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

[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.

[kelpful]

He sucks in a lungful of air, but it still tastes like the sewers. "Annabeth, I can summon the ocean." The guilt is laced all through his tone. He doesn't have to disagree with words, the way he speaks does it for him. "I just couldn't focus. Everything felt...sick."

It's not something he would ever share with anyone except her. For all his friendliness and backchat, Percy knows he's supposed to be the hero for other demigods, that he needs to stay strong. Annabeth, who's already seen him at his worst a hundred times over, he doesn't have to hide anything from.

[sophos]

"I know you can." She frowns, both in sympathy and with minor chastising.

"There's nothing wrong with you, Percy. And I know what you're going to tell me otherwise, so don't even try it."

But she gets it, that feeling of weakness, of failure, and Annabeth more than anyone can understand how crushing that is. She squeezes his hand again, gives him a sideways hug, and leans herself closer into him. Quietly: "Because of what happened in Rome."

It's not a question. Nor is it judgmental.

[kelpful]

Percy just lets himself take comfort in Annabeth's steadfast for a moment.

"I didn't think it'd be a problem," he says eventually, pulling away a little. "Like, it happened, but then it was over and nobody drowned. And I've been surrounded by water since I got here and everything's been fine."

He makes a bit of a face. "I guess it wasn't water that was the problem."

[sophos]

Annabeth doesn't respond right away, her expression turning into something thoughtful, as she lightly rubs her hand on his back (though she doesn't quite realize she's doing that).

"You said it yourself. There's not a lot of water in all this either." This being the sewers, and she'd make a gesture if her hands weren't refusing to break contact with him. She hesitates for a moment, but she knows him well enough by this point that she can practically think his thoughts herself. "It's not bad to still be afraid or worried over it, okay? You're not invincible."

'Not anymore' is unintentionally hanging in the air, because she knows neither of them could forget it. But she's not going to let him blame himself or drown in these feelings, figuratively speaking. (She chides herself for poor word choice.) He is not the problem.

"We can get through this." The we is natural; she doesn't even think about it.

[kelpful]

The hand rubbing back and forth in his back helps that sick feeling subside more than anything else has so far. He presses his face into her shoulder again for a moment, listening to her reassure him.

He fills in the 'not anymore' after invincible on his own, but it doesn't really bother him. He can still remember plunging into the Little Tiber with her name on his mind; if he hadn't, he never would have made it back to her. Even with the situation right now, invincibility isn't worth Annabeth.

We can get through this. There's still a lot of residual guilt and concern there, but he still believes her when she says it. Annabeth doesn't lie, not to him. So he lifts his head off her shoulder and gives her a tired smile. "Can we get through it somewhere with a shower? Because this is gross."

[sophos]

Her hand moves to the back of his neck when he leans into her shoulder, another thoughtless movement. She can tell he's relaxing, a little bit, and she doesn't push him. She means every word she says, because she believes in him. Even if he was afraid of drowning, she's there for him, and she'll drag him out of it. Always.

At his smile, Annabeth breaks into a tiny one of her own, resisting the urge to shake her head when he speaks. But it's a good sign. She pauses to listen for any movements in the system below them. "And here I was beginning to think sewage was starting to be our thing."

By which she means yes, please, a shower would be good. She can worry about everything else once they get out and cleaned up.

[kelpful]

Percy goes to kiss her on the cheek, and then makes a face before he gets to it. Because they really are covered right now. "I'm trying to decide if that's a better or worse thing than you hitting me all the time."

He breaks away from her completely then, his stomach as settled as it can be while they're still in the sewers. "Okay. Shower, sleep, and then finding Leo once - and then finding Leo. Sound good?"

[sophos]

She laughs at the face he makes, but she can't say she blames him. There's a reason she resisted all her own urges to kiss him while they sat up here. Except she lightly smacks his shoulder at that remark, because how could she not? "Worse, clearly."

Annabeth shifts herself to the edge, tugging his hand in hers to pull him along beside her. She dangles her legs over the side. "Sounds good. And there's no Kampê to worry about in this jail, which automatically makes it easier. We'll get him out, okay?" Her tone is determined. Confident.

Giving his hand a squeeze, she jumps to the ground below, knowing he'll go in sync.

[kelpful]

"Oh man, Annabeth, don't say that." Knowing their luck, when they try to break in she'll be waiting for them now.

He moves after her, and jumps at the same time. There's a very brief, very hideous sense of deja vu that has him clenching her hand hard enough to actually hurt, but he realises what he's doing almost immediately and forces himself to relax. His expression is some mix between strained and sheepish; this has not been Percy's night. "Sorry. Come on, let's go. You remember the way, right?" Of course she does.

[sophos]

Her eyes are on him instantly when she feels actual pain in her hand, but it only takes one look to realize why, and her face falls, just a little. She squeezes his hand back, then nods. "Of course I do."

And Annabeth guides them back out through the sewer system easily (who knew routes that didn't move made for better navigation?). There's a few close encounters as they creep out through the exit, and subsequently through the worksites (the fact that they both smell so utterly disgusting probably didn't help). Back routes and back streets are her choice as they head for her suite, because there's no way they'd be able to hide where they were if someone, kedan or otherwise, spotted them.

There's a playful brawl over who gets the shower first (which Annabeth wins, and she makes him wait outside so the sewage doesn't get all over her couch). She lets him know when she's done for his turn, then crawls for Daedalus's laptop at a desk in her bedroom, flicking it on and running prison break scenarios, inputting as much as she knows about the Emperor's. She gets so engrossed that she probably doesn't even hear the water stop when he finishes (she kind of forgot to brush her hair, too, and she doesn't even remember tugging it up into the wet bun at the back of her head).