Fourth Circle of Hell

“And how’s that? You’re only satisfied if you’re the greediest person in the room?” The vampire questioned good-naturedly, citing the other’s hunger for more and more power. Viraj smirked as he focused on the one that the genasi was gesturing towards, whatever it was that Hudson was seeing, Viraj didn’t. But he could smell the magic in the witch’s blood and hunger burned like fire in the back of his throat. It wasn’t as tempting as the genasi that saddled up next to him but Viraj had at least enough self control to not rip his friend’s head off with his teeth alone. “Kneel.” Viraj said as he flexed his compulsion upon the one that Hudson had chosen, “And you,” he shifted his gaze to the one he’d make a meal of, “wait for me at the door.” He was interested to see what Hudson’s plan was for this one, his eyes trained upon the witch on his knees. “What will you do with him?”

“You’re not entirely wrong, but better that we keep that little tidbit to ourselves, hm?” Still, the humor that settled itself between his ribs rose to soften the edge of truth; better that far fewer people understood Hudson for who and what he was. “Don’t act like you’re not just as full of yourself as I am.” He noted with far too much ease, knowing that the pair were made of the same cloth. Watching as the witch that the vampire would likely toy with and drain within the hour obeyed without question as the compulsion worked it’s way beyond his self control, a smirk settled on his features. “I know you’re not new to his, Raj.” A remark made as he strides towards the man, “But, I know you’re not all that familiar with the feeling of a soul the moment fear and realization collide. Drag it out long enough and that energy ...---” He sighed heavily, as if indicating exactly how much he craved that piece of a being, “It’s worth a lot to the right people.”

@corinthbaystarters​

This was embarrassing, beyond embarrassing really. Normally he put the key somewhere he could grab it, but this time it had fallen just out of reach and now Marshall was left chained to a tree with the thing he needed to unlock himself just out of reach. “Is someone there?!” Marshall called out, this was getting familiar, last time he’d been stuck like this Alarick had happened to be walking by, but it seemed unrealistic to think that someone else would just happen to be out in the woods. And yet, he could faintly hear the sound of another’s heartbeat - he could smell them, too. “Hey!” He called again, “Can you help me?!”

A genasi certainly never simply stumbled upon opportunity. Luck wasn’t exactly something that existed within their realm of magic and power, rather, circumstance alone became far easier to manipulate. It was only in his return through the darkness that he wielded that Hudson had landed himself deep within the woods beyond the city that he heard and felt the other. Following the sensation that the other being - a wolf - gave him, the genasi rounded the screening of trees and bracken and took a moment to take in the sight. A laugh gave way and his lips parted just barely, soon situating themselves in a signature smirk as he moved to crouch a few feet away, “This looks like quite the situation you’ve got yourself into. I knew there were some people into some kinky shit around here, but ... really?” Sincerity fell flat, Hudson’s only thought rested on the fact that he could always use another spinal cord of a wolf.

Nixon could hear Hudson laughing at him, but all was forgiven when he felt the genasi pull him back against his chest. “I have plenty of class, babe. You know that.” They were definitely not going to make it to the festival on time, not when Hudson had the audacity to put on a greek poncho thing. Nixon turned towards Hudson now, his hand coming up to undo the knot that Hudson had just tied into the chlamys. His teeth found the other’s neck, brushing against the skin there, “I also have you. Now are you ready yet?”

“Have you lost your fucking mind?!” It all happens fast, but ultimately now, Lucian is faster and he goes from his spot of being tentatively perched on the couch to being all the way across the room in seconds. He is looking from closed blinds to a bleeding palm and he isn’t shocked that the smell gets to him first. Blood, magic, he hasn’t had both in one go yet, more humans run through Void than witches, other members of the supernatural. Perhaps the witches in the area are far smarter than he’d been. But this isn’t just a witch, not just because this is Hudson, but because this smells…This feels…A part of him has always known that Hudson was not normal. He could feel it, and yet he’d always been wary of bringing such a thing up. Because he’d cared too much about the other man to ask, Hudson and Nixon were the family he’d chosen long after leaving home. “For one,” Just opening his mouth to speak feels bold when he can’t pull his eyes away from Hudson’s hand. He’s satiated, he makes sure of that before going anywhere, and yet the urge is still there. “Nixon would fucking kill me? And secondly, what the hell are you now?”

