A Lover's Spat

We've all been pretty subdued the past couple of days. Hal's been brooding. I've been brooding. This setback has shaken all of us. Morale is down, prides are injured, and things are at an all time low.

I got to vent some of my feelings to Claire, when she checked in on me. She did a lot to make me feel better. We had what was probably our first serious talk. If you know Claire, you know she's always a firebrand of cussing and aggression and snark. This was the first time I ever saw her so... level, so serious. It was kind of eerie. She took me out on the town and we hit a few bars and saw some sites. Made me feel much better.

We all got together outside Manannan's house, but no one was much in the mood for talking. I tried to get things going, but we got interrupted by one of Claire's half-siblings (I think? Theres an awful lot of kids running around here that share resemblances between Claire and Kenny). Speaking of Kenny, she looks like she's still pissed. So much so she was walking around in wolf-form (she can do that now) and talking through a younger sibling. That got on Hal's nerves.

Anyway, we were asked to find a horse creature called Kelpie that the kid managed to let get away. We didn't get very far when we saw Odin arrive. Friggen Odin! You know, it didn't occur to me at the time but, since I'm sort of courting Bryn, does that mean I just met her dad, too? (Bryn's fine, by the way. I asked. She's apparently pretty pissed).

So, we wandered up to Odin, welcomed him and he and Manannan sat down and puffed on some pipes and played smoke-wars with each other. While the Gods amused themselves with smoke creatures/objects, they listened in on our thoughts about what was going on. Thaaaaaats when things got ugly.

In the middle of brainstorming, Kenny called out Hal on his tendency to shut down ideas that disagree with his world-view. Specifically ideas that come from Kenny that don't include demonizing all the Yazata. We all did the awkward "stare at the drink" bit to avoid getting caught in the argument. Cripes, even Odin spoke up and suggested we take the conversation indoors to let the pair argue with each other.

So, we're taking a moment to reorganize our thoughts about what's going on. Not having any information is bad. Claire suggested we go back after Klein in Germany, but I don't think he's even there anymore. Heck, the Yazata probably tipped him off to us after we got away.

Alongside trying to get evidence of the real corruption is giving something our avenging angel hunter can focus on instead of me. Though he seems convinced of his rightness that I don't see how it's possible. Though, one of the Gods suggested it, so the idea must have a chance.

I.... ugh... I feel off. My body aches and my clothes feel tight. I'm going to excuse myself for a shower, help me clear my head a bit.

-----

Um.... I think we've got a problem... my clothes don't fit.

Downtime in Dublin

Dublin is a very pretty place.
I hope I get a chance to wander around a bit. Take in the sights. Let my mind wander. Right now we're staying at a little retreat out by where the Grand Canal feeds into the ocean. Oh, did I mention we're also staying with Claire's dad? Yep, we're being hosted by Manannan Mac Lir. Pretty cool, huh?

Hal's keeping to himself right now. I think Kenny's mad at him. That, and that Yazata bastard did something when he gave a self-righteous speech, as we made our escape, that seems to have effected Hal as well.

I guess I should talk about how we got out of that mess, huh?
Well, long story short, Hal scooped me up and made for the hills as Altair chased us. Then Manannan showed up and pulled our bacon out of the fryer.

Yep.

You know, I saw Dublin Castle in some photos online. I do have a disposable camera that I had in my pocket. Maybe I'll make it a point to check it out, if I get a chance. Though my other camera got left in Germany.. as well as a good section of my clothes.

Oh hell. I'm just trying to avoid writing about what's really going on in my my mind.

You see, the escape from Altair (not the guy from that game) wasn't all that simple. I guess when I smashed that big gem back in Alaska, I... absorbed... the essence of Utgard-Loki. Now I've been corrupted. I'm a potential minion of the Titans.

Is that what drove me to do what I did? I don't think I'm suicidal. I want to live. But... we were way out of our league. This guy was more than capable of destroying the lot of us, but he called me out, specifically. He wanted me. He'd leave everyone alone if I went with him to be "purified by fire". I couldn't put everyone at risk for my own safety. Better that just one of us dies so that the others can live, right?

I was scared, sure, but I just couldn't let this "Kill all the sinners" guy kill them. Not when I could stop it.

Hal and Claire disagreed (Not surprising).

I'm strong, but when Hal get a grip on me, to keep me from leaping down to the foyer, I couldn't get out of it.

I'm feeling pretty depressed. Hal gave me a sanctimonious "Never give up on yourself." line before heading off. He can go fuck himself. The last thing I need is to be preached at. I'm a fucking walking liability now. All because I got fucking stupid and did something I shouldn't have.

