open | event | All Shook Up!

[ironwood]

Characters: Teams Alpha, Beta, and Charlie; also, everyone!
Date: February 17th (through 28th)
Location: Tu Vishan's shell damaged areas (multiple locations), sewers
Situation: There are a number of damaged sections of Tu Vishan's shell and the kedan are working at repairs and, where the turtle's flesh itself has been damaged, healing. There are many convoluted sewer passages now open that Foreigners technically could access, if they can make it past the police that have been stationed around each exposed area.
Warnings/Rating: Medical examinations, blood & gore references, sewage; to be updated as needed.


Exposed Areas
The damages sustained during the dive event are not excessive in number, but are plentiful enough to require work groups of kedan to be deployed in a twenty-four/seven repair schedule. They are signed into each area through one of Evandau's direct reports and their numbers are counted throughout the day to enforce strict controls over those that have access to Tu Vishan, their most precious resource.

Those making it past the checkpoints or sneaking through gaps in the sentries find that the Emperor did not lie about the damages done. There are scars near each damaged bit of shell that shift into spider webbed stress lines and end with the jagged edging of broken shell. Kedan workers are busy trying to clear away broken shell and install metal-and-wood framing that will hold these pieces back in place when they are done.

Beneath the surface, some are working at dams and blockages in what appears to be an ancient sewer system. The walls are smooth and indicative of architecture done in concert with the natural growth of the turtle. Lanterns provide some pinpoints of light where dark mosses have grown over the bioluminescent shell itself, but the further one goes from the work sites, the more one must rely upon the natural lighting of the shell in order to proceed.

At the core of each operation are the best healers that the kedan population has to offer. They can be seen tending torn and blooded flesh of a momentous scale, mending the damages done directly to the turtle to the best measure that they can. These areas are the most stringently guarded, for Tu Vishan is most vulnerable beneath the armoured layer of its shell.

Sewage meets most that enter the tunnels rather than skulking about the sites, with an unpleasant smell lingering in the nose and mouth the longer that one stays there -- oh, and in the clothes, which may make a stealthy exit more difficult if one is not downwind. The tunnels twist and turn aplenty, crossing one another with a design more evolutionary than engineered. Those that wander in are at risk of becoming lost beneath the surface, with only a few doors and small closet-like rooms to be found where tools were stored once upon a time.

Be wary, Foreigners! There are many a kedan patrolling these areas and they will give chase in an unauthorised party is found. Evandau briefed a number of the teams himself, advising that Foreigners are all considered unauthorised. Parties subject to arrest are to be brought to the surface and handed over to either the police or, once it's in place, Raylan's civilian team for eventual escort to the palace prison.

OOC: Thread headers (and starters for the teams) are provided in the comments area of this post!

Comments

[sophos]

When someone tells a demigod not to do something, there's a ninety-nine percent chance they're going to do it. Which is why Annabeth started staking out the worksites invisibly almost immediately after the Emperor's warning went up. She'd studied architecture long enough to pick up with ease the ways to get down to the sewers, taking care to note the best times to get down there and best ways to sneak past any security, too. Life experience for half-bloods, to be honest.

So it's in the dead of night that three demigods crept their way into the sewers, and Annabeth wonders when the idea of traipsing through guck and mud and stench lost most of the "do not want" it should have had.

Light isn't an issue, not with celestial bronze to help guide them. The biggest issue here, for Annabeth at least, is not stopping too long while she examines the designs along the walls as they slosh through. She'll just keep holding up her knife to cast light on anything she deems interesting enough, in between holding it out in front and leading Percy and Leo behind her. She treads carefully and slowly, listening for the sounds of any kedan who would undoubtedly arrest them if found.

"It definitely looks more natural than man-made," she mutters, half to herself, half to them both.

[kelpful]

Percy falls in behind Annabeth easily, keeping his own sword drawn for the light. He's not too sure if the kedan count as mortals in this place or not, but if it comes down to needing a weapon, he's kind of surrounding with ammunition.