There would always exist gaps - little pockets of the unknown that surrounded Hudson and truth be told, it was how he had always preferred it that way. Actively making an effort to conceal so much of himself from those around him had become instinctual - habitual, to the point that now that there was little need, he did so anyway. The spirit genasi had absolutely no doubt that the scent of his blood would tell Lucian far more than he ever had and though the pieces of what he’d shared of himself with the other paved the way to a certain brand of trust; he knew that this was something else - far darker, existing as a near second skin. He almost laughs, a menial sound that barely rouses the rise of his chest as he strides across the room, doing little to avoid Lucian, and pulls a glass from a cabinet. “You’re right, he would kill you...--- but I’d kill you first before you did whatever damage you think you can inflict,” which, he knew was enough, newborn vampires were exceptionally strong and without the ability of control, it posed this situation as being a dangerous one. “I’m no different to what I was before,” Blood dripped from his hand into the glass, casting an eerie red glow across the counter where the reflection shattered across the surface. “Mostly...”

Evie enjoyed her worship ​towards the goddess and gods, so it wasn’t hard to get the girls excited about a festival performance. There were certain legalities that meant they couldn’t perform a burlesque routine in public so instead loose white grecian dresses was the theme with laurels placed on each head and golden ivy leaves snaking around their jewelry and arms. Face paint added a glitzy small laurel leaf painted by their temple. They sang in the native tongue, offering hymns for Artemis and Apollo. She drank her wine, tinged with royal blood. “Come to enjoy the show?” She wore a feline’s grin. (x)

“You know me, Evie.” Hudson started as he came to stop beside her, the cup of wine he held barely touched since he’d obtained it somewhere between Vasilis handing him another and Nixon leaving him to cause a little chaos. “I’m only ever invested in a show starting Helluva-Bottom Carter and even then...” He was never much of a fan of watching anyone else fawn over his husband and as it was - Nixon drew a lot of attention at the best of times. Jealousy had never looked that great on Hudson and for the most part, he avoided it.. but it’d become increasingly harder over the years. “I figured I’d find you here though.”

“Shop at Woven! Get some shit to make yourself comfortable.” It was probably a bad way to get people to shop at the place, but she was sure she would’ve been intrigued. She was holding up a nice little lap blanket that she thought was cute. It actually reminded her of her grandmother. Paloma wondered how the older woman was nowadays.

@hcdsn​

“I want one of those flower crowns. That bitch from the bar I went to the other night has one on, and I want to wear it better. So I can walk by her and remind her that she’ll never have what I do: fuckin’ class. And a better crown than that. Are you ready yet? I can see everything through this window. How many festivals did the Greeks have? Shit. People still celebrate it, too.”

Calypso found herself drawn to the archery range, ​it was a sport she delighted in. Throwing knifes and axes were high on her list too and when she dared to wander from the docks and the pirate ship, she could be found deep in the woods practicing her weapons and her craft. She lined up the arrow in her bow, matched her version and shot scoring a perfect aim. “Want to play? We can make a wager on who wins and winner takes the loot.” She grinned, enjoying an afternoon out.

Roman could feel the dark magic of a genasi before the man showed his face. The witch sat back in his seat, curling his fingers around the edge of the table like he wasn’t sure what to do. In fact, he really wasn’t. His coven had of course taught him that genasi were power hungry witches, which that was true, but they’d treated him like his magic was on the same level as theirs. This one felt…strange. Normally, the magic was tied to a closer element, since they embodied it. Roman couldn’t tell. It almost made him want to reach out and draw energy just to see what would happen. “Us? You know I’m not a genasi.” Roman frowned, unsure what else Hudson could be referring to. Relaxing after a moment, Roman met the other’s gaze, “Who are you? I can’t recognize your element.”