I'm also worried about Brynhildr. I gave her a gift before we left for Germany and now... I wonder if I'll never know how she reacted to it. It's eating at my mind that I so greatly admire the Valkyrie, but she might be dead now, for all I know. I'm just glad that Claire isn't the jealous type and more than willing to share.

I'm grateful for Claire. I really am. She's been someone for me to lean on. To be friends with. To be close to when we could all die on the next mission. Next mission. I guess we're on our own now, aren't we? MIST has been taken control of by the Yazata. Why? What could they gain by... controlling... The passes! The network of Touchstones around the world....

I'll have to bring this up to the group, though... fuck... I just want to be alone and sulk, right now.

Dammit, someone's knocking on my door. It's probably Claire...

Backstabbing Bastards

Andrew took off on us.

I'm not sure why. His note said things were happening and he was going to MIST HQ to look for his dad. I'd give him the benefit of the doubt if it weren't for the fact that, not long after he sped off, we got jumped by a hit-squad dressed in MIST gear.

Hal and I focused on disarming them, I think we were thinking on the same wavelength: that this was a case of mistaken identity. My shockwave attack (that I suddenly learned I could do. This becoming a goddess thing is really weird) sent a number of them sprawling. Lexi used her hotness powers (or whatever it was) to make the fight stop.

At least we got to question them, though Claire was very agitated (you'd think that all the girl-sex would take that edge off her personality). They started going on about how we're to be liquidated, an order from the higher-ups, and Bryn is being relieved of her position (through force or decree, I don't know, and it makes me worried). We've been totally set up, but then they started going out about us being under the influence of Utgard-Loki. Specifically, me. The fuck are they on about? More over the group kept dodging the question. What's going on?

Before I could get an explanation of that accusation, some bright glowing asshole flew into the main area and started talking like an avenging angel sent to purge the darkness. In the mood I'm in, I'm not going to put up with this BS. It's an obvious set-up and I feel like cracking some skulls.

Asserting Dominance

With Kreiger dead and the land mystically bound to Kennedy, there was only one thing left to do: Make the other werewolves fall into line. Hal and the rest of us probably talked a bit more than we should have, since it was Kenny's show, but they did call out this other guy, Steiner, who is now in charge of Kreiger's company.

Asshole made a big show of being a sexist pig. Not a smart move, especially then. In that clearing, basking in the light of the full moon... I felt warmer.... wilder.... stronger. I snapped at that fucker and my armor got a lot thicker, startling him. Made sure that dick knew who was in charge.

I got a good look at myself later, I looked like a Hoplite crossed with a Knight. Pretty badass.

Anyway, Andrew, being the clever duck that he is (duck... bird... Thoth... I'm funny) worked out a deal to have him go through the meeting with Amir Kline and get the information we need. We don't even need to be personally involved. Pretty slick.

After that, we all went to the hotel and maybe the fight got my blood pumping or the moonlight got to me, but I was feeling frisky.  Oh yeah, stuff happened.

The next day, Claire and I just hung out in our room, talked about stuff, and I got my painting done. I'm trying to make sure I have little things to remember my adventures... Claire's looking over my shoulder and tells me I've already talked about that.

Well, I'm not sure what's going on, I think we're waiting for word from Leger, Kennedy's werewolf second in command (and a real dick. Seriously, he threatened to ARREST us if we killed anyone when the fight was over. What the fuck? Really? Not to mention a jail isn't going to hold half of us.). I... oh god I can hear Hal and Kenny going at it again... in the shower no less...

I'm going to distract myself with getting some thoughts typed down on here... having better senses can suck sometimes.

So, I've been thinking about this whole situation. Hal seems happy to cast suspicion on Bryn about shoddy intelligence, but I think he's mistaken. She wouldn't be put in charge of MIST if she wasn't trustworthy, right? No, I'm beginning to think our recon gaffs are because of the hole we're trying to plug.

Alaska was... kinda different. We were sent in BECAUSE the recon was shoddy. That agents kept getting killed. Hal wonders why Bryn didn't walk in with a full squad of Valkyries at the start. Maybe I should have him read some books on military tactics. You don't commit your forces to battle when you don't know the makeup of the enemy. Not to mention, a full squad of Valks would have tipped off the titan goons faster than our presence.

Here, on the other hand, we should have known more. Part of the problem is this mission is one of those cloak and dagger, counter-espionage, internal affairs jobs. Chances are, the only one who even knows the real intent of the mission is Bryn. Our story for being here was to investigate the murders, which, by extension, ended up involving the werewolves. If Klein ends up being a part of the hole in MIST, then that's probably a good indicator that information about this region was under-researched.

This whole thing kinda makes me worried. I mean, aren't we all supposed to be on the same side? The Gods and their allies against the Titans? Oh, no. I just had a terrible thought. What if this goes deeper than a vindictive pantheon undermining MIST? What if the traitors are working for the titans?

