#ellierory

Ellie pressed down on the gas, trying to get as far away from the monster that they just disabled as she could. "What was the part of the prophecy, about coming home?" Ellie asked, Rory, trying to refresh her memory. "Maybe that'll be helpful in avoiding all of this."

“Uhh,” Rory, dropped down into the seat next to Ellie, trying to rack her brain for the exact wording. “Shit, something about care and being cursed to roam without it?” She glanced at the rear view mirrors, seeing if they were keeping their ground. “I might have to blast it with another wind tunnel soon. We have to come up with something though or I won’t be at full strength.”

Lucien stuck his head out the window as far as he dared, trying to get a view of the beast chasing after them. By now he was used to seeing these things keep up with cars, so he didn't bother asking Ellie to speed up. "It has... goat horns?" he asked no one in particular. Sliding back into the car, he turned to his sister. "Maybe we can throw something at it."

"I can't do anything with my powers unless I touch it," Ellie replied. "And well that's a little hard."

Linnaea had her back pressed firmly into the seat, with her head pointed straight ahead and hands vice gripped onto her seatbelt. Through gritted teeth, she replied, "Great idea Luce, just toss a banana peel out the window, that ought to do it."

Rory groaned, burying her head in her hands for a second. “Fuck.” She took a breath and dropped her hands. “At least we’re close to camp. Worst case, we hold big ugly off and they can run.” She looked up to glance out her mirror again, but instead saw another, smaller monster coming full force at the truck. “Fuck! Look out!” She screamed out in warning, just seconds before it made impact.

Lucien couldn't help himself from making jokes in high stress situations, and huffed out a laugh at his sisters comment. "You have a banana?" he asked, while at the same time reassuring her, we'll be okay. He was about to search for something to throw, when the RV rocked with a hard impact and he crashed into the wall. Pain lanced along his shoulder and the whole car smacked into a few trees, bending metal far too close to his face for comfort. "Fuck," he gasped.

Ellie's head slammed to the window as another monster made impact with their car. Her whole body tensed and she tried getting the car running again, but it wouldn't work and there was no time. "We need to get out and run," Ellie said.

Rory had been flung towards Ellie’s side of the van after the impact, and luckily smacked her head on the side of the other girls seat, still leaving her disorientated, but not injured with a head wound. It took her a full minute to register Ellie’s words, pushing her body back upright slowly as she got her bearings back. “Yeah.” She gritted out. “We need to go.”

'We need... and run...' '...need to go.' A sharp ringing drifted from Linnaea's left ear to her right. She brought a hand up to press against the part of her forehead that slammed against the seat in front of her. "Oh, fuck." Linnaea felt around for her seatbelt, pawing at the clasp to get it undone. Why did it feel like she was moving through syrup? Luce, help.

Lucien surged for his sister, blinking stars out of his eyes. He felt a little trickle of blood somewhere on his back, but didn't think about it as he fumbled to get Linnaea free. Once the clasp was undone, he grabbed her and started pulling her out of the car, not wanting to risk her falling behind. Both monsters were coming in fast, and he looked to Rory and Ellie. They'd given him and his sister knives, but they didn't seem like much now, in the face of this. "Which way do we go?"

Ellie helped get Rory out of the van. "Come on Rory, today is not the day to be slackin'," she said, resorting to lightening the mood, an instant coping mechanism to deal with the situation at hand. Hell would Ellie lose any of these people, not after they have gotten this far. "Go, right, run!" Ellie told the twins. "We're right behind you."

Run. Linnaea waited for the signal to travel from her brain to her legs. Run. Why was this taking so long? RUN. Linnaea picked up one leg and placed it in front of the other. Then again. Then again. Did running always feel so... voluntary?

Rory shook her head as Ellie helped her out, trying to get the world back into focus. She unsheathed the sword that was strapped to her hip, breathing for a second before letting trickles of electricity run down the metal as Alex had taught her. “Me slacking? Never.” She looked back over at the twins, speaking after Ellie. “Get to the hill, you’ll see a tree. Keep running, and don’t you dare stop.” When they took off, she looked back to Ellie. “If we need to, you go after them and I’ll hold them off.”

Once Linnaea finally started to pick up speed, Lucien let himself go faster. He was a few steps in front of her, his hand clasped around hers, trying to urge her to keep up. He glanced behind them and saw the monsters getting closer. "Sis, don't fight me," he said, and scooped her up in his arms. With the sight of the lion-goat-snake thing zeroing in on them, Lucien started to sprint.

“You distract one, enough to get me close enough to use my powers on it and buy us time to get across the border,” Ellie insisted. “We need to disable at least one right now so we don’t have have two chasing after us.”

Rory nodded her agreement. “Okay, get ready.” Seeing the Chimera zero in on the twins, she raised her hand to send a strong blast of wind at it, knocking it off its feet and barreling into a tree. “Go!” She called time Ellie, lunging her sword at the smaller monster, getting its full focus placed on her as she turned it slightly away from Ellie.

