Cornelius "Corey" Drake (sandcastlegod) wrote in marvel_nextgen,
@ 2011-07-10 13:24:00

Entry tags:

antaeus, marlow, nicholas salem, plot-"lost generation"

Antiquing
The little voodoo shop off Rampart was packed full of aesthetically fascinating stuff. Corey couldn't resist. Besides, from what he knew of it, the religion itself -- if not necessarily some of the associated magical practices -- made a lot of sense to him. Pouring out the first sip of milk or wine, offering up shot glasses of rum... he could connect.

He picked up a book of voodoun iconography and dusted it off. Under it was another, dustier book, the leather cover all scarred. Corey picked that up, too, and opened it. Oooh, nice pictures! All sketchy and... bizarre. Not quite Escher or Geigeresque, but interesting. There were family trees the back sections, with hand notes. ...And then Corey spotted the name 'Nicholas Scratch of New Salem.'

Wasn't that Nick's father's name? His really disgusting babykiller-wannabe father?

"Celeste, how much for the freaky antique history-sketchbook?"
"What? Oh, that. I don't even know where that came from; it was Mom's. Let's just price it the same as the art books."
"Okay...I think I'll take it."

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	sandcastlegod 2011-07-12 04:28 am UTC (link)
	"Well, some of it was a surprise to him too. I hope his long term plans pan out, but really, I hope nothing comes of what happened last winter." (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	marlow 2011-07-12 04:33 am UTC (link)
	Marlow sat quietly while Corey served chicken and potato salad. She drew a rune figure on the damp surface of the glass of lemonade. "What happened last winter?" (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	sandcastlegod 2011-07-12 04:37 am UTC (link)
	Corey blinked. "...Andy and Titan didn't tell you? Um... well... some really bad stuff went down. And Argo did something stupid to fix it, then things got more dangerous, and Andy did something he wouldn't tell us about, but... I think it might be the same stupid thing that Argo did, just a little differently. And that did fix it." (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	marlow 2011-07-12 04:43 am UTC (link)
	She traced another symbol on the table. Her shoulders slumped a little. "Andy doesn't tell me much because he thinks I'm weak. Titan wants to protect me. They have the tattoo. When I touched it, the ink rearranged itself so I could read it. It was a death sentence. I haven't seen their sword in a long time but it was dangerous, too." (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	sandcastlegod 2011-07-12 04:51 am UTC (link)
	"That's a nice trick, but it doesn't really take much to read it. I did," Corey said gloomily. "Mars is a jerk. So was anyone else in on that. I mean, how stupid can they get?" (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

marlow
2011-07-12 04:58 am UTC (link)

"I couldn't read it until I touched it. It didn't do that for Jenny or I think Titan would have said something about it. He likes it when she's scolding Andy for something. I think I could only because I'm a sorceress."

She sat up straight. "That's why I wanted to talk to Argo. I need more information to keep Titan safe. You've told me more in a few minutes than Andy's told me all year."

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sandcastlegod
2011-07-12 05:08 am UTC (link)

"You, you must be pretty good at it, working with Doctor Strange and all. But it was just Greek to me. Hard and old fashioned, but legible. Sword too. It was so pretty before I realized it meant they intended argo to be some fratricidal..." He trails off, grimacing. "Well, I don't know when Argo'll be getting home, and... I don't know how much he knows. I love him, but he's not the brightest crayon in the box, and I know he's never read their tatts."

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	marlow 2011-07-12 05:15 am UTC (link)
	"Clea is my guardian. I was given to her as a baby to raise. Doctor Strange said it was because my parents couldn't handle a baby who could use magic in the cradle." She shrugged. "So what you're saying is that Argo will be no help at all because it's a wonder he can keep himself alive and still get his shoes on the right feet, much less his brothers." (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	sandcastlegod 2011-07-12 05:20 am UTC (link)
	"Um...well... Argo loves them, and he'd never let them to be hurt...unless the stuff that happened last winter comes back to bite us all on the backside." Damn honest streak. "...But no, he's not going to be a lot of help figuring it out. I think the biggest clue about the family's stupid problem with him is calling him the Destroyer, though" (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	marlow 2011-07-12 05:28 am UTC (link)
	"It doesn't take brains to kill something. We saw that with the zombies." She took a sip of lemonade. "I like Argo very much. He was kind to me when he lived with the Defenders. I won't let him kill Titan. I don't care about prophesies or curses. I'll take him to the Dark Dimension if I have to until Argo stops being the Destroyer." (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	sandcastlegod 2011-07-12 05:40 am UTC (link)
	"Huh? No, Argo's not going to be the Destroyer. They think Titan is going to be the Destroyer. That's why they carved it into his and Andy's skin, and made a sword for them to be taken down with, and Mars gave it to them because he's a JERK. The thing is, um, have you ever read the Oedipus stories?" (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	marlow 2011-07-12 05:44 am UTC (link)
	She blinked at that. "Titan wouldn't hurt anybody that didn't deserve it," she protested hotly. "I haven't read Oedipus. If it's about the sword, I'll get rid of it as soon as I find it." (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

sandcastlegod
2011-07-12 05:51 am UTC (link)

