|
|
Post by HungryHunter on Sept 22, 2017 5:54:05 GMT
Burial mounds were a common feature across the world, Gianni knew. However, most of the mounds in Ireland were something else, supports of long gone buildings. This one in particular, located in Northern Ireland, wasn't. It hadn't been discovered by the mundanes, disguised as just another hill among dozens of others in the fields outside of a small rural town. Just as well, considering what was inside. Gianni scooped up another shovelfull, hating how much this part of the job made him sweat. He felt sticky and gross. However, after two weeks, the results were phenomenal. Some of the findings were mundane. Very standard pottery for Iron Age Gaelic Ireland, a few human skeletons with worn grave goods.
MI13 would arrange a way for mundane archaeologists to have then in a way that preserved their context, but without the stranger remains beneath. Alongside the regular goods were magic spears and shields, as well as bones that could not be explained away. Vertebrae that appeared to belong to a giant snake, with bodies wider than dinner plates. Femurs of giants, twice as long and four times as thick as the corresponding bones in a human. And lastly, the horn of a cow that you could turn into a canoe. It was when they got deeper than level with the ground that they came across a surprise discovery. They discovered what they thought to be a stone floor, but after more digging, they discovered it was in fact massive stone doors, ten feet tall if set upright and eight feet across. They were marked with Celtic spirals all over, a uniform covering of little carvings. That was three hours ago. His crew had gone to bed, but Gianni was just pacing back and forth in front of the doors. How could he sleep 30 feet away from the greatest discovery of his career?
He hugged his lemon yellow coat closer against the chilly night air. What was he doing? Greatest discovery of his career? He had been a real archaeologist for less than a year. Besides, his discoveries in Texas were far more important, at least personally. All this had over that was that it was more lucrative. He hated that feeling. It wasn't pure avarice, he always told himself, he needed money to live. And even though working for hidden world organizations payed much better than his old department store job, they still didn't have much spare cash for shovelbums, and it could be weeks between jobs. He rubbed sleep out of his eyes and adjusted his rhinestone coated glasses. How would they open this thing?
|
|
|
|
Post by TimePuppy on Sept 23, 2017 17:15:45 GMT
Aaron Dike walked past tools and signs telling him that this is an archaeological dig site. He knew that already. The courts informed him mere hours ago that humans found the entrance to a tomb the fay sought after for centuries. They didn't reveal much about the contents of the tomb, but both courts wanted what was inside. As balancer of the courts, it was up to Aaron to collect the relic and figure out what to do with it without making one court too powerful compared to the other.
Seeing as the sun was almost down and it would take a few hours for most magic users to decypher the fairy magic guarding the tomb, Aaron decided that sneaking in under the cover of night would be best. No one to interfere if they're all asleep.
Unfortunately, some poor sap decided to hang around the entrance at the very moment Aaron arrived. His hands, inside the pockets of his fur-lined jacket, balled into fists. He could just knock out the person and get this over with quickly. But if the guy was a superhuman, that could result in a loud fight that would wake up the rest. He clicked his tongue as he approached the man.
"You, go to bed. I have business inside and I don't need interruptions."
|
|
|
|
Post by HungryHunter on Sept 23, 2017 20:09:49 GMT
Gianni jumped when he heard Aaron's tongue click. "Wha- inside? You can get in?" His eyes nervously flicked over the intruder, Leather jacket, faux fur on the collar. Spiked red hair. Weird necklace he couldn't see all that well in the dark. At least a foot taller than the puny Gianni. He could enter this tomb? Was he some form of guardian spirit of the tomb? A descendant of a Gaelic hero? He was so big and imposing, he certainly matched the archetype. "I can't let you. You'll disturb the context. Please leave." He was not liking the look on the man's face as he stretched his arms out to block his path. He could yell for help, but the others had proven themselves heavy sleepers before.