Linnaea felt the earth spin away from her, and then she was floating. Looking up, she saw her twin's face, panting heavily. Above him, the clouds seemed to be fleeing from the horizon. Linnaea turned her head to the side. Just past Lucien's arms, she saw the ungodliest abomination, sprinting toward them on all fours. Linnaea opened her mouth to ask a question, but mustered instead a shriek of pure terror.

"Shh, hey," Lucien said between pants. He heard a roar, and a crash, and stole a look behind him. The monster had flown into some trees behind them and had crumpled to the ground. "We're gonna make it, sis, I think I see it." He tripped over a branch but quickly regained his stride, gripping Linnaea's shoulders to keep her steady in his arms. He heard another roar behind him, distressingly close, but this time refused to look back.

Ellie ran for the smaller monster. Fuck, Dad, you better help me. She slid in, trying to get close enough for contact and put it to sleep enough for them to buy them time, but it turned and caught the back of Ellie's leg, and she screamed, tripping and rolling, though she managed to catch it's leg, and she practically had a death grip on it, just enough for her to put it to sleep. She took a breath from the ground, and stabbed it with her knife, killing it.

Lucien. Linnaea tapped on her brother's arm. Lucien. The beast had left a crack in the tree that ripped all the way up to its branches. Angered now, it's eyes were locked with Linnaea's, and she could see deep into where its soul should be. Lucien, it's coming. Fur and scales melded into a single blur of speed as the creature rapidly closed the distance between them. Its beady black eyes became a ribbon of black. There were, two, four, six of them now. LUCIEN.

He didn't want to look, and he tried to tune out his sister's frantic pleading and just run, run. Legs burning, heart pounding, he gripped his sister a little tighter: a silent attempt at reassurance. I won't let you get hurt. 

And then, like the cosmos had heard his promise and started to laugh, the beast was there, a pace behind them. He saw houses in front of him and screamed out a panicked, desperate, "HEL—" His voice melted into a garbled noise as the snake tail bit into the place where his neck met his shoulder, and pulled. Linnaea exited his arms as he was yanked backwards, feet dragging through the dirt. He gripped the serpent with numb fingers, trying to dislodge himself, too shocked even to scream.

Everything happened at once. She heard Ellie scream and almost fell over trying to get out to her in time. “Ellie! Are you okay?!” Helping her up, Rory frantically looked around to find the Chimera and found it breathing down the twins back. “NO!” She screamed out, and took off towards them, throwing her hand behind her to set off a blast of wind to speed her up. Regardless, she knew she wouldn’t make it in time. She saw the Chimera grab Lucien, yanking him back and pushed herself to speed up. Every bone in her body thrummed with the power of electricity but couldn’t risk it with Lucien right there, and wouldn’t let herself risk it.

Ellie heard Rory scream and she looked up, pushing the pain in her leg aside for the time being. All she could think about was 'we need to get out of here, we need to get to the border'. Ellie lifted herself from the ground, running after Rory and the twins, but Rory was much faster with the wind on her side.

Linnaea hit the ground hard and the ringing in her head became a deafening siren. Lucien! She watched the abomination take ahold of her brother. Stand up. Again, she felt the signal between her brain and legs dissipate. Stand up! "Lucien!" she screamed, unable to hear her voice over the ringing.

He remembered, belatedly, that he had a knife. His entire left side was going numb, venom from the fangs lodged in his arm, no doubt. Clumsily Lucien reached for the blade with his other hand and waved it in a wide arc. It glanced off the scales like nothing, and then a front paw of the monster wrapped around him, almost like an embrace. Then claws ripped open his stomach and something— he didn't see what— fell out. Blood coated his legs in seconds. A little whisper of sound fell out of his mouth as he was dropped to the ground, cold and still with shock.

Ellie got to Linnaea, grabbing her arm, to help her to the border as fast as she could, knowing Rory was closer to Lucien. "We'll get him, I promise."

Rory slowed down out of pure grief and shock when she saw Lucien drop, and she could almost feel that there was nothing left to do to save him. She wanted to vomit at the sight of all the blood and gore, despite having previously fought in a war. But blood was a lot different then layers of gold dust that took forever to wash off the body permanently. She glanced up as she saw Ellie her to Linnaea and looked back over, knowing that she had to get him out of there, regardless of how cold and still he was. She forced her legs through the shock, her sadness turning to anger as she ran towards the Chimera.

Linnaea sat in their childhood bedroom, her bed opposite Lucien's. She pulled her feet up onto the bed, her back pressed up into the corner. "Lucien," she whispered, watching him sitting across the room. "What's happening?" The carpet beneath them darkened from its faded white to a deep crimson as a swamp of blood bubbled up from some aquifer underneath. Somewhere, Linnaea felt herself be lifted up off the ground. Here in the bedroom, she sat curled up into a ball, eyes locked on her brother, as their childhood memories sank deeper into the rising red flood.

Lucien stared back at her, in one piece, trying to move from his place at the center of the lake of red. He couldn't move, his body rigid, anchored and sinking fast. Somewhere else, something with large teeth was bearing down on him. But he felt nothing, nothing. "Linnaea," he called back, as if from twenty rooms away. "Leave. I can't go with you."

