Voices from Afar

[Stilia Medusa]

Mount Olympus. The fabled home of the Gods. Stilia stood in front of the giant mountain, looking up towards the peak that disappeared into the clouds. She felt uncomfortable, being in Greece, for it was the first time she’d returned to the country since she’d left. It had been three years now. Actually, it had been three years, four months and ten days, if you counted today.

It intimidated her, standing next to the mountain, she felt so small. Her mind wandered back to her home, the nest of Gorgons nearby. How was her family doing? Her friends? Would they still consider her a friend? Stilia was afraid to return. If she returned, she may be banished, which would bring the ultimate shame. But if she never returned home, she could at least have hope. It was a silly notion, but if she was banished she would be blinded and her scalp burnt. She reached up to pet her snakes, out of habit, before remembering that she was in a human form. She lowered her hand slowly, saddened.

She couldn’t stand being here. But she had to. The voice told her to. And she felt as if she had to obey. Somehow, the voice knew this would be dangerous, and told her who to contact. Four people were sent a letter each. Some were familiar names, others were people Stilia had never heard of until the voice told her of them. The letters had been sent out over a month ago, specifying to meet her at Mount Olympus on January 23, 2015. Today.

And so, the Gorgon waited for those the voice had guaranteed would come.

[Pandora]

Here she was.. Mount Olympus. All because of some strange letter she had received. This letter was sent by someone named Stilia. It must have been sent to her by mistake because everyone that ever met her knew that she wasn't the overly friendly type. Still, this letter interested her and she ended up doing exactly as it said. Her brother probably would have wanted to come with her if he knew what she was doing, so she left him a note for him to find when he got home from work.

It was her first time visiting Greece, and the trip was overall a pleasant one. Pandora approached quietly in case it was some sort of trick or trap. There was someone already ahead of her. We're they the one that sent the letter? Or had they received it too? She would find out soon enough. Pandora approached the woman but didn't say anything just yet.

[Linette Nerissa]

Linette had just finished changing in the small Cove along the side of Mount Olympus. It was by far the most magnificent sight she had seen in her entire life; the swim here was difficult due to some pesky sea otters stealing knapsack. It was stranget being in such an amazing place, "The home of the gods..... why would Big sis call me here?" Linette wondered. It wasn't that she wasn't glad to hear from Stilia; it was just the message she sent was very cryptic and lacking detail. She figured Stilia trusted her enough to tell her if something was wrong. Not to mention there were no directions to mount Oylmpus in the envelope.

Making her way up the steps Linette began taking stock of everything that she had with her. "Headphones, rapier, clothes, blanket, and food." Linette mumbled in an attempt to think of what see was forgeting. She had just narrowly missed walking head first into a stray tree branch in the process. The steps leveled off in what appeared to be a courtyard of sorts and that's when Linette noticed Stilia. She practically jumped with glee.

"STILIA!!!" She jumped with glee and bolted towards her friend."How are you? I've missed you" she shouted completely oblivious to the person approaching from another direction.

[Apollo Lion]

Apollo sat his bag on the dry grass, opening up to see what was inside. He first counted a number of items with his eyes, then one by one pulled everything out to make sure he was fully loaded. Out of the bag came a hand gun, its color silver and polished till shine; bullets for the pistol was shown as well. He placed the handgun in a holster on his waste, its magnums resting in a strap on his chest. Next came the sniper rifle, long in length and dark in color. He placed on it a scope with a laser pointer, then loaded some bullets inside it. Afterwards, he crouched and pointed the weapon at a couple of trees near his position, specifically aiming at the moving leaves that fell to the ground. He had no plans of shooting, but tested the sight and range of his weapon.

Once the testing was over, he unhook everything that he had attached then placed the rifle back in his case. Next came the bombs; in a small suit case where three types of bombs, all which would come in handy for the future. One was a regular grenade, the other was a flash bomb, and the last was a smoke bomb; with it was also a gas mask. Apollo handled these carefully, counting them then closing the protective case. The other set of items he picked up from the bag where a set of throwing knives, and one machete. He placed these on his chest as well, holstering the machete on the other side of his waste. Lastly, he pulled out a jar full of stinky smelly powder. He was told that special creatures with very sensitive noses hated the smell, and tried their best to move away from the powder. He once tried this on Bayla, whose nose was very sensitive, and found that she could hardly breath when this substance was around. It was invented by a hunter who hunted were creatures, and proved itself worthy countless of times for other hunters. Apollo checked to make sure all of his snacks and water where inside, then placed everything that was not on his body inside his bag. Zipping it, he stood from the kneel position he had while checking his supplies, and stretched his back.

