[New Olympus] Wilds

[Shuren]

“Now I have your attention. Good.” thought Hermes, noticing the tightly closed eyes of the boy. He was listening to his words now. It was hard for him, sure, but perhaps he had realized there was no way out of this. “Poseidon is an obstacle standing in my way. I need to take him out. Yet, his domain is slightly out of my reach.” explained the messenger god after hearing the boy speak. “That’s where you come in, kid.” he continued. Of course, this was only a tiny bit of his entire plan to overthrow Zeus and replace him. But as long as his supporters stood tall, he wouldn’t be able to do so. Hermes took several steps towards the white haired boy, and crouched. “I want you to close that gap.”

[Apollymi]

The naked girl seemed to be enjoying her drunken swim about as much as anyone could expect. To be fair, it seem that she would have been enjoying herself regardless of the situation but as she and her puppies got in a much needed bath it seemed the Son of Poseidon was having a very different time. Though Deianira didn't know it, she seemed to be quite amused. 'Alright, I'm going under for a few seconds, enjoy your swims~' she chimed to her pets. As the young woman dove underneath the surface she opened her eyes to have a look at the floor of the small river and at the bottom she saw a small glowing object. Such a thing was rather strange so she went further down, her aim solely to pull it up and examine it. If she succeeded she would pull from the bottom a conch shell. 'These aren't native to here...' she thought, as she held her breath staring at it underwater.

[Bloodedge]

When Hermes spoke of Poseidon's domain being out of reach, Athos fell under the assumption that he spoke of Atlantis. The location was familiar to him; he'd spent a portion of his childhood living there, prior to being cast into the mortal realm. Even with his eyes closed, Athos could tell the god was moving closer to him. The voice he heard was ever so slightly louder. Athos shivered as he felt the chill of close proximity with that which he could not see, but he dared not open his eye while knowing someone would be looking at him when he did. "... Fine. Just... leave me be," he said with a quiver of his throat occurring as his sentence began and ended.

[Shuren]

Seeing that the white haired boy was beyond disturbed by his presence getting closer, Hermes stood up and took a step back. “I’ll take your word for it.” he said slowly, while examining his body. It was hard to believe that a body that seemed so fragile to him contained great power within. Maybe he could even make him a god one day. Who knew. “I give you this, a gift of my good intentions.” he moved his hand towards chest, and a portion of his suit opened up. He pulled out a bag and sealed the opening again. “A satchel that has a bigger interior than the exterior.” He laid the satchel on the ground carefully before turning around, ready to run. But before doing so he addressed the boy one last time. “Don’t forget… The Furies hate oath-breakers.” That said he vanished from sight. That was of course, until he reappeared where Deianira was. She was swimming, somewhat drunk and clearly naked. Though he only wanted to alert her that he was and had been aware of her presence. So after glancing at her for a short moment, he sped off and left the lake.

[Apollymi]

By the time the young raven haired lass emerged she was looking directly at Hermes the messenger god. She had no idea how long he'd been standing there, nor how much he knew about her current state, but she could only smile and wave happily at the man as he soon enough disappeared from sight. "Damn, I was going to ask him to say hi to Daddy for me~" she chimed, her nudity didn't seem to bother her in the least, nor did she care if anyone knew about her drunken state. After all, she was the child of Dionysus, she might as well be a bit like her father from time to time. Moving right along the girl now held this conch shell in her hand and stared at it a bit. Her drunken mind trying to put together something... 'Oh, that new kid, the one who didn't show up to my party....' she started only to have the two wolf pups circle around her... 'I wonder if this belongs to him?' she asked herself. 'Probably...' the white pup said seeming not to care one way or the other... 'I think I just found my introductory gift~' she chimed as she danced happily pulling herself out of the water intending to redress. It took a few minutes as her abject drunkenness reached the state of a light buzz as she pieced together buckles on her clothing as if this wasn't the first time she'd had to do so while intoxicated. Even so, she soon began walking along the river the two pups in two after both of them shook themselves dry... she was headed up stream and becoming more and more sober by the second.