"I can't leave without you!" Linnaea's voice came out in a sob. "This is our place. You have to fight through it, you can't leave me alone." The room was filling up faster now, the red spilling out over her sheets, climbing up her feet and ankles. "What's gonna happen to us?"

"Dunno." The room was fading away, darkness spreading like ink stains from the corners of their bedroom. "I don't want to go," he suddenly sobbed. His head ached, like someone was cutting out the part of mind where his sister lived. "Linnaea. Linnaea."

Linnaea looked frantically around the room for a way out, but everything was now submerged in the blood. The other corners of the room seemed to grow darker around them. Picture frames, stuffed toys, clothes—she watched as they swirled around the center of the room before rushing out towards the darkness, carried away by the current. 

A current? 

"It's the river." Linnaea gasped, clawing her way to the edge of the bed, which now floated atop the deluge like a raft. "Lucien! Don't cross the river!" She gripped the bed post, struggling to keep her balance. "You're on the river! Don't cross the river!"

The river. Lucien was suddenly at a shore, standing alone, Linnaea's voice a distant thing. "Okay," he said. He couldn't tell if she heard him. "I won't cross!" he shouted. "I won't cross!" 

His lips moved silently, eyes glassy. I'll wait for you, Linnaea. 

The darkness folded in on everything.

Rory charged towards the Chimera, the sound of her feet slapping against the forest floor causing it to look away from Lucien and at the angered daughter of Zeus. It let out a roar, as if daring her to attack. She knew that she wouldn’t be able to get his body away without taking out the monster first. She took a second to calm herself, channeling the power that was running through her veins. Dad, please. Help me. Her eyes snapped open, glowing a bright blue. She reached her hands up, feeling and hearing the skies darkening as storm clouds almost appeared out of nowhere. She let out a half grunt, half scream, and as the Chimera lunged, she pulled.

"I'll find you." Linnaea couldn't keep her balance any longer. As her legs gave way, the whirlpool of red pulled her down and the surface collapsed over her head. 

When Linnaea came to, the clouds were screaming through the sky, and all she could hear was ringing.

She let out another scream, this one laced with pain, feeling something very cold slide through her stomach. Then the ground lit up bright as a huge bolt of electricity struck down, electrocuting the chimera and turning it into dust as it screamed, it’s horn just barely exiting Rory’s stomach before it vanished fully. She felt all the energy drop out of her body alongside it, just barely having enough in her to pull Lucien’s body not even a foot away before she dropped. Her voice called out for Ellie, though it was so quiet she didn’t even know if she had heard it. Dad, please. she thought, before her body went limp and her vision faded away.

Ellie heard Rory scream and she felt herself tense. She dragged Linnaea over the border. "Stay here, I'm going back for Rory and your brother. " She ran out once again, the pain starting to push through now. Just a little longer, Ellie. When she came across Rory's bloody body and Lucien, her heart dropped. Her eyes focused on Lucien for a minute, her mind drifted to her memory of her brother's dead body. Ellie bent down next to Lucien, her fingers not feeling a pulse. She gulped and fixed her eyes on Rory. She could feel a pulse coming from Rory, but she was in bed shape. Ellie put her arm underneath Rory's, dragging her to the border, Ellie's breathing heavy, exhausted. Once they were over, Ellie put her hand in pocket, searching for her phone. Her hands covered in Rory's blood, she pulled up Ben's number, her shaky hands sending him a text: 'border, please help'. 

Elliot took a step inside, looking around. She ran a hand through her hair. "Where do we even start?" she asked Rory. "The vagueness of that prophecy isn't helping us."

Rory was speechless as they walked into the Lotus Casino. She wasn't sure what she expected it to look like, Amber never really went into detail, but she certainly wasn't expecting it to be as massive as it was. Looking around, Rory shook her head. "I....I have no fucking clue." She turned her head to look at Ellie, sighing before turning back towards everything in front of them. "This is going to take way longer than we want it to, isn't it?"

"Oh, 100 percent," Ellie answered. "How do we even manage to find them? They could be anywhere. Should we like start asking around or some shit?" 

"And ask what? 'Excuse me, have you seen a pair of twins that have been here for about thirty years?'" She threw her hands up, starting to walk towards the brighter games in the back. "Might as well start looking instead of just standing here. Why couldn't they even tell us what they look like? It would've made this at least one percent possible instead of the negative fifty we're at right now."

“Well I wouldn’t put it that way,” Ellie replied. “We can ask people if they are a twin. How many twins would be here anyway.”

"With our luck? Too many. Though I guess that's the best way to start." Rory looked around, stopping a random person that looked relatively their age. "Excuse me, are you a twin by chance?" The person looked at her extremely confused, and shook her head before quickly walking away. "Well," she sighed. "One down, who knows how many more to go.” 

Ellie weaved through the people with Rory. "Hey, just a quick question. Do you happen to be a twin?" When the guy gave her a dirty look and returned to their game, Ellie took a step back. "Wow nice to meet you too."