"I got everything!" He said then moved to his extremely dark red cloak that sat next to the bag. He placed it on, then covered his head with a dark cowboy hat. The female dragon sitting next to him and watching his movements scoffed at the way he modeled his new outfit. Apollo turned to her, brimming with happiness. "What do you think Bayla?"

She looked at him, then rolled her eyes. *You look stupid,* said her in Apollo's mind. Apollo frowned, "well I think I look awesome!"

*What's the cloak for? So that your enemies can tell you from the others on a sunny day? Or maybe it's to sweat your ass off while you roam through the hot day?*

Apollo grew furious now. "Says the very large dragon resting in an open field!" yelled he. Bayla spat next to his feet, causing him to jump away from his original position. "Don't spit acid at me!" he screamed while watching the spit dissolve into the ground, the grass along with it. "Don't be pissed that you can't come along with me eiher! Maybe if you learned Morph then I wouldn't need all this stuff!"

She scoffed once again, then averted all eye contact with Apollo.

The boy sighed. "Listen Bayla, I need to go at this alone. I am not the same kid that needed protection from dangerous animals in the night time forest. Cutthroat taught me-"

*Cutthroat!* Bayla interrupted, *that damn hunter, giving you dangerous materials and sending you on your lonesome to handle the unknown. I ought'a eat him.*

Apollo sighed again, then hoisted his bag on his shoulder. It was fairly light, surprisingly since he carried a lot on him. Maybe his strength allowed for the bag to feel less of a burden. Apollo looked at Bayla one final time, then began his long walk towards mount Olympus. *If you kill Cutthroat, I will be very angry with you, so don't. And don't cause any trouble either. When you learned Morph, come find me, I will be near Mount Olympus. Later then, Bayla.*

With his last thoughts towards his dragon in order, Apollo moved towards his destination. He started early, so when he finally arrived, he was not very late, only a little. He moved silently towards the group, not even a click or clap from his materials would give him away. When he made it to the others, he rested his bag next to him, then squat to an almost sitting position. From the inside straps of his cloak, he pulled out a cigarette and placed it to his mouth. Next came his lighter, pulling it out and lighting it flawlessly to burn his smoke. He took a deep puff, then released a small amount of gas from his mouth. If no one liked the smell of his smoke, he had a pack of gum in his cloak's pockets as well. He looked towards everyone in the group, then smiled at them with genuine happiness. "Yo everyone."

[Stilia Medusa]

Stilia waited patiently by the mountain, admiring its serene beauty. Luscious forestry grew along it’s side, painting it vibrant greens. However, near the top, it faded into white. It did not take long, for she had specified a time, and soon another traveler approached. Stilia could smell the traveler, the animal musk that clung to her. She was silent, probably wary- which was wise. Stilia herself was about to offer a greeting, until the smell of fish clogged everything and she found herself under attack.

“Stilia!” The gorgon was shouted at, before Linette dashed towards her. The other girl was as distinguishable as always, her vivid blue hair flying in the wind after her. Stilia smiled lightly and opened her arms, knowing that it was very likely the younger girl would give her a hug. “It is nice to see you Linette.”

Stilia cleared her throat, ready to address the first woman once again, but was interrupted. It seemed fate wished for Pandora to never hear the gorgon’s greeting. A boy, as familiar as Linette was, approached. Apollo placed his bag down and squatted, taking out a cigarette and greeting them. Stilia wrinkled her nose in distaste. “May you learn your lesson when that smoke brings about your premature death.”

Turning her attention once more to the only person who did not know Stilia personally currently present, she offered a small smile. “So you must be Pandora. I apologize for the cryptic nature of my letter, I am Stilia.”

Now, the gorgon proceeded to address everybody. “I have a mission of sorts. There is a secret network of caves within this mountain, one the world has no knowledge of. Three powerful beings are trapped within. We will go and free them. Have no worries if it is rewards you seek, they will likely be very grateful for our help.”

[Pandora]

One by one the others showed up. First the lively girl with the blue hair, and then a boy that decided now was a good time to smoke. She was pretty sure she had met both of them somewhere before, the only one not familiar was the woman that was standing there all along. She waited patiently for the others to greet this woman. It seemed they both knew her.

Finally the woman turned and greeted her, apparently already knowing who Pandora was. "Hello. It's nice to meet you too." At least now she knew the letter was not sent entirely by mistake.