Really gross ammunition, but beggars can't be choosers. While 'King of the Sewers' hadn't come up in his little war with Leo, he makes good on the name anyway. There's enough water in the mixture for him to be able to move it out of their way as they walk.

"It's a part of the turtle." He blinks when he says it, not sure where it came from, but knowing he's right. "They didn't like, cut into it or anything."

Percy looks over at Leo, wishing he was Hazel or Frank or Grover for a second and then instantly feeling bad for it. He likes Leo, he's just not used to working with him yet. That'll change. "You okay, man?"

[fotia]

"What?" Percy's voice cuts through Leo's concentration, and he grins and gives a thumbs-up sign. "Oh, yeah, totally fine, wading pleasantly through crap while inhaling the invigorating stench of the sewers has always been a lifelong dream of mine!"

He frowns then; he's tried to sense for hidden locks or secret trap doors to no avail and it's starting to grate on his nerves. He's sworn to himself that he's going to be a bit more useful, to make up to Percy and Annabeth somehow, but he hasn't had either a discovery or a bright idea so far. As usual.

"I can't sense any locks or traps. What now?"

The question is more directed at Annabeth than Percy--not that he's given any serious thought into it; it just seems like the natural thing to do, to turn to her for guidance like that.

[sophos]

Annabeth always seems to forget how useful Percy's powers are, even in disgusting sewage. She doesn't know why, considering how their one month anniversary went.

"We don't get lost," she says to Leo, holding her knife over a particularly interesting looking curve and stopping briefly before continuing forward. "I'm not sure there will be many locks, not with how natural it all is. Traps, though - there's no telling what the kedan might have put down here. Just keep an eye out for them, though I doubt they'd be dangerous enough to potentially damage the turtle."

She pauses for a moment, thinking she hears movement other than them - but upon recognizing it as some kind of drainage, she starts again. "And you know. If anything does look like it was placed here unnaturally."

Because that's why they're here, after all.

[kelpful]

"Hey, come on. We're not wading through crap." Percy looks down at their feet to make sure that statement is actually true. "We're wading around it."

He frowns a little when Annabeth mentions that whole 'damage the turtle' thing. He's seen the scarring and the cracks, and it's making him a little bit ill to think about. Not that he's about to mention that - they've got more important things to focus on. Like not getting lost. "After the Labyrinth, this should be a piece of cake." It doesn't touch the sides that Leo is asking Annabeth what to do - places like this are definitely her forte more than his. Percy's okay with being the muscle for now.

[fotia]

"Don't get lost, right, must have forgotten about that part."

Leo considers making some witty comment (as his comments are always witty, obviously) along the lines of Percy and Super Sewer Powers, but considering that he is, in fact, under said guy's mercy if he wants to remain mostly crap-free, he decides against it.

He glances around a bit more, a feeling of dread that he's become rather used to whenever he goes on a quest rising in him. They've made it all the way to the sewers without encountering any problems and that in itself is strange and worth some semblance of alarm. Automatically, and almost unconsciously, he reaches into his tool belt and fiddles around with cogs and bolts, not really thinking about what exactly he's trying to assemble.

"Hey, so..." His voice hitches up, so he pauses, gulps, and tries again. "Is anyone else thinking that this has been a bit too easy so far?"

[sophos]

"I remember the way back," she says idly, because, well, she does - as of now. Her memory's always been great, and at least the route isn't changing. "Percy's right, this is nothing compared to the Labyrinth."

She notices Leo's fidgeting but doesn't draw attention to it. Mostly because she's frowning over his second question. "I'm a little surprised we haven't run into anyone else yet. If they're that determined to keep people out, there's bound to be patrols down here. Unless the lack of security presence means there's nothing worth guarding this way."

And that thought gives her pause, especially at a fork in the system, enough to actually make her stop walking in consideration. "Do either of you sense anything different in either direction?"

Between water flow or mechanical structures, at least. She still doesn't hear any signs of life.

[kelpful]

Percy grins at Annabeth when she mentions remembering the way back, because he has no idea where they are right now.