Rory rolled her eyes at the guys response. "Dick head." She continued walking with Ellie, with multiple other failed attempts to find anyone that's a twin. She knew this would normally be quicker if they split up, but Rory was nervous about one of them getting distracted and ending up in there for the next century. "Should we just like, stand on a bench and scream that we're looking for twins?” 

"You know what, fuck it," Ellie said, finding the nearest bench to stand up on. "Hey everyone! My friend and I are looking for some twins! Anyone here happen to see any?"

When Ellie screamed, Rory started looking around the casino, trying to spot anyone walking towards them or just having any other reaction then thinking the two of them were insane. When a minute of silence passed, and everyone just went back to their games, Rory groaned. "Okay, seriously? Is there like a separate game room or some shit?"

Elliot jumped down. "Let's start branching out or something? I'm not sure what else to try."

Rory looked over at Ellie, slightly nervous at the idea. "Is that a good idea in this place?" She tried to look around for a clock, trying to see how much time had already passed, not really surprised when she didn't find one. "But I don't really know what else to try, either."

"We just have to stay away from everything, and stay on task, yeah? We can manage this," Ellie nodded, though she wasn't sure if she was even convincing herself. "We can stick together, but we should try looking in other rooms."

She nodded, trying to convince herself that it was that simple. "Yeah, totally. Just stay on track." Rory stated walking farther into the room, trying to look over all the games to try and find a doorway or anything that gave the impression of a separate section. "Should we set an alarm on our phones or something to try and keep track of time?" Her head tilted ever so slightly in thought. "Would that even work in here? Or is there some kind of dumb magic mumbo jumbo that wouldn't let that happen?" Finally seeing an entrance to a hallway, Rory pointed, speeding up slightly. "There. Hopefully somethings over there."

"Yeah, I don't think that'll work here," Ellie replied. "It would kind of defeat the point, wouldn't it?"

Rory sighed, tucking her phone into her pocket after confirming that no, that's not how it works. "I was kinda hoping for a loop hole, not gonna lie."

"If only it were that easy," Ellie replied. "These games are very alluring, I'm not going to lie. No wonder people want to play. I'm glad were not Tyche kids. I wonder how many Tyche kids are stuck in here."

"I know, I'm trying not to look directly at them." Unconsciously, she glanced at them, spotting a Monopoly machine and very quickly looked away and tried to get it out of her brain, focusing on the conversation with Ellie to stay grounded. "Fuck, there's probably so many of them in here. This must be like crack for them."

"Damn, that must suck," Ellie said back, leading through the crowd, looking for another room to look in, occasionally asking if people were twins. "Honestly, my mind is so focused on getting back to my brother's and Ben that I refuse to let the thoughts of playing invade my mind too much. I can't imagine being in here with those you care about, or think no one cares for you."

Rory nodded her head in agreement. "I know what you mean, I would never be able to picture feeling like that. Keaton and Bailey would burn this place to the ground if I get stuck in here." She let out a small laugh, a smile growing on her face as she thought of her boyfriend and sister. She already missed them, especially Keaton. "These twins better show up soon, I wanna get back to them." Rory sped up her walking, heading into the next room, which luckily had a few less machines in it, as well as not as many people. "What do you think, scream on a bench again or grab people?"

"Grab people probably, I don't think the screaming thing really worked," she replied. Ellie tapped on a boy's shoulder near her. "Hey, excuse me, hi, do you happen to be a twin, or have seen any twins here?"

The boy actually seemed semi-helpful. After staring at them for a second or five, he pointed a vague direction before running off again. Rory rolled her eyes, but walked in the direction anyway. "At least he gave us something to go off of. First time in who knows how long." Seeing another boy, Rory walked up, tapping him on the shoulder. "Hi. Quick question: are you a twin?"

Lucien had lost track of time. It’d been a few days (days?) of almost nonstop fun for him, broken up only briefly with naps and quiet moments in corners of the casino. One of these days, he remembered telling Linnaea, they’d have to go back outside. But not now. He was holding a cup against the slot machine as it poured coins out, shiny and promising. When the girl approached her, Lucien had to drag his eyes up from the sight of gold spilling into his hands. “Huh?”

"Are you a twin? We're looking for a set of twins," Ellie replied. "Some guy pointed your way." 

He pondered this. “Define twins,” Lucien said. The coins stopped pouring and he lifted the cup, shaking it and listening to the rattle. “Identical? There’s a few of them, here, actually. I think I remember where they went....”

Rory held back the urge to let out an annoyed sigh. "Identical. Fraternal, whatever. Just answer the question please?” 

Lucien looked between the two girls slowly. “What do you want twins for? Some weird art thing?”

The prophecy was some what like art, maybe he'd be more willing if that was the point than just outright saying 'hey man, you've been stuck in here for like 30 some years'. "Uh, something like that," Ellie replied. "It requires these twins who are grandchildren of Homonoia. If you happen to know them." 

Lucien paused. A crooked smile slid onto his face to mask the little jolt that came with hearing that name out loud. It shook a little clarity into him, and for the first time in what felt like a long time he was nervous. “You come from a small town? This is a big place, I don’t really know most people’s grandparents on a first name basis. Define require.”