Stilia began telling the three of this mysterious mission. Pandora liked to explore and the part about possible rewards was really just a bonus. "Sounds interesting." She added nothing more until the others were done speaking. Once she was sure they were, she spoke up to Stilia. "How exactly did you find me for this? It seems odd.. You obviously know both of them" she waved her hands to the others "but I know for sure that we've never met. Are you a friend of my brother's?"

Pandora had no intention of leaving either way, she wanted to see these caves that very few knew about. Stilia seemed like she'd be reliable, but she wasn't so sure about the others yet.

[Linette Nerissa]

Linette embraced Stilia in a warm hug; "I've missed you too" she said pulling away smiling at her friend. The last time she had seen Stilia was in Jamaica. Stilia then addressed a woman standing not to far from them. She had been completely oblivious to her presence while greeting Stilia. Linette couldn't place it but she felt that she knew her from somewhere. "It was cold i think" she said out loud still in thought. She was brought back to reality by the smell of smoke; which made her cough.

It was none other than the human shield Apollo, smoking a cigarette. The smell of the Cigarette almost made Linette wanna puke; she despised the smell. Attempting the remove the swirling streams of smoke from her nose she attempted to swat the cigarette out of Apollos finger tips. " You know that stuff kills you right?" It was then that Stilia unraveled her tale of an adventure into the mountain to rescue someone.

The first thought that popped into Linette's head was why did she want me to partake in such a dangerous task. We're friends and all but I'm not the best person to go exploring mountains; unless there several miles under the ocean. Pandora's question had really set Linette's mind to work pondering why her friend had called her to this sacred mountain. Not only that but Pandora didn't seem to keen of Linette coming along on the adventure either .

[Apollo Lion]

'Three beautiful girls and one Apollo... This will be interesting.' Apollo kept his thoughts to himself as he stayed crouching before everyone.

The first words to come out of Stilia's mouth to him where: “May you learn your lesson when that smoke brings about your premature death.”
What type of words where these?! Did she just threaten him, warned him, or insulted him? Apollo shook his head as though he was shaking the thought away. She showed distaste but she didn't ask him to put it out, which he would do if asked, so there was no need to worry. 

While Stilia moved to speak with the other girl, Linette moved to speak with Apollo. In under a second he was assaulted by her fingers, smacking away his cigarette like she was swatting a fly. Apollo watched the smokes fall to the ground and roll to a complete stop. 

"You know that stuff kills you right?"
Linette asked.

"So I have been told," he replied.

Apollo stood up and almost towered over Linette. She was only to his chest, a small girl with a giant heart. He thought that to be a little bit cute; although, he showed no signs of this thought. The boy moved towards the cigarette then stepped on it, extinguishing the tiny flames. Not wanting to desecrate a beautiful monument of Greek history, Apollo placed the remains of the dead cigarette in the pack it came from. 

“I have a mission of sorts." Stilia said to everyone. It appeared that Pandora and Stilia's conversation had ended early, maybe because Stilia wanted to get things underway quickly. Apollo moved to his bag then sat to listen, his attention fully on Stilia.

"There is a secret network of caves within this mountain, one the world has no knowledge of. Three powerful beings are trapped within. We will go and free them. Have no worries if it is rewards you seek, they will likely be very grateful for our help.”


Apollo paused to take in everything. Three powerful beings trapped in a cave, they cannot escape and need the help of four individuals? His first questions to himself were, 'what kept them prisoner? A cage? a monster?' His next question was,'how can we help them when they cannot help themselves?' Apollo refrained from asking these questions to Stilia. He guessed that, from the amount of information she just gave, she knew as little as they did. 

The boy came back towards the conversation as Pandora was just finishing a sentence. He missed every word she said, so he had a lost look on his face. From the direction Pandora was looking, Apollo knew that she was talking to Stilia. Maybe if Stilia spoke Apollo would be caught back up to speed. 

[Nathaniel Graham]

    When Gram had received the letter, his interest was immediately piqued. He'd read those four sentences and the name over and over again, mulling it over in his head, deciding whether or not he would actually go. Eventually, Gram decided that he would. The young man had nothing important on the books besides research and the long journey proposed seemed far more interesting. Besides, Gram couldn't shake the feeling that supernaturals were involved somehow.

    If supernaturals were involved, which they most likely were, the young man intended to be prepared. So Gram packed light. Sort of.

    On the day of the meeting, Gram approached Mount Olympus running slightly behind schedule. Seeing the group, he walked up to them, just managing to catch Stilia's speech about the cave system, a friendly smile on his face. "Sorry if I'm a bit late, traffic was hell." The young man managed a sincerely apologetic expression before resuming his smile.

