Remnants (Page 2 of 2)
Later, they have hitch-hiked aboard a pickup truck and are sitting in the back.
Quinn: "Um. Did you just leave Tinco behind?"
Jacques: "He'll be fine. He's got an arrow in him right? People always feel sorry about people with arrows in them."
Suddenly, another truck speeds up next to them, with Tinco in the back of that.
Tinco: "You guys aren't the only ones who can hitch a ride. Also, I refuse to let you win!"
He leaps to attack, prompting Jacques to leap to defend. They cross-kicks in mid-air, landing on opposite trucks.
Jacques: "You're alive!?"
Tinco: "Yeah. I've been bribing people with loukoumi treats for hours, also known as Turkish Delight; something I figured would go over well here."
He jumps over and the two fight on the second truck.
Jacques: "Wow. I'm impressed. But where were you going?"
Tinco: "Bodrum Castle, the 15th century Crusader stronghold with a small collection of Mycenae vases."
Quinn: "WHAT!? I was expecting one of the Temple of Artemis'? ...Artimisie? Hm."
Tinco, distracted: "I literally had nothing to go on."
Jacques kicks Tinco over onto the first truck with Quinn.
Jacques: "Well, despite that, you're actually a lot swifter than I thought you were."
Tinco: "No kidding. I got some gypsy lady to clean my wound. It's also nice that painkillers are so plentiful here."
He jumps back. Jacques takes out the crystal, but Tinco lands and fights in close-combat, enough to grab the crystal as well. The two holding onto it, cause it to do nothing but blow wind in their faces. He pins Jacques' back over the edge of the truck, still, both holding onto the crystal.
Jacques: "Uh, no, what I meant was, you have a knack for this treasure-hunting thing. Delphi played a major role in that thought-process."
Tinco, eases back: "Really? That means a lot coming from you. Considering I was intruding in on your territory."
Jacques: "Oh, yeah, you definitely were, and still are. But admittedly, I may have been a little jealous of your success in all this. Not to mention, ever since I side-tracked myself with that ambrosia theory, I've conceded to moments of being gravely wrong-- bring-back-the-near-dead wrong."
The two spin around and build up crystal power and blast each other. Tinco wins the crystal as he falls back, into the other side of the truck. Jacques is sent back into the other truck with Quinn.
Tinco: "Well, if that ain't a thigh-slapping yeehaw!"
Quinn: "Please don't."
Jacques: "He's right. You've proven yourself, but we still can't consciously allow you to come with us. We've seen the dangers."
Tinco: "Um. Yeah. I was at Delphi; remember? I get it."
Jacques: "Whatever you saw there is only part of the whole thing. What we saw in Mexico was hauntingly a whole lot more."
Tinco: "--Wait! Hauntingly? Dead people? You're heading for the burial mound of Achillies. It all makes sense! If the Greek crystal was meant to protect against armies in combat, and it was lost at Troy, then it's possible the loss was to Achillies himself, who used it to win said battle!"
Quinn: "How do you figure?"
Tinco: "Well, my theory is based on the direction you're heading. As such, I'm going there first!"
He uses the crystal to blast his truck faster.
Quinn: "So two people can use the crystal at once, huh?"
Jacques: "Yeah, that's new."
Meanwhile, Reen stands in front of the door as its kicked in by the Cult of Dionysus.
Reen: "Well it's about time. Rumours have been circulating about you guys for weeks. Inquiry-- I was certain the Cult of Dionysus was gone in the 1300s BC?"
Nikos: "Yes, we were forced out, but we were back by the 200s BC."
Reen: "What took you so long?"
Nikos: "Organizing. We had to register a business-- well, I don't want to bore all of us with the details-- You see, we've been held up by this annoying drunk Captain all day. It's like his incompetence exists to merely stagger people's timing."
Reen: "Listen to me, I'm a fanatic and I've been studying this crystal for years. It is not an easy find, even for the casual extremist faction bent on achieving random goals that I assume are irrelevant. Also, my own men have betrayed me."
Nikos: "Oh please! We've been on this for centuries! You do understand the statue is ours and that we only accept those who worship the great god Dionysus?"
Reen: "Yeah, that guy is great. I've got all his albums."
Nikos: "Bloody hell. You should be murdered right away! It's like you're running late for an appointment with Hades."
Reen: "Oh yeah? Well do you understand the statue isn't a statue anymore? It's been whittled down by Minotaurus, who prolonged his existence by eating parts of it."
Nikos: "What!? It has?? --I didn't think you could trump us, but apparently you did. This upsets us, greatly. Now I know what Apollo meant by 'A very big daemon'."