Rory shuffled a bit, trying to think of a vague enough answer in case any of the people around them were listening, though she highly doubted it. "You could say that, everyone knows each other where we're from. Though, we're looking for twins born in 1974." She hoped she got the year right, the number sounded correct to her.

Lucien turned his attention back to the slot machine, if only to keep looking aloof. He pictured Linnaea's face, the last time he saw her a few... hours? ago. "Wanna play?" he asked the two, sliding a coin into the machine anyway. He imagined walking through the crowds, sliding seamlessly past crowds and faces and finding— Linn? Where are you?

"We were just playing in the other room," Ellie replied. She looked at the machine, almost like it was calling to her, weirdly part of her wanted to play with all his winning. "That's how me and her got this idea for the project."

Rory glanced at the machine when Lucien offered, almost tunnel visioning with the flashing lights. Ellie's voice snapped her back into focus, and she shook her head slightly before focusing back in on the conversation. 

With no immediate reply from his sister, Lucien pulled the machine's lever, buying himself as much time as he could. Nothing. He sighed, and spun around again, face calm. "I think I know someone who fits this description..." he started. "What's the project, though?"

"A series of photos outside with flowers and nature, all that jazz," Ellie replied. "Cupid's Vault esc. Don't know if you know who that is, but they use crystals and flowers to make a person look like a part nature. Make it like unity with nature."

Rory nodded along, pretending to know exactly what Ellie was talking about. "We're really inspired by Greek Mythology, honestly."

Some part of him, something he couldn't quite name, bristled at the thought of going outside. Which was strange. Outside arguably was safer than in here, where everyone was perpetually distracted. Maybe the fresh air would be nice... Lucien shook off the thought and stood up. "Okay, let's go look for some twins. I think they went this way." He started walking, assuming the two would follow, and tried Linnaea again. Sis? Location please.

"Yeah, I'll have another!" Linnaea plucked the lotus leaf from the platter with a smile. "Hey, cheers!" she sang, tapping leaves with a girl beside her. "Your shirt is hella fly, by the way. Where did you get it?" Linnaea snapped the tip of the leaf off between her teeth. "Forever 21? Huh, never heard of it." Before Linnaea knew it, her hand was empty and she found herself reaching for another leaf. "Yeah, I'll—" Lucien's voice echoed through her mind. How long had it been seen she last saw him? I'm by the bar, just got another one of those leaf things. You want one?

Maybe later. He glanced around the room. The bar was two rooms over. Lucien paused and tried to look like he was searching for people. Gauging how easily he could lose these two. I have a slight situation. Meet me by the front?

Ellie followed the boy, glancing back at Rory a few times to make sure she was there too. Ellie had a feeling he was dodging her but she needed to finish this prophecy. “Hey. slow down,” she said. 

Rory followed, trying very hard to not get distracted by all the flashing lights around them. She let Ellie do the talking, and instead focused on the boy and keeping track of him, just wanting to get out of this place and back home already.

What kind of situation? Linnaea looked around the room. The crowd around her seemed much more densely packed than it was just an hour ago and finding her bearings was suddenly a monumental task. Which way is the front?

Lucien was about to shove a group in front of him aside and run for it, but the question threw him. It occurred to him, slowly, in a haze, that he didn't know. "Um," he said, then clenched his teeth. Okay, new plan, I'll come to you. Don't move. 

"I think I see them over there." Lucien pointed to the left corner of the room, where he saw two people with blonde hair. Not at all twins, but enough to distract them. When their heads turned, he backed away to the right and started to weave between people.

Rory glanced over in the direction he pointed, but didn’t see any twins. Quickly looking back, she lost sight of him for a few moments, before just catching sight of him weaving between people. Now thoroughly annoyed, she started walking faster in his direction. “I got him.” She growled at Ellie, waving her hand to create a wind current to sweep his legs out from under him, feeling a weird sense of satisfaction when she saw him fall.

He got maybe a 5 second lead before he landed on his face. Palms and chest and chin stinging, a new jolt of panic ricocheted through his body. Subtlety, it seemed, was no longer an option. Lucien shot to his feet and ran, shoving people behind him to give himself a buffer.

“Seriously dude!” Ellie said, trying her best to keep with him. “Also Rory, that was bad ass.”

Uh, okay. Linnaea looked around for her brother's head amongst the crowd. 

"Looking for something?" 

Linnaea turned to see the server with the platter staring straight at her, unblinking. 

"Uh, no, just my brother, thanks." 

"Have another leaf." 

"No, that's okay, I'm waiting for—" 

"Have another." 

Linnaea took a step back, eyes still locked with the unblinking server.

Rory started running after him as well, grateful that she had kept up with her jogging to stay in shape after leaving camp. “Thanks. Might as well put all those years of power training for something, right?” 

Lucien probably lost an ally or two in his mad dash to his sister. A few angry shouts followed him through the next room and the next. The bar was in sight, and after another half minute of pissing some more guests off— was it always this crowded?— he finally found Linnaea. "Sis!" he shouted to her. He grabbed her shoulders, and turned her toward him. "Hey you, fun game time, let's run."