|
|
|
|
Post by TimePuppy on Sept 23, 2017 21:02:48 GMT
Aaron got closer to Gianni. He stood imposingly above him and stared him down with amber eyes. "It's already past your bedtime, scrawny. I said I have business inside and I'll get around to it with or without your going to bed peacefully." Aaron willfully gazed into Gianni's eyes. "Get out of my way."
|
|
|
|
Post by HungryHunter on Sept 23, 2017 23:25:19 GMT
Gianni went a deeper purple at Aaron's words. Unlike many short men, he had no hangups about his lack of stature. What angered him was the condescension. "Excuse me, but I am not a child. You might have me mistaken for an intern, but I am running this dig." He had to crane his neck to look Aaron in the eye, but he did his best to not make it look pathetic. It was getting harder to not quake. He didn't know if this guy could break his neck with a slap of if he was a normal human. Maybe I can't keep him out. Well, if I can't, I'll take advantage of him going in! "And as the person in charge, I give you permission to open the tomb doors if I come with you and you don't ruin anything." His voice didn't hold the confidence his words suggested. "And if you try to enter without me, I'll call MI13 HQ." He squeaked finally.
|
|
|
|
Post by TimePuppy on Sept 25, 2017 19:44:54 GMT
Aaron frowned. The archaeologist was more persistent then Aaron imagined he would be. Still, he threatened involving the hidden world organizations and that would be a tiresome complication.
"Fine," he conceded. "Just don't get in my way."
He pointed the palm of his hand to the stone gate and raised his arm up, the gate rising with it. He took out a small flashlight from his pocket and pointed it into the darkness ahead.
"You know how to fight for your life, right?"
|
|
|
|
Post by HungryHunter on Sept 27, 2017 4:37:11 GMT
"Really?" Gianni's bangs bounced in excitement. He had expected Aaron to punch him. Hard. Actual success hadn't seemed likely there, but he supposed this guy really didn't want anybody called in on him. Gianni guessed that gave him some leverage. "You know how to fight for your life, right?" The question made him involuntarily touch his chest though his radioactively green shirt. "Yes. Hold on, you haven't even told me who you are or how you knew anything about this place. Are you a descendant of Cu Chulainn?" That was still his favorite explanation. "I'm Gianni Arachne by the way." It would be rude to demand somebody's name without giving his own.
|
|
|
|
Post by TimePuppy on Sept 27, 2017 20:16:02 GMT
The man, Gianni, wanted the to get introduced. Aaron sighed. "I'm not his descendant. I work for some annoying fairies and they want some mutt's spear that's supposedly hidden away here. My name is Aaron Dike. Now get inside. I don't have all night to share gossip with you. Or did you change your mind?"
|
|
|
|
Post by HungryHunter on Sept 27, 2017 23:34:50 GMT
"Pleased to meet you, Aaron." You asshole. His mind hissed what his mouth could not. He still didn't want to get punched. He jumped into the opening first, eyes shutting involuntarily against the sudden light. It was a few minutes before he could force his eyes open long enough for a good look at his environment. He stood in a cave with the walls formed entirely of variously sized stones marked with runes, all held in place by thick roots coated in lichens.
The light was from holes in the ceiling, letting in a light with a tint of green like it was passing through leaves. They weren't just in a tomb-that opening was a portal. He instantly began snapping pictures of the runes on the walls. Hopefully they would be able to examine these at their own pace later, but just in case they couldn't, he was getting shots now. The vast majority of them were martial in nature, depicting war gods, men and even a few apparent women in combat, and fairies crafting weapons. "So, you just work for these fairies? You aren't an expert on their history or culture, right?" Gianni couldn't keep the disappointment out of his voice. He had an expert on the fair folk on the dig team of course (he was half fae himself) but he was surrounded by a treasure trove and couldn't understand more than the most basic level of it.
|
|
|
|
Post by TimePuppy on Sept 30, 2017 19:59:36 GMT
Aaron glanced at the images without paying too much attention. He saw similar stuff in other ruins, not that he cared much back then either.
