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Post by PJ on Apr 20, 2005 16:04:09 GMT -5
I liked the philosophical debate between myself and the Pope, and his unwavering faith, even to the end. It was all a sham, as you know for fact that god exists. But you figure if you want to take over the catholic church, you might as well try and convert the pope. I liked the friendly rivalry between yourself and Derik, PJ, although I do wonder who this Egyptian goddess who you've allegedly been seeing is (Char? ). Dante, just shut up. You know very well that I wouldn't make a CharJ myself. So just be quiet, or I'll make a CCV/Dante Pairing. HA! I like it all, although someone should appear more in it. Please write more... Oh, you will play a great part in it, make no mistake. Once you discover what I plan, you'll realise that you will make more of an appearance than most. You and Derik.
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Antenora
Detriment Deleter
Fiendish Philologist
Put down that harpoon gun, in the name of these wonderful birds!
Posts: 15,891
Likes: 113
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Post by Antenora on Apr 20, 2005 16:38:02 GMT -5
Am I going to appear a lot in this story, PJ? As goddess of wisdom, what sort of powers do I have? I seem to be good at giving advice.
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Post by PJ on Apr 21, 2005 2:01:06 GMT -5
Am I going to appear a lot in this story, PJ? As goddess of wisdom, what sort of powers do I have? I seem to be good at giving advice. Hmmm, I'm afraid to say that you aren't going to appear too much in this one. Yes, you give out advice, but I can't think of what else I could use you. The only solution I have is one in which you are forced to fight.... hmmmmm
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Post by PJ on Apr 21, 2005 4:58:29 GMT -5
The amazing, the incredible, the unbelievable, PART THE THIRD! W000000T! I'll be away till basically the friday next week, so I'll get someone to post the next few parts (which I have pre-written). Or at least, I've tried to pre-write them. I've already got tomorow's one, and am currently working on Saturdays one. I'll probably finish off the Sunday one tomorow. Monday evening I will be back (late, though, so I can probably only manage one story) So meh. Next part or the one after should involve a fight-scene.
Part the Third
The next morning, phase two was about to begin. Derik was readying himself, and PJ paced the planning room once more, his robe slightly disheveled due to his chair exploding when he had sat down in the morning. Derik had laughed so hard he had choked on the crackers that he had been eating. News of the pope’s death had spread like wildfire throughout the world. The official cause? Heart failure. And so, for the next 15 days, the world would mourn, and then, on the 16th day, the cardinals would assemble and hold a conclave to decide the new pope. Dante had been worried, as there where 16 days, rather than 10, but after a brief discussion with his comrades, the problem had been defeated.
That morning, when the Vatican awoke, the chief advisor of the Vatican, the Camerlengo, instantly felt something was wrong. An odd feeling hung about in the air. He had been shocked by the pope’s death the day before, and so he warily began to dress and start his day. As soon as he left the safety of the building, he knew what was wrong: The wind was blowing. And I mean blowing. The few trees in the Vatican where bent at an extreme angle. The Camerlengo crouched down, trying to balance himself. He nearly fell over. His hat was ripped from his head and it blew away. He slowly battled his way through the ever-growing wind and managed to reach the kitchen, where he found the staff in disarray. A crash could be heard as a collection of potted plants where thrown from their sill.
The staff claimed that without the pope there to guide them, that god had forsaken them. The Camerlengo did his best to dissipate these wild rumors, but not everyone was listening. The Camerlengo went to the room in which the pope lay in a coffin, and he was deeply disturbed. Every single of the 100 candles in the room had been blown out. Every single window and door had been closed. A shiver ran down the Camerlengo’s back. He could feel something supernatural at work. He shuddered, muttered a short prayer and returned to his bedroom.
Meanwhile, Derik sat in the planning room, meditating. He was conjuring up the fierce winds that blew through the Vatican at this moment. Dante, Antenora and Amber watched the destruction from afar (with the aid of a scrying device), and PJ was absent once again. It was only late at night that PJ returned, just as Derik awoke from his meditation and the winds below them ceased.
The next morning the Vatican looked a mess. Several trees had fallen over (one had crushed a gardener’s shed) and everything that had been outside and had not been nailed down was either broken, misplaced or lost. Hordes of cleaners had to be brought in to clean it up. Strangely enough, the gale had only hit the Vatican, somehow missing everything else. It was certainly puzzling. Already a news team was waiting outside, curious about the legions of cleaners and the high winds. But when the Camerlengo awoke on that morning, he found that the horror hadn’t ended.
The Camerlengo got dressed, and headed for his private bathroom. He turned on the tap and was about to wash his face when he shouted and stumbled backwards. The water was red! Blood-red! The Camerlengo sniffed his red hands, and found, to his disgust, that it was blood! Horrified, he wiped his hands and headed for the kitchens, to see if they had a similar problem. He entered and found it even more chaotic than the previous day. “The water has turned to blood!” Several of the cooks where shouting. Then the Camerlengo remembered where he had heard of this before: The Bible! The ten plagues of Egypt! The first one had been bloody water. But it hadn’t mentioned anything about winds….