"It's not so much about the sword-- " which is under his bed, but this is a bad time to mention it. That was going to take a lot of thinking as to whether letting it magically be gotten rid of would help, or just stir up Olympus faster. "-- as the intent behind the sword. The Oedipus story is about a stupid prophecy that makes people in power act stupid and cruel trying to 'prevent it'... and all they do is, eventually, force it to happen. It's a tragedy, because you know the whole time that all these people are just condemning themselves to horrific circumstances because they're all /so sure/ they have the solution to these prophesied problems. 'Cause oracles and prophets in our religion...they don't do specific. They say weird stuff that everybody misinterprets like morons. Now, we know that Mars and probably Jupiter hate Titan and Andy for no good reason. And we know the sword says it's for Argo to kill the Destroyer, and that the tatt says they're the one that needs killing. So here's what I figure...." Corey stops to take a breath. "There's some prophesied Destroyer. And the gods think its Titan because they didn't bother to sit down and think about Titan, they just figured he'd probably be pretty good at Destroying stuff."

(Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

marlow
2011-07-12 05:59 am UTC (link)

That actually...made some sense. Sorta.

"Okay, let me get this straight. The idiot gods decided before any proof was available that Titan was the Destroyer and slapped a tattoo on him like a label and set up his own brother to kill him. Them. And their father did nothing to stop it." Marlow now harbored hard feelings for both Argo and Hercules. "Of course he's good at destroying stuff. He's big and green and he has a temper when people are picking on him and he uses it to help people, but he's not a Destroyer!"

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sandcastlegod
2011-07-12 06:07 am UTC (link)

"That's the best I can figure. Which is just playing into the hands of your classic tragedy. I mean, it's like kicking a puppy again and again because you've decided it's a violent puppy that might bite you. Sure it will, if you don't stop kicking it! And Argo and their dad are clueless. I mean, I think Argo's literate, but he's never read Titan and Andy's sword or their tatts. I asked, and he just blinked at me. And Andy couldn't read them either. Are there spells that do that? Confuse just specific people?"

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marlow
2011-07-12 06:15 am UTC (link)

"It's not hard to tailor a spell against someone. It's not easy to keep it powerful enough to last for years without a source and someone strengthening it from time to time."

She looked at Corey with an 'aha!' expression. "The sword itself could be the source of the spell that renewed itself every time Titan or Andy used it. I never thought of it like that, but a god with a magical item, you'd have a power source and a battery all rolled up into a package."

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	sandcastlegod 2011-07-12 06:19 am UTC (link)
	"Huh! That's... fitting in with how freaking irony-sadistic it is in the first place to give them the sword the gods think'll be necessary to destroy them." Pause. "So...if the gods try to force Argo to do anything to Titan, you can get one or the other of them away?" (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	marlow 2011-07-12 06:26 am UTC (link)
	"Yes. I put a tracking spell on Titan so I can always find him. Andy, too, because it carries over. Getting to the Dark Dimension is easy enough." (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	sandcastlegod 2011-07-12 06:32 am UTC (link)
	"Cool. And... Earth-type gods and demigods can, like, breathe in the Dark Dimensions, right? I guess if we could breathe in Hell, then probably, but just checking..." (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	marlow 2011-07-12 06:35 am UTC (link)
	"I was born here and raised there, and I breathe just fine." She smiled at him. Having a plan, any plan, felt like she was doing /something./ "There are other dimensions too. I've seen some of them. There are places to keep him safe." "Did you say something about food?" (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	sandcastlegod 2011-07-12 06:42 am UTC (link)
	Corey smiled. "Yeah. Let me get you some more. And let me know if the chicken is missing something... I've been experimenting a little." (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	marlow 2011-07-12 01:51 pm UTC (link)
	Marlow in no way was a picky eater. If it was put in front of her, she ate it. She enjoyed food and appreciated someone who could cook. "How long have you been with the Champions? Do you like being on their team?" Team dynamics were always a source of curiosity to her. (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	sandcastlegod 2011-07-12 04:38 pm UTC (link)
	"Since we started, year and a half back. I like it, yeah. I like New Orleans, I like everybody." (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	marlow 2011-07-12 05:52 pm UTC (link)
	"I haven't seen much of the world but I'm catching up." The potato salad was wonderful and gone from the plate first. "Would it be all right if I visited again?" (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	sandcastlegod 2011-07-12 05:59 pm UTC (link)
	"Yeah, that'd be great." (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

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marlow, 2011-07-12 06:04 pm UTC

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