......

I just heard Andrew's motorcycle take off. What the hell?

So Much for the Big Plan

Mother used to tell me: "A plan never survives contact with the enemy."

I last night hammered that lesson home.

We had planned to retreat several miles southeast to the cliffs of some large lakes. To force a confrontation on our terms. To give us some sort of tactical advantage with the terrain.

Turns out, Krieger had his own plans.

As we neared the meeting place, my mirror in the sky (Which is still a cool trick) let me know just how many damn werewolves we were up against. To say we were out numbered would be like saying "Lexi is pretty." The duel started right then and there, we couldn't retreat. We were penned in on all sides.

Kenny nearly took that fucker, Kreieger's head off with one shot of her rifle. After that he nearly killed her, fortunatly, she transformed and took the fucker down. Hal, myself, and the rest of us were busy battling off the pack, which rushed us when the duel started.

The whole thing was over in seconds, once Kenny dropped Krieger, Lexi did something with her sax that made every werewolf either break and run or drop to the ground. I think she somehow made her sax sound like a dog whistle. Which is both really brilliant and kinda hilarious. Hey, it worked.

So, Kenny finished off Kreiger, making him a sacrifice to the land, then this wood nymph showed up out of this big sacred tree. She hauled Kenny into herself in some sort of binding ritual that scared the shit out of the lot of us, but Kenny was released okay.

There's just one big problem, now.

Kreiger's dead, and we still haven't gotten the information about MIST's mole.

Fuck.

Battle Plans

Kennedy is now a werewolf and, as I suspected, bound to Krieger. Oh, she can still fight him, but it will take all of her willpower to do it, because her body won't want to. Bastard. Hal's pretty pissed, though he acts like it's all a personal attack against him. The guy is positively clingy.

He and I took verbal snipes at each other while Kenny was recovering from her change. I think I managed to crack that exterior or something, because he began to joke back at me. I didn't know he had it in him. I thought he was all "srs bznis".

So, Kenny is wolfing (ha!) down plates of food while we talk strategy. At this point, I've given up. No idea is good enough and nobody is willing to commit to a plan.

Tactics wise, Kreiger has home-turf advantage AND he has a leg up on Kenny in the duel. He's been a werewolf far longer than her and he's got their little blood bond working in his favor. The obvious solution is to turn his overconfidence against him and strike when his guard drops. If there was a way to silver Kenny's claws without hurting her, I'd consider doing that before the duel starts. Anything we can do to give her an advantage Krieger won't see coming.

As to what the rest of us do, it's agreed we'll hafta deal with Krieger's closest supporters, those who wont bow to Kenny when she wins (and she will, dammit). Now, we're running around in circles trying to come up with a plan and I'm just getting tired of it. If what we've dealt with so far is a sign of how the rest are, we'll have no problem turning them into goo.

We need to strike when the time is right, though.

And no one can decide on what that time should be.

We are so boned....

A Duel and a Goddess

So, that werewolf that decided to make Claire a chewtoy? Yeah, I cut the bastard in half. IN HALF! They should be scared of me now. :D

So, here's what happened next: Kennedy challenged Krieger for leadership of the pack. It's pretty badass, but... a little bit more than dangerous. I mean, for what we learned so far, Krieger already violates their traditions, so how can we expect him to honor any agreements we make?

Hal has had a similar thought and plans on watching Krieger and his flunkies like a hawk.

Hal... Hal has me pissed off. Every time a mission turns out to be harder than initially advertised, he blames Bryn, like she has it in for us. We live dangerous fucking lives, what does he expect to happen? Since when is any of this supposed to be EASY? I mean, take the events in Alaska, when Bryn showed up with an army. Hal got all suspicious, but I mean, you don't commit forces to battle unless you know the makeup of the battlefield.

Maybe it's because I was trained for this sort of thing that I can see it in ways he doesn't?
Anyway, I'm getting off track.

So, it was agreed that Ken would be bitten and turned into a werewolf so she could face Krieger. Turns out, her mother wasn't very happy. Yeah, when we got back to the hotel, The Morrigan was waiting to chew Kenny a new one. I've NEVER seen her look that scared.

We had a chat with this AMAZING hottie who turned out to be a girl named Rhiannon and, not only is she Kenny's other mother (Is it me, or is there a lot of girl/girl going on around us?) but is also Claire's half-sister. She.. didn't take that well. I had to calm the poor girl down. She's mad that her father never told her about having other family.

Come to think of it, I wonder if I have any other half-siblings. It's not like my old man has even so much as MET me, yet...

I don't wanna think about this, I'm going to bed... out of habbit... I'm still not tired...

This child of a god thing really wares on you.