    The young man was dressed in boots, jeans, gloves, and a black leather jacket. Anyone who'd met Gram previously would note that his shoulders seemed broader, his torso thicker, and his arms slightly larger. He was possessed of an overall harder and tougher look. Where before Gram's body was lean from inactivity and poor eating habits, his physique had presently become the lean, toned athleticism of an endurance athlete.

    As always, his clothing was of the highest quality and custom tailored to him but Gram's blonde hair was as messy and chaotic as usual. If one were close enough and able to see underneath his mess of hair, they might notice something odd about his ears.

    On his back he wore a backpack and two guns, a carbine and a shotgun. At his hip he wore two pistols, one at his left and the other at his right. Attached to the back of the pistol belt were a handful of replacement magazines and a spare drum located at the small of his back, underneath his pack. Attached at the sides of the pack were more a couple more magazines. With a little personal customization on Gram's part, the entire load, while not appearing particularly heavy, was even lighter than it appeared.

    Gram smiled at Linette, forcing himself to look away from her and do something else. He studied the other people gathered around, resisting the urge to smirk at the other young man's red cloak and cowboy hat. Overall, they seemed a unusual bunch, but a fairly capable one.

[Stilia Medusa]

The Gorgon shook her head at Pandora’s question about Stilia’s knowledge. “I did not know you had a brother. He must have not been important to the completion of the cause…”

The Gorgon trailed off, not really answering Pandora’s question, and feigned distraction at Linette’s odd words. “Cold? I hope not. I can’t stand the cold.”

The final member of their party finally arrived, making some offhand excuse about traffic. He seemed different than when they had met in Jamaica, and had likely been working out. Stilia did not look any different, and had made sure to disguise herself in the same human form she had met Apollo, Linette and Gram in. Even the backpack was the same, and Stilia had carried the old thing around for years. Her clothing, however, consisted of much more comfortable and warmer clothes than Jamaica. Greece in winter was still cold, after all. However, what was odd was her bottoms- she wore a skirt in very stretchy material, with a zipper along the entire side, and no shoes.

“You are all here, good.” Without another word, Stilia turned her back and walked up to the cliff behind her. This area was rarely visited by tourists, as there was no walking path and no beautiful scenery. The Gorgon placed her hand on the wall of the cliff, and muttered a few words in Greek. The wing of a tattoo peeked out from the back of her shirt when she moved her hair onto her shoulder. Nothing happened at first, but as Stilia gazed at the wall, unblinkingly, it began to shudder. Silently, it opened, alerting nobody to the sudden change. Stilia smiled to herself and turned back to the group.

“I suppose, as a show of trust, I should tell- no, show- you something. Especially since I would count some of you as friends, and because I know what you truly all are.” With this, she gave a pointed look to Pandora, Linette, and Apollo. She then closed her eyes, and her form changed. Her feet merged, but grew before she could fall onto her face. Scales grew in, and her hair began to move and blink. The snakes framing her face hissed with annoyance- they hated becoming lifeless. Her body filled out in certain places, and even her face shifted. When she opened her eyes again, her transformation only a brief second, they were a mesmerizing green. She unzipped the skirt, pulling it off her snake tail. “My name is Stilia Medusa, I am a descendant of Medusa the Beautiful. My dear ancestor is one of those whom we are about to rescue.”

[Pandora]

Pandora gave Stilia a slightly confused look when she admitted to not knowing her brother. It seemed that this woman might not have known anything about her but her name. Before Pandora could question this woman more, she instead gave attention to the blue haired girl. Another person arrived shortly after, making the group a total of five people.

The woman walked away from the group, and used some form of magic to open a passage. Her next action was a little surprising. Right in front of her eyes, the woman changed shape into another race. The snakes for hair mesmerized the girl, and she thought that the woman looked much more awesome in her true form.

Pandora took a moment to look around at the others. If Stilia was a Gorgon, and she was a Werebeast, were the others all Supernatural as well? It would make more sense for everyone to be called here. The girl became even more interested in this mission by the second.

[Linette Nerissa]

Linette stared in awwww as her friend transformed in front of her. Linette knew that there were other supernatural beings in the world but to think that her own friend was one and she had no idea.She looked around at her companions wondering exactly what they were, if anything. Pandora appeared intrigued after the transformation; she couldn't really gauge the guys reactions that well. " Is this like a show and tell kinda moment?" Linette asked timidly looking at her companions seeing if anyone had burst into flames or something. She didn't mind showing them her true form; it just felt kinda awkward though. Other than her mother not many had seen her true form.She was always told that it was dangerous to reveal yourself and that you should never do it.

