still so thick that it was like perpetual twilight. Driving into downtown, we thought to make the Gorgon's Eye our base of operations once again. But we found a very different scene from the dilapidated establishment we had left behind last time. The place was running again, but the clientele looked like no one we wanted to tangle with. Even so, Sam went ahead and jumped out of the car. Since the rest of us were highly opposed to doing something so quintessentially crazy, we told him to meet us at the library main branch and drove off.
The library was deserted. Seems it had been closed down for awhile, so we went around to the back and did some good, old-fashioned breaking and entering. The package waiting for Mori was at the front desk, and while the others went to retrieve it, Dex and I decided to check the underground area that used to house Mysteries.
Place was cleaned out. If we survive this end-of-the-world thing, we're going to be rebuilding this organization from the ground up. We gave the rubble a going-over, anyway. Our search was not entirely fruitless--I found a sliver of wood that was either a piece of the True Cross or...a splinter off a packing crate. And Dex found a note that had been left behind. It was in a few different languages, so Mori had to translate it for us.
"Beware the box". If only we could learn to do the smart thing for once.
Sam found us, shortly. He brought bad news. Seems that the "dark force" which had been growing in the city--the "Empress of Chicago"--was none other than our old friend Prioress Sancti. She'd made some sort of a deal that allowed her to command the Shadows, and now she wanted some "favors" from us. In exchange for our lives, she wanted Mori's box, a silver key and box we had last seen in the possession of a couple demons, and...Dex.
But there was nothing we could do at the moment except try to stay one step ahead of her. To that end, we still needed to find somewhere to stay the night. Maximus' mansion turned out to be a bust--some construction company had finally gotten to it and was in the middle of tearing it down. So we found refuge in a small church instead.
I do feel very awful about what happened. Mori never should have opened the box, even if Dex's spirit guide said to. Especially if it said to. Even once we opened it, we could have stopped there and not read the strange arcane scrolls we found inside. But the presence of several Shadows, along with the insistence of the spirit guide, caused us to act somewhat more desperately than we should have. Sam held off the monsters with the threat of grenades, and Mori grabbed a scroll and read from it. Immediately as he finished, his face contorted with pain and green lightning flashed through the room. As it struck me, the pain overwhelmed me and I felt the fire surround me.
I awoke shortly thereafter from a tranquilizer-induced unconsciousness. The interior of the church was charred--it was not a large space and little remained of the area around the altar. But everyone was injured, so we needed to stay until morning and hope we could sneak out unnoticed. We did end up leaving a good portion of our cash, but that hardly makes up for the damage I caused.
Today we planned to go hunting for Seclesti. We started with the last location we had seen the Clerics--the altar in South Side. It was eerie, driving through there. As violent as it used to be, the complete desertion was almost worse. At least before, humanity owned these streets. Now they're just a breeding ground for Shadows.
They'd sealed off the grate near the altar, that led into the sewer network. I was just about to force our way in when we heard a voice behind us.
The man in grey robes...last time we had seen him was all that long time ago, when we were rescuing people from the Shadow monsters' lair. Seemed like the intervening time had not been kind to him...he could not even remember who he was, and I don't think he was entirely there, mentally. But he did show us the way to an unblocked sewer entrance, even if he wouldn't enter for fear of “It”.
“It” turned out to be something so horrible I could not believe it had been sitting under Chicago all this time. A fleshy, tentacled mass that sat in a cavern as big as several city blocks. Worshippers surrounded it, and a high priest presided over their chanting.
I think we all knew the fight was unwinnable from the start. I’m also sure that we all felt like we needed to at least try to put a stop to this horror. I suppose we made out as well as we could have hoped--the high priest was dead, along with the masses of followers, but the mountain of flesh may have been stronger than ever for their sacrifices.
We needed someplace to clean up; the sewers had been running with blood in addition to their usual effluvia, and none of use was going to be able to go anywhere without attracting unwanted attention.
We were running out of places to stop and rest. I didn’t want to drag my parents into this again, but...we really had no safe places to go.
At first I thought they were both just out of the house. It was the middle of the day, after all. But once we got past the gate and inside, it became very clear that no one had been home for weeks, at least. And they certainly didn’t leave willingly--everything was thrown around and rooted through, and much was missing. Probably my parents got picked up around the same time the military threw us into their cells. It’s the last thing I wanted, to bring this new life of mine down on their heads. I hope this didn’t happen because of the last time I visited--but I suppose that’s a selfish wish. It’s ultimately my fault anyway, because if I wasn’t what I am, no one would have bothered them.