"So, you just work for these fairies? You aren't an expert on their history or culture, right?" Gianni asked, the disappointment in his voice being very obvious.
Aaron looked at him. "I'm hired muscle, I do what they tell me because I owe them and they help me get by. I picked up on some stuff, but I don't give a shit about most of it. Just like all you do is dig where the organizations tell you to; you're not an expert on hidden world politics, right?"
|
|
|
|
Post by HungryHunter on Oct 1, 2017 2:37:07 GMT
"Hey, I just thought you might know something." Gianni grumbled defensively. He kept looking over the rocks. He wasn't going to move until he was forced to. He wasn't looking at the earth, not yet anyway. There was a light smattering of moss on it that seemed to ripple to anybody looking. It looked like the sunlight was dappled through leaves that were being moved about, but if they looked closer, it would become clear that the earth itself was stirring. Soon it rose in two mounds with a grinding noise. The mounds formed stony skulls covering their utmost tops as they grew, clearly human. When they finished emerging, they waved like snakes taller than Aaron, opening their skeletal jaws to unleash an unearthly green glow. They screamed in a language that hadn't been spoken since the time of Cu Chulain and voices colder than the grave. Gianni didn't turn from his stones. They were utterly engrossing.
|
|
|
|
Post by TimePuppy on Oct 12, 2017 15:33:49 GMT
Aaron didn't blink at the sight of these monstrous snakes. He fought bigger. He fought scarier. He cracked his knuckles, when he noticed that the scrawny guy wasn't paying attention to his surroundings at all.
"You ain't on a bloody museum tour! Pay attention or you're gonna die!"
Aaron ran towards one of the snakes. A faint light appeared underneath his shirt. The power of Asmodeus flowed through him and he used his newfound super strength and jumping ability to try and grab it's neck or the snake equivalent of one. If he succeeded, he would try and smash its head repeatedly against the floor.
|
|
|
|
Post by HungryHunter on Oct 12, 2017 21:22:16 GMT
The earthen beast couldn't resist Aaron's strength and it was crushed against the wall, its skull crumbling back into dirt. The headless body writhed backwards while the other lunged at Aaron, attempting to ram him into the wall. "What? Ah! What are those!?" Gianni yelled as the damaged mound made itself a new skull and its green glow renewed. It lashed out and he jumped onto the ceiling and stuck, letting it pass harmlessly below. Why can't my digs just have normal problems, like tropical diseases and bug bites? He lamented.
|
|
|
|
Post by TimePuppy on Oct 14, 2017 5:42:20 GMT
"They're big earth snakes that want to stop our progress."
The snake slammed Aaron into the wall, knocking the wind out of him. He tried grabbing the creature's head and smashing it into the wall just like with the first one. He could think of a way to permanently kill or incapacitate it after he managed to catch his breath. Maybe seeing what the scrawny archaeologist can do would give him ideas.
|
|
|
|
Post by HungryHunter on Oct 14, 2017 17:53:32 GMT
"Well, they're glowing." Gianni pointed to their glowing eyes and mouths. "Do you think whatever light source is in them is doing that?" The mound beast once again was crushed on the wall. With the skull collapsed, the entire end glowed until it sealed it off with false bone once more. Both "snakes" turned towards Aaron, the clear threat here, and lunged, trying to lock their bony jaws on his arms and pull him apart. Gianni dropped to the floor and picked up a large rock. "Hfg!" He grunted when he lifted it. Gianni's strength was little more than would be expected for his size. Already his arms were nagging him to drop it, which he gladly did after taking a few steps up a wall. It smashed through the body of one of the monsters, just behind its skull. There was a distinctly organic crunch hidden among the noise of earth being crumbled. The living mound collapsed under its own weight, becoming only so much ancient dirt.
|
|
|
|
Post by TimePuppy on Oct 14, 2017 18:18:37 GMT
The snakes turned their attention to Aaron. Before they managed to sink their fangs into him, he tried grabbing one and using it as a shield for the other to bite into. Before the other could reach him, however, it crumbled into dirt.