Ellie continued running to try and catch up to them, turning around ever so often to make sure Rory was still there. She had to dodge a few server in her path. "Wait, we can explain dude. We're not here to hurt you!” 

Rory tried to duck under the servers plate, but failed, knocking some weird flower shaped things to the ground. She shouted a “sorry!” over her shoulder in response to the yelling, but kept going in the direction the boy, now joined by another girl, we’re heading. “Yeah, seriously! Just stop so we can talk about this,” she paused for a second. “I promise not to trip you again?”

Linnaea stood frozen as the server took a menacingly slow step towards her. Then—"Lucien!" Linnaea glanced back at the server, who now had both of them set in her sights, and then at the two girls who seemed to be chasing Lucien down. "Say no more." Grabbing Lucien's arm, Linnaea started shoving strangers aside in a mad dash away from their assailants.

With Linnaea leading, they scrambled away, looking for the front or any sort of exit. He shouted a few useless apologies to the people they crashed past, but eventually gave up and decided to own the havoc. They'd started to run just to run, dashing from room to room, always just a few desperate steps ahead of the chasers. 

Maybe it was the stress, maybe the low hum of fear vibrating in his stomach, but the casino started to feel... strange. Lucien didn't know what to make of that, but he thought he saw, out of the corner of his eye... "Wait," he gasped, tugging his arm to catch his sister's attention. "Front door, over there!"

 Rory’s eyes widened as she saw them head towards the front door of the casino. “Oh shit!” She pushed herself to run faster, trying to catch up and stop them. “Wait, no! Please don’t go out there!” Now it was her making sure Ellie was keeping up. “We really need to talk first!”

"Fuck," Ellie said, following Rory to try and stop them from going outside.

Linnaea avoided the temptation to turn around to see how far ahead they were. The crowd had grown far too dense anyhow, she justified. Finding her brother's hand in the chaos, she bolted toward the front doors and threw them open with all her might. "Fuck!" The sun was blindingly bright and Linnaea stumbled blindly forward. Lucien! Lucien where— As her eyes adjusted, Linnaea started to take in her surroundings. Where... Where are we?

He ignored every silent protest, every reluctance to leave the building, and followed his sister outside. They landed on the sidewalk and Lucien crouched over to catch his breath. "I think they're right behi—" He cut himself off and looked up. His jaw dropped. Holy shit. 

When they caught up to them, Ellie slowed stepped forward to them. She held up her hands slightly, as if to signal she wasn't going to hurt them. "We can explain. You're probably really confused. Seriously, we just want to help you. We're not here to hurt you, we're here to take you somewhere safe, a place where we're protected by monsters. I'm Ellie, and this is Rory, and we're like you.” 

Trying not to panic, Linnaea discreetly patted down her pockets, feeling around for something she could wield. Nothing. "Like fuck we're going anywhere with you," Linnaea retaliated. What's the move, Luce?

Lucien was trying to make sense of the city he saw before entering the casino and the one sprawled in front of him now. When the girl Ellie approached, he pulled his attention back to the moment. Instinctively, he stepped a little in front of his sister. At least one of them has some legit powers. I don't think we can lose them if we run. Scream for help?

"I'm being serious," Ellie insisted. "Look." She went through her pockets for her school ID. She showed them. "I go to college, I live with my older brothers, me and them are children of Morpheus, he's a God. I'm a demigod. Rory over there, she has a boyfriend, she's a daughter of Zeus. Even if you don't know about the Gods, I'm sure you know a God named Zeus. There's a place for people like us, it's called Camp Halfblood, it's safe." She sighed, looking at Rory, and then back at them. "It's 2020," she said. "You've been in there for decades. That place, it's magic. Playing the games, eating the food, it causes you to stay in there and never age. I didn't want to freak you out at first, but that backfired. Please."

“We swear on the river Styx that we’re not here to hurt you.” Rory glanced up at the booming thunder that sealed her promise, not being able to help rolling her eyes. “Dad always has to be dramatic.” She turned her attention back to the twins. “We’re not monsters.” She didn’t really agree with dropping all this information on them now, but she couldn’t really stop Ellie. “Homonoia sent us to find you two and get you to safety.”

Maybe his brain was melting, because none of what he just heard made any sense. "Uh," he started, a laugh bubbling up in his chest. "Ah... No, this is... No. We don't want what you're selling us, thanks.” 

Rory blinked slowly before looking over at Ellie. “What damn part of this sounds like a sales pitch?”

"We're not selling anything. You're like us. We would not risk coming here if we didn't need you two," she replied. Ellie got out her phone and showed him the date. "Read that, that's the date.” 

Linnaea put her hands up and took a step back. "Is this... a joke?" What little she had actually heard, her brain had not yet processed. She was still unsure if their lives were in danger. "What is that?" Linnaea looked at the device glowing in the stranger's hand.

Lucien stared at the screen, not comprehending. When it went dark, he blinked, and looked back at Ellie and Rory.

Linnaea kept her hands up, as if to shield herself from the strangers. Are we drugged? Did we take drugs in there and we don't remember?