Several calls to the water company where made, but they where as puzzled as the Camerlengo. Several other news teams arrived, interviewing anyone who exited the Vatican. Water had to be carried in from other sources. The staff where terrified. And to boot it all, the first cardinal had arrived, deciding to be there early for the conclave in two weeks.
The blood-water was the work of, of course, PJ. As god of destruction, he possessed several nasty powers, including conjuring blood and bone. The other four gods watched and tittered as the staff of the Vatican ran about, confused and bewildered. Then, at midnight, the blood-water ceased, and the new plague was beginning to form as Derik and Amber readied themselves.
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Antenora
Detriment Deleter
Fiendish Philologist
Put down that harpoon gun, in the name of these wonderful birds!
Posts: 15,891
Likes: 113
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Post by Antenora on Apr 21, 2005 4:59:57 GMT -5
Athena, goddess of wisdom, also rules over warfare, so maybe I could be like her. Do I get a nifty plumed Greek helmet?
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Post by PJ on Apr 21, 2005 5:00:50 GMT -5
Athena, goddess of wisdom, also rules over warfare, so maybe I could be like her. Do I get a nifty plumed Greek helmet? No helmet, it's too late for that. But yeah, I was thinking of making you god of justice or war or something. But it's too late now. Doesn't mean you can't woop ass, though.
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Antenora
Detriment Deleter
Fiendish Philologist
Put down that harpoon gun, in the name of these wonderful birds!
Posts: 15,891
Likes: 113
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Post by Antenora on Apr 21, 2005 5:51:17 GMT -5
Why didn't I see this chapter before? I must have been half-asleep. You should change the thread title to indicate that part the third is up.
Anyway, I liked it.
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Post by PJ on Apr 21, 2005 5:54:11 GMT -5
Why didn't I see this chapter before? I must have been half-asleep. You should change the thread title to indicate that part the third is up. Anyway, I liked it. I keep forgetting to do that. It's done. And thanks. I like the next part, it's cool.
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Post by Amber on Apr 21, 2005 8:16:33 GMT -5
I like! And yzay for me being it it a lot.
It really is very good.
Now laugh at my non-existant complimenting skills.
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Post by Dante on Apr 21, 2005 8:37:51 GMT -5
Good chapter, PJ. It nicely sets up the next chapter - or at least, so I assume. It was all a sham, as you know for fact that god exists. But you figure if you want to take over the catholic church, you might as well try and convert the pope. Oh, I know that - it's obvious enough, from my speech in Part One. It's PChar. CharJ would be Char/J. And you know I'm only saying it to wind you up. But I'm still curious. After all, you're the one who's written in these allegations.
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Post by PJ on Apr 21, 2005 16:23:29 GMT -5
It's PChar. CharJ would be Char/J. And you know I'm only saying it to wind you up. But I'm still curious. After all, you're the one who's written in these allegations. I have written allegations of me and some egyptian godess, there is no mention of Char at all. So blerg.
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Post by PJ on Apr 21, 2005 17:00:54 GMT -5
Part the Fourth
The next day continued the whole 10 plagues of Egypt thing. In the morning, the Camerlengo just wanted to sleep. He knew he aught to wake up, to face the days newest calamity, but he just wanted to leave it all. He knew it would continue until a new pope was elected. He was sure of it. For some reason, god was doing this. All would become clear once there was another pope. After delaying himself for as long as possible, the Camerlengo finally opened his door and peeped out. The mess from the first day had been cleared away, and the blood-water had disappeared. Everything seemed normal. He opened the door wider and stepped out. Still nothing. He rushed out into the sun and looked around, expecting something, anything to happen. Nothing did.
The only thing that could have indicated the upcoming plague where the grey storm clouds that hovered over the horizon. By midday, they dominated the sky, covering it all. Everything was dark and gloomy. The Camerlengo, however, sat in the dining room and had a lunch, happy that nothing had happened. Perhaps it had all been a hoax? The wind was coincidence, and the blood was some sort of atheist joke. Yes, that was surely it. And then it started to rain. The Camerlengo listened happily to the rain pattering away on his roof when he heard a sudden and unexpected thump. He instantly knew that something was wrong. He also half knew what it was going to be. He dropped his lunch and headed for the door. He looked outside. The third plague had come.
It was raining frogs. Yes, you read right, frogs. They simply fell from the sky and landed with a small plop on the floor. Somehow they survived the fall, but they seemed to be a pretty disgruntled lot. One landed on the Camerlengo’s hat (it was the replacement of the one that he had lost on the first day). The Camerlengo stared up to the sky and laughed. “What next?” He asked. He seemed only mildly annoyed. Frogs weren’t too bad, it seemed. This annoyed Dante. It annoyed him greatly. His hair exploded outwards, until PJ’s sleeve caught fire as Dante paced the room and PJ complained.