His expression becomes a little more serious at the idea that there might be traps. 'Easy' has never been synonymous with 'good' for any demigod. "No one's allowed to judge me if I have to end up using sewer water to shield us, okay?" He pauses, trying to mentally wade through the crap in the sewer to get a sense of what's out there, but it's cloying, sickening. His stomach lurches as he realises what it reminds him of - thick black liquid, choking, drowning.

It takes him a second to shake the comparison. "Uh - sorry. I can't getting anything, not when the water's like this." He turns and looks hopefully at Leo.

[fotia]

Really, though, he's thankful that he's with Annabeth and Percy; with Annabeth's superbrain and Percy's water manipulation they've been more than a perfect fit for this almost-quest. Now if only he could be useful, too.

So at the mention of his name Leo furrows his brows and concentrates, feeling around for any traps, taking his time and checking both paths twice over.

"Nope, none on either direction," he says when he's absolutely sure. And then, because he couldn't stop himself this time around, and because it might help him relax a bit, he adds, "Looks like we're safe, oh Lord and Lady of the Sewers."

[sophos]

Annabeth's spent enough time around Percy to notice the pause and reaction, and she can guess what might have brought it up - enough to at least give his shoulder a squeeze. That doesn't stop the slight hiss of disappointing sigh when he can't find anything, and she waits for Leo's analysis with a slight twitch to her step.

Having started to pace and shift a little as the boys did their things, she stops short without any warning, turning over her shoulder to shoot Leo A Look. Something of a glare. "Restrict the title to him," she says icily, jabbing her thumb in Percy's direction.

She considers each direction in the fork. Squints and thinks and physically wavers between the two. Finally, "Left, maybe. It's darker." Because lack of light could be something to hide. That's all she's got right now, and she will not get frustrated over this. (Except where she kind of is.) So much so that she doesn't really wait for their input before marching leftward, her walking only slowed because she doesn't want to wade through unmoved sewage.

Really, she should not be annoyed over being safe. Because that is the sort of thing that never lasts.

[kelpful]

Percy's doing what he can, but that sick feeling is (weirdly enough) getting stronger rather than fading away. He hasn't really thought about how nearly drowning would effect him before now, a mixture of avoidance and a belief that it wouldn't really be relevant again.

He's a demigod. He should have known better. "You don't want to be my Lady?" he asks Annabeth, his tone a mockery of hurt feelings to hide his actual discomfort. He tries to focus harder on the water part of what he's doing , moving the sewage around as they turn left. "Darker, right, of course. Are we like, actively looking for danger right now because we don't have anything better to do?"

It comes out a little harsher than he means it to, and he winces. "Sorry. Left is good, lead on."

[fotia]

Leo tails them, completely oblivious to Percy's predicament and focusing instead on his former statement. "Yeah, Annabeth, that rejection's kind of harsh, even for you."

So it's safe, for now, which is probably why his brain chooses this moment to go haywire. His eyes dart to random things: The slosh surrounding them, the damp walls, Annabeth and Percy's glowing weapons. His fingers move at a more frantic pace to put on the final touches of whatever he's trying to assemble right now.

When he catches himself extremely restless he finally stops and stares at the gadget in his hand: it's a miniature grabber arm, like the ones that pick up stuffed toys in arcades.

So it's obviously in this brief moment of distraction that he fails to notice the shadow looming over him.

Suddenly, a pair of hands drag him back. A yelp of both alarm and surprise escapes him as he struggles to get away. Several more kedan emerge from the clearing behind them and head in Percy and Annabeth's direction.

[sophos]

She rolls her eyes, and though neither of them can probably see the motion, they can probably hear it. In her tone. "Not Lady of the Sewers." But you know, something else is doable.

Glances at Percy have her frowning, because something is so very on his mind, and it's not good. She's hesitant to ask, not while literally inside a turtle and on a pseudo-quest.

And, of course, there's the yelp, which pushes any thought of that out of her mind immediately. Annabeth whirls around, pulling her knife up and stepping closer towards Percy, a habitual move based on years of experience. She sees one of the kedan holding Leo, but there's another coming for her that she needs to deal with first. But it's instinctual and not the first time she's had to fight off kedan.