As if the statement itself surprised him, Hudson’s eyes widened a little, “You’re not..---” A loud sigh pressed his lips and in a near deflated manner, he lent back in the booth. “Well I guess that whole, intuition thing about our own kind is a fucking load of shit.” Casting hues around, he watched other people quietly - the waitress mutter a polite goodbye to a mother and her child leaving, the shifting newspaper held within the hands of a man who didn’t need the coffee that sat before him. So little they knew of the power wielded between the pair, sitting idly in the small cafe. “I know you’re not, that’s not what I was talking about.” He smiled now, “Guess again.” Fingers drummed meticulously against the backing of the chair and as the witch spoke, he shifted forward again. “You and.. everyone else.” Though, he made no attempt to claim his own uncertainty about his element. “Hudson Redgrave - and you.. you’re a siphoner.”

He could feel the pull, drawing him away from his duty, from the woman who saw him as a former lover— who he had every intention of leading to Charon. She had clung to his fingers, begging him to stay, but Orion was formed of nothingness, he was a spirit, and he pressed the coin to her palm and told her to carry on without him before, in the span of what could have just been a breath, he was pulled into something new. The grip on his arm was tight, cruel even, and now it was gone. He didn’t recognize the face that studied him, but he recognized the malcontent that sat on his features, lips curved into something close to a smile: whoever this was, he was pleased with what he had done. The questions made him draw his arms over his chest, closing himself off stubbornly. “I was somewhere else,” Orion said simply, hazel gaze narrowed. Whatever this was, he hadn’t been selected on purpose, that much he could tell. Did Atropos know of this? He hadn’t of been summoned and yet, here he stood, before a man who looked too much like a cat poring over a bowl of cream. “I didn’t ask her name,” the reaper volleyed back. “If you let me go, I can double check. Feels rude that I didn’t, now that I think about it.”

Somewhere else indeed, a silent thought that only drew a wave of amusement higher into his throat. The void that was once unreachable to the genasi was now something that he held some level of control over - enough that he could summon creatures and beings of total darkness at any chosen time. It wasn’t something that Hudson had thought too much of to begin with, but the more he’d sought to attempt as much, the greater pull he felt towards what that meant for him. “Let you go? You’re no prisoner.” Though, that certainly didn’t mean that he was so willing to allow the other to leave just yet. “I didn’t need a name, just confirmation of where you were.” Which, the reaper had offered up in a roundabout way. “This is new to you, I’m neither your creator or alike her,” undoubtedly, he believed that the reaper wouldn’t feel the need to so quickly recoil against his summoning. “I want you to do something for me.”

“You can find almost anything, with the right amount of incentive behind it.” Money talks much more than anything else in this world, particularly with something such as the blade, where inquiries do not need to be made in secrecy. To most of the world, it is nothing more than a relic from an ancient world. “I have contacts who traced it’s path since it last fell out of my possession. The trail runs straight through this museum.” Along with a great many other things, Mara imagines. The magical energy around this place is strong, and it is no doubt filled with strange and mythical items, whether on display or not. At another time, they would hold more interest to her, but she has learnt not to be greedy when it comes to handling things of personal value. Everything else can wait. “Yes, this one personally. It’s little more than a blade, but it does hold sentimental value.” A private collector would be easy to remove it from, by bribe or by force, but a genasi she expects will not be so simple. 

@hcdsn

“What about this one?” Viraj questioned, Hudson was looking for a sacrifice and the vampire was bored and all to willing to oblige. “He’s a witch but I don’t need to tell you that, he has a brother to.” The vampire turned and compelled the man’s twin to step forward, “I suppose you could take both, I didn’t know how much blood you’d need so I thought it would be best to cover all the bases. Their father was a bit stubborn, had a troublesome gift too so I had to compel the boys here to murder him.” Viraj watched as their faces twitched at the memory but they’d been compelled not to express any emotion, screaming and crying was incredibly pedantic. “So, what do you think?”