[Bloodedge]

Prior to his departure, Hermes not only left Athos with some sort of parting gift to solidify their agreement, but also a few parting words. He'd heard stories of these Furies, and none were at all pleasant. Still, the white-haired lad would do anything to be left in peace. Slight interaction with Hermes could lead to not worrying about Poseidon, and that would leave him to his own devices for as long as he alone could manage.

Once Hermes was nowhere to be seen, Athos gazed upon the satchel on the ground. It was small, brown, and rather simple-looking for the artifact of a deity. He reached out to take it, only to pull it into his chest and hold it there as he sat in silence. The only thing to break this silence was the clinking of various chains and jewelry pieces worn by Athos as his arm moved to retrieve the satchel, though this was short-lived. 'Where are you, Invi?'

[Apollymi]

Deianira walked straight up the path along the water's edge as her two pups played and she thought about the kind of life one must have had to choose to stay in the wilds for days without even trying for human interaction. 'I mean, I've met shy people before... it's usually just a matter of getting to know them right?' she thought as her thoughts sobered up. As she approached the lake she soon found that the speed of the water was getting a bit firmer, as it tended to do near the source material. As she walked she'd been staring at the conch shell in her hand, wondering about it's abilities and thus the abilities of the demigod who possessed it. 'I wonder what he'll be like~' an air of excitement surrounded the child of Dionysus as she moved forward approaching the vast expanse of the lake but not seeing anyone in particular.

[Bloodedge]

While wondering the location of this "Invi" he had in his thoughts, Athos held his tongue between his teeth. A hushed, snake-like hiss escaped him thereafter. He spoke in the tongue of the snakes themselves. "Come back, Invi," he said. This prompted the descent of a large, albino serpent from a nearby tree. The snake slithered toward the boy behind the rock after reaching the ground, and upon reaching him, it coiled up in front of his resting body. Unlike with Hermes, Athos seemed to have no problem looking this snake in the eye as they sat together.

[Apollymi]

Deianira stood at the lake's edge confused, only to hear a hushed snake like hiss. What followed this was the descent of the white snake mentioned earlier by Aiolia. 'Ah, that must be where he is...' she thought, seeming that this boy wasn't in plain sight and hadn't even tried showing up to her party. She didn't want to spook him and would take the same approach she'd take to approaching a potentially spooked animal. Very slow and decisive steps around the lake would take her towards the moss covered rock where the young boy sat with his pet. "Good morning to you both... I think... you dropped this sometime~" she said holding before her the conch shell she'd found down stream. She didn't approach any further and chose instead to give a studied gaze to both the boy and his pet.

[Bloodedge]

Soon after his snake friend returned to him, Athos was visited by yet another person today. This one did not have the scent of a god, but instead the feint godly aura of a demigod. Athos counted three today now. One of the demigods had not bothered him, but this one made an even closer approach than the previous. She bore a conch shell that she assumed belonged to him, and though she was right, Athos turned his head away without a word. He curled up further, and the serpent Invi struck out with the intention of snatching up the conch shell and swallowing it whole. In the meantime, Athos himself slipped back into the lake, where he would swim all the way to the bottom and into a hole which led to his chosen place of residency.

[Apollymi]

At the moment the snake struck Deianira realized she could have stopped it, though not without hurting it, so the conch was swallowed up from her hand in that moment. Regardless of this point, the young demigod who she'd assumed rightly that the conch had belonged to, disappeared into the lake soon after. Not a word being spoken by him after this. "Wow, I just said hi... is he really okay, like that?" she asked directly of the snake. Maintaining the ability to speak to any animal she came across without it being any real issue. "Also, it's been a while since I last spoke to a snake, it's nice to meet you~" she chimed, as a person Deianira always had the best of intentions, she'd wanted to make friends with the newest edition to their community of demigods, but it seemed like that process would be quite slow going.

