forum The Siren and the Chimera (with @Dances_with_Shadows)

Started April 12, 2019 by @PrettyLittlePyro

tune

"Uh, they contacted her? I think? Lance knows more than I do about that."

"Shit! She never told me about that!" He paced around, running his hands through his black hair. "Shit shit shit shit shit. This puts a flaw in the plan." He turned suddenly to Leon. "Where's the goat?"

"The hotel…?" He was now really confused.

"Take me to him! I need to talk to him!" Aquarius was frantic.

Leon grumbled about Levi ditching him to fawn from a distance, then led Aquarius to the hotel, which wasn't far from where they currently were.

Aquarius's mind was racing. What exactly had happened that made Tempest so worked up? And what did the gods do to her?

They reached the hotel, and Leon told Aquarius where Lance's room was.

Aquarius gave him a distracted nod. He went to the room that the goat was in and knocked.

Lance sat up, sniffing to see who it was. No one he knew. "Who's there?"

"Aquarius. I need to talk."

Lance opened the door, crossing his arms and leaning against the frame. "That name means nothing to me. What is it you want to talk about?"

Aquarius looked him directly in the eyes. "Did my sister say anything about what the gods said to her? Your brothers say you know. I need to know everything. I have a theory, and I'm praying that I'm wrong."

So this was Tempest's brother. Lance could see the resemblance. "Not exactly, but I do know they held her mind for some time until she somehow escaped. She said that some of the Greeks gods have gotten mad and declared war on Earth and that Aries, Zeus, Poseidon and Dionysus, and Aphrodite have turned." He furrowed his brow. "That's all she told me. What are you thinking?"

Aquarius's already pale skin paled even more. "This is worse than I expected. Dionysus, you said?"

"Yes. Why are you even here?"

Aquarius didn't answer. He pulled out his phone and dialed Ford's number. He picked up right away.
"What's wrong? Need us to go and force them here?"
"No," Aquarius said. "Is Tempest acting normal?"
"Yeah, why?"
"I'll tell you later. If she acts like she's in pain, call me right away."

"Answer me," Lance growled. He hated being ignored.

Aquarius turned to him, an impatient look on his face. "I have reason to believe that the gods put a virus in her brain. If that is true, it will slowly drive her mad and then kill her, all while being in extraordinary pain."

Lance blinked. The blinked again. "How do we remove it."

"Only you guys can. Because the virus is in her mind, you have to forge a telepathic connection with her and destroy it." Then he got the call.

Lance waited impatiently as Aquarius answered.
A virus. In her brain. That only we can destroy. It has been longer than I can bother to remember since we forged such a connection. Would we be able to do it? Would she be willing to do it? It would require sharing pieces of our souls with each other, if only briefly. That's not a painless endeavor
He clenched and unclenched his fists, getting more and more worked up the more he thought about it. How dare they do such a thing to her.

Aquarius answered the call. "Yes?" He asked, hoping against hope that the call was for something stupid.
"Bro, she's seizing up and screaming."
"Shit!" Aquarius said. "When did it start?"
"About a minute ago. Why? What's going on?"
Aquarius hung up and turned back to the goat. "We need to go now. It's started."

Lance looked up just as Leon and Levi thundered up the stairs. They had been waiting outside, and they came as soon as Lance told them what happened. He then looked at Aquarius. "You mind flying by Chimera?"

Aquarius almost laughed with relief. "No. But we need to hurry. I can use the Mist to disguise you."

"Great." The brothers hurried down the steps with Aquarius, then linked arms as soon as they were outside. Their bodies fused together, and then a twelve-foot tall creature with a lion's body and head, a ram's head and hind legs with matching horns on the lion, and a dragon's head, wings, and tail stood in their place.

Aquarius snapped his fingers, and they flickered into a bird. With his trained eye, he carefully climbed onto them and crossed his fingers. "Hurry. She won't last long."

The creature's growled and it launched into the air, flying at an exceptionally fast rate despite its seemingly heavy body. It headed towards Tempest's scent, where multiple demigod scents were gathered as well. It swooped low and roared, warning the demigods below to give it room to land.

Aquarius leaped down even before they landed. He knelt down beside his sister. She was writhing and panting, sweat and tears drenching her. He looked around at the other demigods. "Go inside now and plug your ears. Do not listen to anything until I come."
"What's happening to her?" A demigod asked.
It was Hera who answered. "Dionysus put a virus in her mind."
"And she is going to be in a lot of pain. She might even reach the Banshee scream level, where if you listen, it will kill you. So go, now."
They scurried away.

The Chimera approached Aquarius and Tempest, the exchange better if the brothers' soul was not fractured. "What would you have us do?" It was a strange combination of all three of their voices, but to those who have never interacted with the brothers when they were split apart, it didn't sound strange at all.

Aquarius didn't spare them a glance. "Forge a temporary telepathic connection with her. You'll have to destroy the virus from the inside, so that it doesn't do deeper."