She takes a few quick steps to meet the one in the front, and it catches him off guard enough that she's able to slash at his leg. As he howls at the wound and curses her out in distraction, she lands a kick in just the right spot to send him falling over into sewage.

It doesn't even occur to her to watch her back. Percy's there. She does take a step backward though, eyes darting between Leo and everything else, viciously trying to calculate a way to get them all out. Some of the kedan hesitate, with the element of surprise no longer an option, and Annabeth notes that.

Too safe really should have been a warning all on its own. She looks at Percy, and she doesn't have to speak to convey what she thinks he should do, if he can. They've been doing this for years.

[kelpful]

Ordinarily, Percy would respond to that opening with a suggestion of something a little more flattering she could be Lady of. But right now is not really ordinarily. He squeezes his eyes shut for a second, trying to rid himself of visions of black liquid rising higher and higher. There's something wrong, or something that he should be paying attention to in the water but his thoughts are scrambling everywhere - the downside of ADHD.

The upside has a chance to show itself a few seconds later at Leo's yelp. That's when he figures out what, exactly, happens to be wrong. Cursing, he brings his sword down on the nearest kedan reaching for him, moving into place at Annabeth's blind spot without even thinking. He shoves the kedan who attacked him over with his foot, grinning briefly as he hits the sewage at the same time as Annabeth's.

Of course, that still leaves Leo in the thick of it. Percy covers his girlfriend as she steps back, making sure she has time and space to think. His sword flicks out as another kedan decides to give it a go; his strikes aren't lethal, but he knows how to hit where it hurts. Now would probably be the time for some witty (in his mind, at least) comment, but his stomach is still churning and he's kind of concerned that if he opens his mouth right now, something other than words will come out.

Glancing back at Annabeth, he nods at her inspection. Kicking another kedan back, he tries to focus on what water there is, eking it from the sewage and hardening it into projectiles to punch down the kedan surrounding Leo.

He gets about halfway through that before he stomach lurches again and he loses focus. If the situation had been a little more life threatening he might have been able to keep control, but without that pressure and too much distraction from thoughts of sick liquid crawling up his body, he can't do it. Unfortunately for pretty much everyone involved, this results in a small explosion of sewage in the general area. No one is spared.

"--Crap."

[fotia]

Leo would try helping his friends anyway even if they are more than capable of handling themselves, but he's currently struggling against the kedan that caught him and he's never been that much of a fighter. He considers just setting himself on fire, but where there is sewage there is methane and hydrogen sulfide and--well, the short version of it is that things might go ka-boom!

And then the burst of sewage water hits him, causing him to stagger back. The kedan's grip on him loosens, enough for him to wriggle an arm free. He juts out an elbow at the kedan's chest.

It works; the kedan releases him long enough for him to pull out a fisherman's net from his toolbelt. Without much thought he flings it at the incoming kedans; it manages to tangle around them and hold them back but Leo knows it's only a temporary fix.

He's also underestimated exactly how many the kedans are. Tip: A lot. And the net doesn't even capture all of them.

He curses in Spanish, and thanks to the auto-translation of the turtle whoever is listening has likely heard new and creative ways of insulting everyone's mother. He then follows it up with a, "Run! Get out of here!" to Percy and Annabeth.

[sophos]

This is not the first time Annabeth has found herself soaked in disgusting sewage. It is however the first time it's ever quite happened like that, and after she attempts to wipe her eyes clear enough, she glances at Percy, masking her concern if only so the kedan don't pick up on it. She doesn't know what went wrong, exactly, but there's time to figure that out later. At least it managed to cause enough of a distraction for Leo to get free.

Note to self: compliment Leo in the future for that fishnet maneuver. It manages to occupy a good number of the kedan as they struggle to get out of it, and two of those not caught proceed to try and help break it.

"Don't be stupid," she hisses at Leo, even as the remaining kedan skulk and scowl over their new smelly fashion statements, glaring and cursing out at Percy for his abysmal design. Annabeth herself is not nearly as concerned with it.