We were there for awhile. Everyone took turns cleaning themselves up, and I took care of the injuries we’d sustained. As we were finishing up, there was the noise of an engine outside. A limousine was idling in the drive, back doors open and waiting.
Dex kept me covered with her sniper rifle, and I went out to see what was going on with the limo. It turned out to be entirely empty, which immediately pointed to the involvement of vampires. I took a look around the property, and thought I caught a glimpse of something up one of the trees. Had Dex take a potshot at it, but all I got was a quick sight of some sort of orb as it went zipping over the fence.
We decided to take a risk and see where the limo would take us. Immediately after most of us got in, the doors closed and it went zooming off. Lights came on and blinded us so we couldn’t see the way we were going, but as soon as we reached our destination we knew exactly where we were.
I remember this place from our very first mission. Vermillious’ mansion...the vampire guess turned out to be correct. We were ushered inside and into a dark back-room.
The Vampire Lord of Chicago certainly looked like he was having a bad day. Looked like we interrupted him in the middle of torturing someone. But he looked disheveled and tired, and I must admit to a sort of satisfaction in seeing him like that after all the trouble he’s given us.
Seems he wasn’t the one who wanted to talk to us. Another vampire--much older--came out of the shadows. I find it amusing that the legend of Dracula has some basis in reality, but I didn’t much care for the “man” himself. Damned vampires always act so superior. Though, he wanted our assistance. Apparently someone was trying to raise Cain, which was yet another sign of the coming apocalypse. Vampires weren’t all happy with it...guess they’ve gotten kind of used to the world and the status quo.
Vermillious gave us a bit of an update as to what had been going on in Chicago during our extended absence. Basically, the combination of the Prioress’ and the Seclesti’s ambitions had made the city into a bad place to be. After that, the limo took us back to my house.
I’ve come to expect this sort of behaviour from Sam and Darren, but when Dex runs off on her own, there’s no excuse. Sam and Mori managed to keep on her trail, and radioed back that she was on her way to the Gorgon’s Eye.
We jumped in the car and followed as fast as we could, and reached the bar just as the three of them came running out, Prioress in tow and shadow-monsters tearing after them. The Prioress shouted to drive to Maximus’ mansion, and we sped off. As soon as we arrived on the property, she went scrabbling at the floorboards and to reveal a sigil beneath them. There was a bright flash, and a circle of power spread out to cover the mansion. The Shadows could not cross.
The Prioress was back to her old self. Whatever had been going on, it was obvious that she was shaken to the core now. She told us that she was the one responsible for the storm that hung over Chicago. She’d try to dissipate it so we could travel in relative safety during the day, but it would take some time.
In the meantime, we needed to decide what to do with the contents of Mori’s box. The Prioress told us we’d had another Book dropped right in our laps--apparently they don’t have to look like a bound volume. I wanted to burn the thing, but Mori became more and more opposed to the idea. Finally there came a point where his countenance changed, and he grabbed the box and dashed for the door. We tried to stop him, but he was moving with an almost supernatural speed. Mori vanished into the midst of the Shadows that milled around the barrier. I burned many of them, but Mori was gone.
He turned up on our doorstep the next morning, without the box. And of course, not remembering a thing.
Dawn was breaking over the city. Never thought that the sight of the sun could be such a relief.
We may have lost the Book, but there were still things that needed to be done before we left the city. The Seclesti had control of a church downtown, and we were going to go cause general mayhem. If we could find the Book there too, it would be an added bonus. When we arrived, there was only one priest there to meet us. He seemed resigned to his fate, which seemed similar to the priest in the sewer’s sacrifice to the flesh monster. These people are so eager to give their lives to evil...one would think that only those devoted to good would be so willing.
We killed him, when he would not tell us the location of the Book. Seth turned all angelic again, and started demolishing everything in sight. We went into the back, and found something more in keeping with the tone of this place. After Seth finished tearing it apart and we determined that all there was here was a tunnel down into the sewer, we got the hell out of there.
Checked Mr. L’s gallery. Thought there might still be something left (such as the silver box, but wasn’t holding out hope for that one), but the upper level was completely cleared out. After that, we just needed to obtain transportation to our next destination: Rome.
Dex saw that Maximus had written a pilot into his address book, so we took one last visit to Bellmont’s “church”. I don’t think he was very happy to see us, but he gave us full access to the jet plane and pilot.
We were off to Wisconsin, and then to Vatican City.