“Both?” The word slipped out as Hudson did little more than consider the two witches. Their energy almost flinched from his own as he approached, somewhat drunk of the feeling that bloomed in the palm of his hand as his magic burned beneath his fingertip. “Fuck off, Raj. You know how I feel about greed,” one in the same that offered up the reason for the sacrifice in the first place. The same greed that festered just beneath the surface of everything that Hudson did. Slinging an arm across the vampire’s shoulder, “This one,” he gestured to the first, “His soul burns brighter,” and the brighter the sacrifice... the darker the result. “I don’t see why you can’t have the other. You deserve a drink for the road, -- juice box?”

Maybe Dante was right in the fact that they had to get into contact with Thanatos. Perhaps he was the only way they would gain any answers to what was happening with Hudson. To be honest, Vasilis hadn’t even been aware that the other genasi had been performing a ritual in the first place. After the other man had lost his genasi abilities, he hadn’t been sure that it would happen again. How would it be that someone could survive such a thing twice? How many times had this even happened to Hudson? There were so many questions roaming around in his head that he wasn’t sure how to even get the answer to them all unless they actually summoned Thanatos like they were planning on doing. He watched as Hudson demonstrated what he could do now and then his eyes moved around the room as the lights went out. “Interesting,” he stated as he looked at the other man. “Can you actually turn the lights back on though? It feels weird that we’re sitting in the dark now.”

Where an oblivion of such darkness might have once before left Hudson feeling at least a little bit uneasy - unknowing of where such a depth could even exist. The room that now delved into something that seemed to transcend actual darkness, felt like a piece of him - an extension of himself that left absolutely nothing to question. In a world that was being driven by the Gods, this place here existed because of him - nothing could touch him here, and a feeling like that overwhelmed any power he’d had before. Hudson’s palm turned over, and though the depth of darkness didn’t change, a wisp that existed within it brushed across his best friends cheek as he spoke, “What? Don’t tell me you’re afraid of the dark now...” He laughed, noting the irony of the flame that Vasilis could wield. “If you like this trick, you’re gonna love the rest of shit I’ve figured out how to do with this.”

It​ wasn’t so much that Hudson could tell that the witch that sat alone in the booth was a siphoner, rather, he could almost outline the energies housed within him that didn’t outright belong to him to begin with. Something that perhaps, only another gifted in the art of siphoning could note. Energies didn’t simply meld together as the wax of a burning candle might; the consistencies were never the same and as Hudson slid into the same booth and snatched up small slice of bougasta from the others plate without apology. “You’re new.” The small bite he took was enough for him to take a double take at the pastry in his hand, “I’ll never get over how good these things are.” Another bite, and he swallowed back with a lingering smile as his attention turned back to the witch, “I figured there’d be more of us around.” Given, Siphoning had been something he’d learned over time, perfected over the years until it was engrained enough in Hudson’s power that it felt like the one he’d been gifted with, he was as much one of them, as any other. 

     “Oh.” Henry figured that was fair enough, it was a rare interest to have, and he doubted many people came back as frequently as he did. He liked the place, liked the silence, how he could just let his thoughts wander around here. Especially now he needed that – but he was also never opposed to meeting people sharing the same interests, or sort of working in the same field. “Henry Fitzgerald. I’m a professor for history and occultism over at the university.” Henry was always proud of his title, of the work he’d done and what he achieved. But lately he’d often felt simply like a stupid human who had no idea what happened around him. “So I’m sure you could tell me more about these artefacts than anyone else could?”, he asked with a charming smile.