“He thinks it’s funny! He’s laughing at us!” Dante raged as he paced back and forth. He was silent for a moment. Derik and Amber sat in the corner, humming softly, as they combined the power of animals and storms to create the third plague. Both had a huge grin on their faces. “We will go ahead as planned. Tomorrow he’ll see we mean business.” PJ simply sat in the corner, deep in thought. Antenora held Dante’s arm. “Don’t be so frustrated. Once the other plagues appear he won’t have anything to laugh about. Forget about him and go read a book or something.” Dante seemed troubled and he nodded faintly. Antenora led him away to leave PJ with the comatose Derik and Amber. A faint smile crossed PJ’s face as he drew a permanent text marker from his pocket. He advanced upon Derik, grinning.
That midnight Derik and Amber awoke, happy but tired. “How did we do?” They asked Antenora who was leaning back on her chair. She spun around, surprised they where awake. “I had forgotten you where here.” Then she saw the pen marks on Derik’s face and burst out laughing. “What?” Derik said, and turned to Amber, who also burst into laughter. With a snap of his finger he summoned a mirror and he examined his face. “Very cunning, PJ…” He muttered, and then began to wipe the ink off. “So how did we do?” Amber asked once more, playing with a small squirrel that sat on her shoulder. “Well, disappointing, actually,” Antenora said, once she had wiped the tears from her eyes. “He laughed at us. But it’s not much of a loss. We go ahead as planned.” Amber and Derik seemed disappointed. “Well, good luck to Dante today. Tell him for me, will you? I have to go and do something.” He grinned malevolently and faded away to god knows where.
The Camerlengo awoke once more and leapt from bed. He discovered he didn’t care. The frogs yesterday where ridiculous. And if he knew the bible well, gnats would be next. They too could be dealt with. He got ready, sprayed some anti-bug spray on himself (he had had it delivered yesterday, as a precaution) and opened the door. So far, no bugs. He stepped into the sunlight and realized that there wouldn’t be any bugs at all today. As soon as the sun touched him he yelped and leapt back into the shade. It was burning hot! He crouched down and put his finger on a flagstone and pulled it back an instant later. They had somehow amplified the sun’s rays. He quickly dashed towards the staff room so he would be able to warn them. “Is that all you’ve got?” He shouted on his way across the courtyard.
The staff properly warned, the Camerlengo found an umbrella, and used it to cross back to his room. When he arrived he found the bottom of his slippers where melted. He re-entered his house and turned his air-conditioning on the highest level. The rest of the day was spent indoors, save a quick dash to the dining room for lunch. Although the people where properly protected, the buildings weren’t so lucky. Paint peeled and anything made of rubber or plastic melted into a pile of unrecognizable goo. Those without air-con suffered the most, and spent the day lounging about, fanning themselves. The Swiss guard got permission from the Camerlengo to change out of their ridiculous (and incredibly warm clothes). They where also allowed to stay inside. To their dismay, the cameras of the Vatican had melted so they simply positioned themselves near windows, gazing out. The gates of the Vatican had been closed so no one else was in any danger. A Cardinal tried to enter, but when he telephoned the Camerlengo, and was advised to come back tomorrow or as late as possible.
Near the end of the day, when the sun was setting, PJ appeared in the planning room because he wished to talk to Dante as soon as he awoke from his sun-amplifying spell. PJ had spent the day in several out of the way places, so as to avoid Derik. Unfortunately, Derik was waiting for him, and as soon as PJ appeared, he tackled the god of destruction to the ground, and began striking him with his fists, lightning, fire and whatever else he could hurl. PJ, caught off-guard, reacted slowly, but after a moment or so, he and Derik where playfully wrestling on the floor. By “playfully” I mean they would have both died if they had been human. Dante, when he awoke, watched the two for a moment, before discussing his plague with Antenora. Amber was nowhere to be seen. The sun god was slightly disappointed at the lack of damage his spell had caused, but dismissed it with a “just wait for the later plagues”.
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Antenora
Detriment Deleter
Fiendish Philologist
Put down that harpoon gun, in the name of these wonderful birds!
Posts: 15,891
Likes: 113
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Post by Antenora on Apr 21, 2005 17:06:18 GMT -5
Yay for plagues!
I like the emerging conflict between Derik and PJ. Very interesting.
Bah, I suck at complimenting. Anyway, I liked this chapter. Did you ever decide who this Egyptian goddess was? (In your defense, I don't think Char in an Egyptian name.)
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Post by PJ on Apr 21, 2005 17:43:42 GMT -5
Yay for plagues! I like the emerging conflict between Derik and PJ. Very interesting. Bah, I suck at complimenting. Anyway, I liked this chapter. Did you ever decide who this Egyptian goddess was? (In your defense, I don't think Char in an Egyptian name.) Well, I just added the PJ-Derik war to make it interesting. And I don't know who this egyptian goddess is. I know it ISN'T Char, but that's all. If any PJ/Some random 667er girl ship appears in the next few days, I will build that in, but otherwise she won't play much of a part. Oh, crud. I was gonna have Ennui introduced as Amber's mortal boyfriend who doesn't know about her god-ness, but I just introduced him as a Cardinal. So that won't work. Oh well.
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Post by Ennui on Apr 22, 2005 5:45:57 GMT -5
Don't worry. Cardinals are cool. Especially if they're corrupt. Amber can lead me from the straight and narrow paths. I'm not Monsignor Camerlengo, am I?
The last plague won't do much at all, since most priests are younger sons...
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