Two of the kedan surge forward, and Annabeth dives into a roll, coming up behind one and slamming the hilt of her knife into the back of its head. It doesn't go down, just sort of stands there in a daze, so she hits it again, in the same spot but harder. He crumples, and Annabeth whirls, ducking as another kedan gets up close and takes a swing to grab at her hair. She swings her leg up between both of his, sliding a little unexpectantly in the muck in the process, but it has the desired effect as the kedan clutches himself, and she strikes to incapacitate, not kill.

But more come at her and Percy both, and as much as she wants to rush for Leo, she knows she has to pull back in the opposite direction right now. Her steps lean towards her boyfriend, without even realizing and just in knowing where he is. In the meantime, her eyes are darting for routes: escape routes, routes to Leo, routes to outmatch the kedan, any and all of the above.

[kelpful]

"My bad!" Okay so he feels sick and a little light-headed, but that's okay. He's carried the weight of the world on his shoulder before, he can do this. What 'this' is, he's not too sure, because when he tries to reach for the water again his stomach twists and there's a tremble to his hands, and he decides that maybe just sticking to he sword right now is a good idea.

"Dude come on, would you go?" He rolls his eyes in Leo's general direction before he whirls, covering Annabeth as she moves. Percy makes more use of Riptide's flat side and pommel than the edge. As much as he doesn't want to get arrested, he also doesn't want to kill anyone here.

Annabeth moves faster than he does, which is why he's surprised to find her right back where he is a few seconds later. He falls easily into place, though, even as he glances at her. "Can't break through?" A kedan gets slammed in the side of the head with Riptide. "How many of these things are there?"

[fotia]

A lot more than Leo thought he could handle, apparently. Several kedan manage to cut through the net, and Leo tries to run but a hand pulls him back, and then another, and before he knows it he's dragged back to the crowd of understandably pissed-off pursuers.

He curses again and tries to struggle free but he's too weak and the kedan are too strong, and they pin his hands behind him in a tight grip. His eyes dart around in a panic but nothing comes to him. He can't move and his toolbelt is charging and he's all out of ideas.

And of course he's captured. Of course. As if he hadn't let Annabeth and Percy down enough yet.

"Yeah, if I were you I think I'd definitely go now!" he yells before a kedan, rolling his eyes and looking rather annoyed, stuffs a piece of cloth in his mouth.

Oh, okay. So he can't escape and he can't talk. He really hopes Percy and Annabeth takes his advice this time.

[sophos]

"Too many," she grunts, slashing at a kedan as it makes for Percy's blind spot. The kedan are trying a little harder now, a little more calculated than rush-forward-and-try-to-grab. Even if two against too many isn't great odds, it's also not something neither Percy or Annabeth are unaccustomed to; but right now, no, they can't break through to get to Leo, and Percy can probably read that in her face.

She swears when Leo is taken again, then gagged and bound, complete with half a guard ring around him. That doesn't include the other kedan, glaring pointedly at their two still free trespassers.

Her eyes are wide, and she doesn't want to do this. Take Leo's warning. There's too many kedan. Percy can't control the water like he wants to - she can tell, could tell, right from the start - and she knows they can't handle all these kedan, not without him at full strength. Her grip on her knife tightens.

"Percy, he's right, we need to go," she says under her breath, scowling; she rests her free hand on his arm and gives it a squeeze, before she starts to half shove him, half drag him backwards. "We can't get taken."

Annabeth knows he won't like it, because gods, she doesn't either. But she can't let all of them get arrested down here. There's real potential to get lost if they run off haphazardly, too, but she knows her memory is good enough, and if they flee, throw the kedan off their trail, she can lead them back out. She's confident in that.

"We'll find you!" she shouts at Leo, catching his eyes and holding out her knife, not really caring if the kedan hear her; she continues trying to lead her boyfriend away in the process, before the kedan catch on and catch up. Prison was inescapable, huh? Maybe they'd never faced down a girl with an invisibility cap and a boy who could summon the ocean.

[kelpful]

"Hey!" He lashes out a little too hard and just about brains the kedan coming at him when he sees them gag Leo. "The only people who're allowed to make him shut up are us!"