"Good thinking, rawny. I guess you're not completely gutless."
Aaron tried ripping the remaining snake in two. If he succeeded he would stomp with all his might on the part where Gianni dropped his rock.
|
|
|
|
Post by HungryHunter on Oct 15, 2017 5:11:33 GMT
The remaining serpent struggled in Aaron's grip and cracks began to form at the place where its jaws met. Dirt poured in tiny, coarse, streams from the cracks, growing into waterfalls as the cracks grew and the body was split. Revealed was a mummified little scrap of flesh. Gianni revealed after a second it was a heart, desiccated but still pulsing like it was full of life, emitting a radioactive green glow. Gianni didn't hesitate. A hair grew long on his head and he plucked it off to flick it at the heart, yanking it away. It bounced off the wall and rolled on the floor. "Crush it or something!" He yelled. The original body of the being collapsed, but a new mound was forming up around the heart.
|
|
|
|
Post by TimePuppy on Oct 15, 2017 5:58:28 GMT
Aaron stomped the heart, which went out with a satisfying crunch. He cleaned the sole of his shoe against the very pile of dirt that attacked him previously and the faint light under his shirt disappeared.
"Alright, let's keep going. You can gawk at other walls further in."
|
|
|
|
Post by HungryHunter on Oct 15, 2017 18:12:35 GMT
The heart vanished in a flash of green that made Aaron's foot fall asleep for a minute. "Good job." Gianni admitted. Now that he knew there was danger in this tomb, he was glad he had Aaron along. He was unpleasant company, but he was strong as hell. Gianni reluctantly left the stony walls behind as they walked deeper into the tomb. Soon, the green light vanished and Gianni had to turn on his flashlight. The walls were the same as higher up, but now they seemed to be telling a story. Gianni spotted figures that appeared to be infants, then small children a little later. Many of the stones were duplicates of each other, but there was a sort of progression as they went along.
Gianni figured it was the story of Cu Chulainn by the time they reached an odd section of the hallway with no stones in the walls, just thicker roots with only tiny gaps between them. The pictures matched the myths about him. He paused his thoughts when he heard something behind the root walls. "Stop. Did you hear that?" It was a faint buzz, like an insect's wings-no, not an insect. Many. A little green light came into view behind the root wall, drifting slowly through the air. It landed on the edge of the one of the holes and waved unsteadily like a flower in the wind.
It was a fairy, clearly. A tiny humanoid creature with wings like an insect. It was hard to see, but Gianni could tell it wasn't a regular, living fairy. Its butterfly wings had the texture of a burial veil. Its tiny body looked maggot-white under its green glow, dry skin clinging to its bones like it was glued there. More started appearing, dozens of fireflies of necromantic energy. All their tiny rib cages were twisted open into two strange fins on their chest, sticking out and upwards like misplaced dorsal fins. With eerie silence, they drifted towards Aaron and Gianni, not flapping their wings as they grasped with hands that could drain the life from what they touched.
|
|
|
|
Post by TimePuppy on Oct 16, 2017 16:52:35 GMT
As they progressed through the ruin, the roots grew thicker even though the images depicted newer events. A more curious sort would have probably wondered what sort of plants had to be inside to grow like that despite the lack of sunlight. Aaron was not of that sort.
Eventually, Gianni heard a noise. They both stopped and listened. A buzzing sound, like a swarm of flies, filled the air. Aaron grimaced as he remembered what these were. Pests more annoying then dangerous, at least for him. He rooted through his pocket and pulled out a silver zippo lighter which he threw over to Gianni.
"Those aren't hard to kill, just don't let them touch you. I had to use Buer so much the first time, it knocked me out for almost a whole day. Just set them on fire if they get close. Or set your hair on fire, then they might avoid you completely."
Light shone through Aaron's right jacket sleeve as the sigil on his arm activated. He extended his arm towards the fake pixies and a blast of red energy flew out of his palm to incinerate them before they got close enough for contact.
|
|