[Bloodedge]

Now that Athos was gone, Invi was left to finish swallowing the conch shell. This took several moments, but during that time, Deianira spoke to the snake as if she expected to understand any response given. A long hiss would form the serpent's retort. "You can speak to us, too? You're not like us, though. Who are you?" the snake asked. As for Athos, his apparent companion slithered onto the rock they previously sat behind, finding the words to explain. "We stay away from other people. He says it's not good if he talks to anyone."

[Apollymi]

"Of course, I can speak to any animal," she said with a smile she took it as a sign she could at least expect a bit of conversation from this companion animal if not actually from the young lad himself for whatever reason. She took a seat at the lake side and propped a fist up under her chin so she could chat. "I'm Deianira, daughter of Dionysus and Artemis' Blessed Huntress. If you're wondering why speaking with you is possible, who might you be?" she mentioned when asked who she was, because she obviously was nothing like the snake or maybe even the boy at the lake bottom. As the snake got comfortable, it went on to explain that the lad himself thought it was bad if he spoke to people and that they kept to themselves for this reason. "Oh? That must be why he didn't come to my party then..." she seemed to be in deep thought about it, she was a bit disturbed by the idea that another demigod seemed to think it bad if he spoke to anyone. "That's gotta be hard on him though... being alone like that. Even with a charmer like you to keep him company~" she said to the snake finding it to be a good companion in the same way her pups were. "I didn't mean to stress him out or anything, usually people are happy to see me, but... I get it. He doesn't want to talk," she said looking at the creature as if in deep thought.

[Bloodedge]

"Oh... I see," Invi said of why Deianira could speak to her without the use of Serpent's Tongue. Following the demigod's introduction, the snake slithered into a coil once more. "My brother named me Invi. I remember hearing about some party last night. It sounded scary," she said. An additional glance toward the lake came before any further statements. "He's very talkative most days. It's just people he doesn't get along with. He's had bad experiences with humans before, and it's all been pretty traumatizing."

[Apollymi]

"Invi? Nice name~" she said admiring the snake for many reasons other than its very interesting coloration. She was an interesting individual one which Deianira obviously didn't mind speaking with. It seemed the white snake had indeed heard about the party which the child of Dionysus had held in honor of the newest members, but had thought it to be some sort of scary event. "Scary? No, nothing like that, a few drinks, dancing, music, and a few party games. It was a fun little mixer. Got all the newest demigods introduced to each other, and our way of life here. To be honest my feelings were a little hurt when I found out someone hadn't come, but... I can understand if you thought it was going to be scary, baby steps are key~" she chimed seeming to find it to be alright that this duo had skipped out on her party due to the fear they held about people in general. Hearing that the young boy was traumatized by bad experiences with humans caused only sympathy in the raven haired lass. "Oh? I'm sorry to hear that, I understand how stuff like that can stick with you... a lot of us have had experiences like that," she said knowing it to be truth, demigods and mortals weren't always meant to mix happily, especially when the demigods in question had powers or forms which made them too different or too incomprehensible to mortals.

As this conversation progressed the young woman seemed to be enjoying herself, but didn't want to overuse her hospitality. As such she soon rose, and stretched giving a bow to the snake before her. "I thank you for speaking with me Invi, it was a pleasure. I'll tell you what, since your brother doesn't really like people too much, I'll leave you be. I'm not pushy enough to force him to talk to me. But... I'll come back tomorrow. He doesn't have to talk to me if he doesn't want to, but I figure... if he needs an ear, I'll be here. And of course, we can chat again too, if you'd like~" she said offering a smile to the snake. "It's part of my job to protect the Wilds, as such if you have any trouble let me know. Also there is another hunter around here, Aiolia, blonde boy uses a bow, he's nice too... but he usually only appears when the sun is up, in case he'd rather avoid being seen~" she said coming up from a bow and turning on her heels the two pups following along after lazily napping throughout the conversation. "See ya' tomorrow~" and just like that, she left, to go attend to her duties in the wilds. Such conversations would take place on a daily basis for a week or two without change.