Even after Leo insists on them leaving, it doesn't actually occur to Percy that they'll listen. Not until Annabeth's hand is on his arm, and he jerks back to stare at her, wide-eyed. He knows what she's going to say, and he can't accept that, can't--

She starts pushing and he stumbles, unable to help himself from moving with her. "Annabeth, come on, we can take them. Annabeth." There's a note of desperation to his tone because he's failed too many times lately, but he also knows she's right. Maybe they could get Leo if they were willing to start killing, but neither of them are.

Or maybe if his powers hadn't completely failed him. He swallows, hard, both against nausea and the knowledge that this is his fault as he allows his body to follow Annabeth's direction, knowing he'll never figure out where to go without her. "What she said!"

[sophos]

The desperation in his voice when he says her name hits her hard, but she steels her face and keeps tugging him along. There's a reason loyalty is his fatal flaw. Eventually she just breaks into a run, knowing he'll keep up, but they need to lose the kedan.

She knew the risks in coming down here, they all did, but leaving Leo behind, despite knowing there was no other choice, leaves a horrible taste in her mouth, and she doesn't let go of Percy's arm as she hurries through the sewers. She can't lose him, too.

But they're both quick, and she memorizes the route as they take it. She takes a sharp left, then spots a ledge, drainage, but it looks like only water and it looks big enough. They can crawl in there till the sounds of kedan chasing them disappear.

"Give me a boost," Annabeth hisses, the edge just out of the reach of her fingertips.

[kelpful]

His gaze lingers in the place where they left Leo right up until she breaks into a run and he finally has to tear it away. He runs with her, passages flying by and every one of them looking exactly the same. On the list of things that bother Percy right now, though, that probably comes last on the list. He trusts Annabeth to get them out.

His heart pounds hard in his chest, or maybe that's his throat. There's no room for it in his stomach, that's for sure. Not when that sick, cloying feeling is still sticking to his insides. "What?" Her words shove him out of his own head, and he realises that they've stopped. "Oh - yeah, sure." He laces his fingers together and crouches a little, giving her a step up. He makes sure that she's safely in place before following her up there with a lot of grunting and a fair share of cursing. Apparently it's time to start working on upper body strength.

But they both get up on the ledge, and Percy takes a couple of seconds to catch his breath as the sounds of the kedan chasing them start to die off. He's mostly sure they're gone when he just sort of moves a bit and ends up pressing his face into Annabeth's shoulder, squeezing his eyes shut. His hand scrabbles around for a bit before it finds hers, squeezing. Not enough to hurt, but enough to make it clear that he's having an issue right now.

[sophos]

Annabeth scrambles to help him up in return, pulling them both a little backward to stay out of line of sight once they're both over the ledge. She barely moves, doesn't make a noise, not until the only thing she hears is the sounds of sewage.

And then Percy's there, leaning on her, taking her hand. She squeezes his in return and wraps her free arm around his back, tugging him a little closer to her. Somewhere in her mind, she now vaguely remembers they're still covered in guck, but that's not really important. She picked up on this a lot earlier, whatever it is, before he was so clear about it.

"Percy," Annabeth says, her voice still low, just in case, her tone concerned and soft. She tries not to picture Leo bound and gagged and surrounded by kedan, but she's pretty sure she won't stop seeing it. Not until they get him out. She's not blaming Percy, either, and that too comes out in her tone. "What's wrong?"

[kelpful]

It takes him a little while to respond. Once they get cleaned up and he can experience some real water, he thinks it won't be so bad. But right now? Right now sucks.

"...It's not water," he says eventually. He tries telling himself that he's being stupid, that he needs to be strong, that he should have pulled it together for Leo. "I mean, some of it is, but most of it's just sewage. I can't do anything with that." And he has reason to be hyper aware of what that kind of liquid can do to him.

[sophos]

She gives him another squeeze. Annabeth is observant, with meticulous attention to detail. It's not hard to figure where his thought process is going, even if she only heard what happened in story form.

"I believe you," she says with absolution. She's covered in it, she ran through it, she knows. She also knows there's more to it than that. "It's not your fault."

Because she knows a part of him is blaming himself right now, too.