The only thing Linette was certain of was that Stilia had asked her for help, so regardless of what it was she wasn't going to let her friend down.

[Apollo Lion]

Don't trust any of them.. 

Apollo jumped suddenly. His movements where not loud enough to be noticed by the others, so as he did so no one should pay him any mind. He looked over his shoulder slowly to see a dark colored cat hanging on him. It was Bayla, something he could obviously tell by the feeling of familiarity with her. She was completely dark and completely feline. Her length was that of his arms, her size the same as any other cat, and fur grew all around her. She was not the large dragon he had left, but a completely different animal. 

BAYLA! He thought to her with his telepathic bond. You can Morph! 

His dragon-cat didn't seem to want join in the happy moment. Instead, she kept a steady eye on Stilia as something began happening. Apollo watched as well with curious eyes. Stilia faced the wall that stood tall in front of the group. She touched it with her delicate fingers then chanted something in another language. She waited, then wrinkled her face with happiness as the wall slowly opened.

It was silent, not warning anyone of its movements. Definitely magic, Apollo cogitated. His mind wondered about what type of magic could create a silent wall/door, and Bayla's eyes rolled at how little Apollo was paying attention to what really mattered.

 “I suppose, as a show of trust, I should tell- no, show- you something. Especially since I would count some of you as friends, and because I know what you truly all are.” Stilia said this to everyone then looked at each member individually. When she turned towards Apollo he flinched, and Bayla hissed.


Stilia then started her transformation. First her legs morphed into a long and scaly tail, then the individual strands of hair began turning into snakes. Stilia's person was similar to Madusa, a villian of Greek mythology. Bayla growled, but only low enough for Apollo to hear.

“My name is Stilia Medusa," she continued. "I am a descendant of Medusa the Beautiful. My dear ancestor is one of those whom we are about to rescue.”

Rescue? Bayla finally announced her thoughts to Apollo. He could get the feeling that she was a little worried, distrustful of the woman before her. He didn't try saying any words to calm her, for her feelings always transferred to his and being worried seemed like the best mood right now. 

Apollo raised his fingers and stretched his arms like a school kid asking a teachers permission to speak. "I am down for rescuing someone," he said after being acknowledged. "But do you know what we are rescuing them from?"

[Nathaniel Graham]

    Watching with interest, the young man held his arms across his chest, holding his chin in one hand as he studied the door as it opened. No mechanics were obvious and it made no sound. It was either some very fine craftsmanship, or it was magical. Gram hadn't studied it closely enough to believe one way or the other, so he put it out of his mind, unconcerned as it did not seem too particularly important at this point in time.

    Instead, he turned to watch the others' reactions. They seemed to have known and expected about as much as he had, by what he could tell, with the exception of Stilia who'd been the one to call them all there.

    When Stilia spoke of showing them something, Gram turned to look at her, curious. She began to change before his very eyes, taking a form even he, inexperienced though he was, recognized as a gorgon. The young man kept his composure, suppressing the urge to flinch as all the legends he'd read about Medusa came to mind and battled the actual knowledge he possessed.

    The young man knew looking at her would not turn him to stone, but he looked away quickly anyways, to gauge the reactions of the others. Gram kept a calm, if somewhat curious look on his face, still holding a slight, friendly smile. From what Stilia had implied, the other three were supernatural as well, in some way. She'd said she knew the truth and looked at each in turn, so casually and so quickly it was unnoticed. From what he could gather, none of the others had known about her true form, either.

    As his eyes settled in the general direction of the woman with blue hair, something tugged at the back of his mind. The cat on the other young man's shoulder. There was something off about it. Had it been there earlier? Gram said nothing, chin in hand as he stood there.

[Stilia Medusa]

Glad that nobody fainted or panicked at her sudden new form, she tucked the skirt away into her backpack, pulling out some flashlights. She paused for a moment, figuring it was best to let anyone pose their questions before they continued. First came Linette’s shy inquiry.

“No, I doubt it would be a good idea for you.” She didn’t want the mermaid dehydrating and dieing. “But you can share whatever you wish. I simply figured I would get you acquainted with Gorgons before we met more.”

Next came Apollo's question. Stilia shook her head. “The details are vague. There’s a tree in the mountain, but I know little else.”

The cat.

Stilia did not blink nor flinch at the sudden voice in her head, letting nothing on. Her green eyes passively surveyed the cat, and figured it was the dragon she had learned about. It seemed the dragon possessed a power. The new addition would be useful. Handing a flashlight to Apollo, she told him to stay in the rear. As Gram had not said anything, she figured it was time to proceed, and- turning her flashlight on- she went into the cave.