Rory took a small step forward towards them. “No, it’s not a joke.” She pointed to the cell phone in Ellie’s hand. “That’s a portable telephone. There’s a lot of new technology now days, but my boyfriend, Keaton was always better at explaining them.” She glanced around the area. “Please, you need to believe us. The longer we stand here, the more we’re risking putting all of us in danger.” 

"We're not the monsters, but if we don't leave and get you too safety, there'll really be some after us. Our godly blood attracts them. Either you go back in there and never come out, which will happen, or you come with us to safety. If you stay out in the open, your risk is getting killed by a monster. There's two of you and you'll attract them more. Trust me, please."

And we're having the same trip? But the idea was already rooting itself in Lucien. Well... that checks out, actually. They could already talk, already share little flashes of memory. He latched onto this because it made more sense than anything else. He took Linnaea's hand, checking in with her for silent confirmation. "We're gonna go back inside, then."

Rory covered her face with her hands, giving herself a moment to let out a small half groan, half scream. Once done, she dropped them. “Listen, I know we sound insane, but we’re telling the truth.” She waved her hands them a bit. “You’re honestly telling me that you think that all of this happened in the span of what....a week or so? That’s not possible. Even today.”

Linnaea stepped toward Rory, an accusatory finger pointed her way. "All I know is that this morning, my brother and I were doing just fine on our own. Things only got weird when you showed up and started pursuing us. So how about you leave us alone and go back to whatever freaky place you came from." Linnaea turned on her heel and started marching toward the hotel with Lucien in tow.

Ellie stood in front of the door, stoping them from entering. "If you go in there, you'll be stuck in there forever," she replied.

"What she said," Lucien said as he started to follow. "Well.. we don't believe you," he said to Ellie.

Rory let out another growl, her eyes turning a slightly brighter shade of blue. She forced down the power that flared to life with her emotions. “This morning you were trapped in a god damn magical hellhole, we just started to fucking wake you up. It’s another decade for fucks sake!”

Ellie took a step toward them, away from the door, "Please, I know this is shocking, but you're only safe in camp halfblood."

"What the fuck," Lucien threw up his hands. "Will you leave us alone! We're not going with you!" He stepped up to Ellie, trying to look intimidating. "Move."

Linnaea clenched a fist and exhaled, ready to sucker punch the girl standing in their way. On my count, I think I can knock her out. Linnaea scanned for an opening to clobber the side of her head when her eyes caught the still unbroken stare of the server inside the hotel, watching her through the glass. Wait—do you see that? 

Though he did look intimidating, Ellie wasn't very fazed. "Look dude, I'm not scared of you. I have faced what should be scarier people, and scarier monsters than you." Ellie was ready to take them out, if she needed to. 

Lucien grit his teeth, but put his attempts at scaring her off on pause as soon as Linnaea called his attention. He glanced past Ellie and met the stare of a server, holding a tray of lotuses. A small chill went down his spine. I see it.

Rory stood a few feet behind the twins, ready to either slam the doors shut or just trip them again. Seeing them pause, she glanced over their shoulders, seeing the creepy server behind the door. “Okay, even on my terms that’s fucking creepy.” She now focused her attention on the server, ready to defend if needed. “Ellie, behind.”

What the fuck? Once again, Linnaea shifted gears, now backing slowly away from the door as the lotus server was joined by another, and another, and another, until several of them were lined up behind the glass, moving slowly toward them, still unblinking. "Nope. Mm-mm. What in the line dancing fuck is that."

Ellie turned when Rory warned her. "What the fuck," Ellie said, shivers running down her spine at the Lotus Eaters, stepping back from the door.(edited)

Lucien had a vague, distant, maybe-not-real memory of these same creepy faces, staring out at them on their first day in Vegas. He remembered thinking it exciting, inviting, not the horrifying vision he was staring at now. Okay, maybe I'm second guessing going back in there.

Rory stayed still, letting the other three pass her before she started stepping back as well. Her brain now fully switched into defense mode, she spoke to Ellie without looking away from the Lotus Eaters. “Okay, start heading towards the van, I’ll blast them right back in there if they even think about moving.”

"Do you want to come with us now?" Ellie said harshly, walking backward. "Or do you want to deal with that?"

Linnaea looked back and forth between the servers and the strangers. "God damn it." She sighed, her choice clearly made. At least these two blink.