Nixon did not want to ruin his chance of getting laid immediately by dredging up what had happened when he’d died. Truthfully, he’d expected it. The only good thing in his life was Hudson, and his morals were clearly questionable at best. For now, though, he was content on being with the genasi. Just them, as it always would be. Nixon put his forehead against the other’s, holding on to every kiss as long as Hudson would let him. The comment did nothing but continue to boost his ridiculous ego, and the vampire pressed another hard kiss against Hudson’s mouth, stealing away the other’s breath like he needed it for himself. “I’m glad to hear you were miserable. If you were out partying, I would’ve come back from the Underworld myself just to haunt you,” he teased him quietly, though the newfound magic within Hudson’s veins was interesting as well. Nixon wanted to know more, of course, but now was not the time for idle chatter. He wanted to feel Hudson, all of him, and talking would just ruin the moment. “I promised before I wouldn’t leave you, and I ain’t about to let it fucking happen again.”

With every kiss growing all the more feverish, Hudson sought to catch his breath. The heated breath of space offered up between them between their lips as Nixon spoke did little more than bring a laugh to the thick of the genasi’s throat. The raspy sound one of offering, that they could move beyond the nightmare-ish space held by that which brought them here for a second time. “You say that like it would have been a bad thing,” And considering the power that he’d yet to understand he had, it was neither one that would have posed much of a problem. I promised before I wouldn’t leave you..-- A truth which felt like ice in his chest as the opportunity to keep that promise had been taken from them so easily. A promise of which Hudson knew neither one could keep while so many sought to destroy the veil. One thing did remain true, as Nixon spoke the words that Hudson felt just as surely. There were far too many things the pair were willing to do to prevent such an ending befalling them again. Loss burned a certain breed of determination and vengeance. A lowly breath, relief mottled with desire grew in his throat as he reached to pull Nixon closer - none of which felt close enough as his hand drew up to curl tightly at the slope of the vampires throat, his lips drawing away to follow suit until he could sink teeth not nearly as sharp into the hollow beneath his jaw, “Promise me again,” his voice rough, Hudson stepped Nixon back into the railing.

“Interesting.” Markus remarked as he ran his hand along one of Hudson’s conjured shadows, “I’ve never seen anything like this before.” At least not from a genasi, and certainly not with the ease that the man seemed to demonstrated it now. It was a new development if ever he’d heard, and idly he wondered if it was solely because of the veil or if it was because Hudson had to be one of the few people who’d undertaken the genasi ritual not once, but twice. “Have you reached out to any of the other genasi in Corinth? - Spirits?” Markus questioned, the latter being a resource he’d once used to answer questions that he couldn’t get from books or pages. It was worrying to think that something had broken under the effect of the veil, and that in itself was cause for concern. The situation in the city had changed, the veil was weakened, but he’d been to Tartarus, and he’d seen the creatures fleeing for the door as the veil had come back up just before time went backwards. “When I died, I think I saw something before I came back. Creatures were escaping from Tartarus.”

As Markus sought to touch the strand of shadow, it flickered back towards his hand and sought to wrap itself with a sentient grip around the others forearm. “I’ve never felt anything like this before.” While water had undoubtedly complimented everything that Hudson was - opportunistic, collected and silently dangerous, something about the darkness that he now manipulated felt as if it existed as his entire soul did. “I’ve spoken to Vasilis,” the oldest among the five, “He’s about as familiar with it as you as,” which was only to be expected. If Markus held no recollection of it, he wasn’t certain he would find someone born of this earth, that would. “Any spirit that I’ve sought out has nothing of value to tell me.” Yet he felt them, all around him. Spirits that existed as more than just a prickle in at the back of his neck, and instead their presence presented as if they were indeed corporeal - as if he could simply reach out and grab them where they stood. “There’s so many that reaching out to find a spirit that knows could take years, unless you have any suggestions to who I should seek out?” His own ancestral line would be useless to him and though his knowledge of genasi stretched far and wide, it didn’t delve into such a depth that this type of power seemed to exist. “Creatures? What kind of creatures?” That Tartarus had opened enough for anything to escape - the man before him included, was interesting and Hudson couldn’t help his interest. “The power here has shifted, and I’m not just talking about mine. The whole place feels...” He sucked in a sharp breath between his teeth, leaning forward to press elbows into the bar between them, “Like we’re clung to a match head,” One way or another, something would ignite.