Ellie walked into Chiron's office, her heart pounded. Elliot understood what it meant when you were called into there sometimes. Though, when she saw Rory, she was confused. She barely knew the girl , just in passing and by name and godly parent. She knew that Jesse used to date her sister, but that's about it. She stood at the doorway, hesitant to walk in. Rory was already seated in the office, curling her knees into her chest on one of the chairs, as if that could calm her nerves. Chiron had told her that they were waiting on Ellie to arrive before they got started, so it was just the two of them sitting in semi-awkward silence on Rory's part as they waited. She almost let out a small sigh of relief when Ellie walked in, despite not really knowing the girl all that well, but gave her a small, shy smile regardless. Chiron smiled warmly at Ellie as she walked into his office. He was standing behind his desk, hands clasped behind his back. Rory didn't seem too keen to talk, so he'd simply waited the few minutes before he started asking questions. "Thank you both for coming, I appreciate it. How have the two of you been?" Ellie shrugged slightly. "You know, the unusual demigod things, college and work," Ellie joked. She took a seat in the chair next to Rory. "Sorry, but are we in trouble?" Rory uncurled herself when Ellie walked over, instead tucking them under herself, Indian style. She nodded along at Ellie's answer. "Yeah, that pretty much covers it up for me, too." She glanced over at the other girl. "I don't think so?" She then looked over at Chiron again. "Right?" "Oh no, not at all," he said. "Not in trouble, in fact I'm the one who has to trouble the two of you..." He cleared his throat. "There is a, ah, small quest that the gods have requested I arrange. I wanted to extend the task to you, if you will take it." "Quest? I'm honestly, not entirely sure what those entail," Ellie replied. Rory's eyebrows furrowed. "You need to send the two of us," She wiggled her finger in-between herself and Ellie. "on a quest?" Glancing at the other girl quickly, Rory felt some kind of comfort knowing that she wasn't the only one of the pair who had never been sent out of camp on a quest before, but she knew enough from Alex and Amber's stories. "Why do you think the two of us have to go?" "Well..." Chiron glanced down at the folded up piece of paper in front of him. He picked it up, hesitated, then unfolded it. On the page was a prophecy. "This is what the quest entails." The prophecy read: children of zeus and morpheus will fly  to right the wrong of three decades gone by they travel to a realm of idle bliss and find those lost to the timeless abyss two decedents with oneness of the mind shall the young heroes set out now to find but the true danger does not lie within though many tricks and tests the realm will spin instead the risk lies on the journey home where without care one will be cursed to roam

"I hope you can read my handwriting," Chiron said as he handed the paper over, "I was trying to get it down as fast as I could." "I'm a psychology major, not a english major, I don't analyze poems or whatever the fuck. What does this even mean?" Ellie replied. Rory bit her lip to try not to burst out laughing at Ellie's comment. There's was something that sounded slightly familiar to her, though she wasn't quite sure from where. Maybe heard in passing? "Well," she started when she was safe from laughing. "As comforting as that sounds for us. We're suppose to go find people?" Chiron couldn't help but smile, either. "That, I can explain in more detail. There are two, I suppose grandchildren of a minor goddess, Homonoia, that she would like to us to retrieve. They are believed to be stuck in the Lotus Hotel, which the prophecy seems to imply. Realm of idle bliss, timeless abyss, etcetera." "The Lotus Hotel? Isn't that somewhere on the west coast?" Ellie asked. Rory cursed under her breath when she heard The Lotus Hotel. No wonder it sounded familiar. "It's in Las Vegas. Amber got sent on a quest there a few years ago. But...why exactly do the gods want us to get find someone's grandkids exactly?" Chiron sighed. "I tried to get a straight answer from them but... Alas, this is all I was told. Lotus Hotel, heed the prophecy, find a set of twins. They were lost in the early 90s, I was told, and should be about your age. Now, I promised everyone that I would not force anyone to go on quests, I am sticking to my word. If you want to refuse, that is your decision and I will respect it." "So that's all we get to know? Do you at least know their names?" Ellie questioned. "We just get Lotus hotel, grandchildren, and twins, very fucking vague if you ask me." Rory stayed silent, glancing between Chiron and Ellie, hoping that they would at least get a little more information than that. "Unfortunately we are working with limited information," Chiron replied. "I don't have pictures or identifiable information. They have been missing for some time, and Homonoia does not have the same energy as the major gods. It is not as easy for her to visit and communicate with non-gods, so she only passed on the most vital information to me. If you accept this quest, I will provide transportation for you. Provided you find them quickly, you will be back within the week." Ellie looked over over to Rory. Ellie didn't know much about quests, nor did her siblings ever talk about any. "What do you think?" she asked. Rory turned slightly in her chair to face Ellie a bit more. "I don't know too much about the hotel, Amber didn't really go into detail about it? But, I'm a bit familiar." She shrugged lightly. "I'm if you are." She knew that if she rejected, then Bailey would be the next Zeus kid up, and figured if either of them should be thrown into a dangerous situation, it might as well be her. "We're in this together, I think." Ellie thought about everything her brothers have already been through, they had been vague, but she she could tell it hurt, and like hell would she do anything to put them through more. "Well, I guess we're in this together." Rory looked over at Chiron. "When do we leave?" Chiron released a breath, nodding. "Thank you. Let's give you the weekend to get yourselves ready. You can leave Monday or Tuesday." Ellie nodded. "Okay," she replied. "Any other vague statements that we need to know about?" Again, he couldn't help but look amused. "Not at the moment, but I'll let you know if I get any more messages." Rory mock saluted. "Yes, sir." She deadpanned, moving to stand up from her chair. Ellie stood. "Well, with that said, I'm going to peace, so I can warn my boyfriend and brothers so I don't disappear and they wonder where the heck I went for a week." Rory pointed at Ellie. "Same." She lifted her hand in farewell to Chiron before walking out with Ellie. "I guess I'll talk to you later?" "I guess so," Ellie said. "We got this."