Reen: "Huh?"
Nikos: "There was this whole thing at Delphi and a divine encounter and blah, blah, blah. Never mind. You are to come with us. As you can see, this is a desperate concession on our part as you are considered a contamination to our purity."
Reen: "What? I do have a sense of hygiene. Besides, like you could stop me."
He leaps forward and starts fighting his way out, but the Cult fights back until he is outside and surrounded by a large number of members.
Nikos: "As you can see, we out-number you by lots. Persian-Empire lots!"
The truck reaches the burial mound area, near a cliffside by the sea.
Quinn: "Here you go-- Greece is the leading producer of sea sponges, and they're making their tourists gift their constant surplus to other foreigners."
Ulysses, grabs it: "Well now!"
Jacques and Quinn approach the burial mound.
Jacques: "No sign of him. Are you sure this is the correct location of Achillies' tomb?"
Quinn: "This tomb has been the most highly argued location of antiquity for centuries, controversied through historians, anthropologists, leaders and armies alike--- how can anyone really be sure?"
Jacques: "Good point."
Quinn: "Well, I am. The Aristotle messages at Troy said so."
Jacques: "You mean that one guy who invented quote-unquote 'physics'?"
Quinn: "That's the one. He also gave us politics and math homework."
Jacques: "Why do people love him so much? Never mind. Let's just let that be one of those unsolved things in history."
They look around.
Jacques: "Speaking of the past-- Tinco must've got in."
Quinn: "How? These mounds were excavated several times back in the 18th and 19th centuries and no evidence was found that predate Homer himself."
Jacques dusts off a hole in a nearby stone slab.
Jacques: "You're thinking like the site-teacher, with your semi-directional-'excavations'. It's important to think outside the box. --You see, this part was updated much later; renovated, if you will."
Quinn: "I won't. But if I follow your dissonant behaviour correctly, Tinco must've used the Spear of Alexander the Great to get in."
Jacques: "Right. The spear worked at Athens, so it must've worked here too. During his adolescent rein of terror, Alexander visited this place, along with Skyros and Athens, to pay tribute to the great hero Achillies."
Quinn: "It's like some kind of spear of 'destiny'. But far be it from me to coin."
Jacques: "Hmm. The handle on the Sword of Theseus seems to have the same strange shape as the bottom of the staff did."
Quinn, takes it out and examines: "Theseus did base his handle redesign on his experiences with the crystal. He probably replicated the shapes found on the staff itself."
Jacques, places the handle bottom into the stone slab: "Lycomedes had it at the time, so my bet is Theseus was trying to emulate the King to take over his throne."
Quinn: "So King Lycomedes' hero-killing paranoia was right? Huh. I guess it pays be justified in ones murders."
Suddenly the ground shakes and a door opens up nearby. They walk inside.
Quinn: "--Quick question; but did you really leave that Yakuza-nut job to die back at the Artemis chamber?"
Jacques: "Trust me, after he tried to kill us at Knossos, it's more than he deserved."
Quinn: "That's cold man. Also, illegal."
Suddenly, they hear a click of a gun cock from behind. They turn to find Eugene and Charlize.
Charlize: "Excavating, are we?"
Jacques: "We have our own protocols. Most of them are mental-note-based, but it gets the job done."
Eugene: "That was a rhetorical question! We found this scroll ejected from the statue of Artemis after you left. It was written by Herpyllis, describing Aristotle's search for Achillies' tomb."
Quinn: "Hm. That was Aristotle's mistress. But since when did Aristotle care about Achillies?"
Jacques: "Also, I thought you two didn't like each other?"
Eugene: "She's blackmailing me into helping her get the crystal for herself. She discovered that I was feeding sea sponges to school children."
Charlize: "Exactly. A letter will be sent to his superiors about it if I don't make it back alive. It doesn't matter that Greece is over-flowing with sea sponge surplus! --Besides, all I see are images of that crystal in my head. I can't explain it."
Quinn: "That's called crazy."
Suddenly the door closes behind them, locking them in.
Jacques: "Looks like forward is the only way... uh, forward. You can stay here, Major-pointy-gun-pointer."
Eugene: "No, I would rather shoot you first. You see, once you get me going, I have to shoot something!"
Jacques: "That thing's still loaded!? Dammit."
Meanwhile, back home at the archeology office. Logan and Max are sitting at the artifacts table.
Max: "Last time we had that annoying Yakuza-University Liaison issue. I'm just glad this semester we resolved the B-story early, instead of just dragging it on."
Logan, on the phone: "Wait what? So I shouldn't be calling the guys to report in?"
Max: "Noo--!!"
Suddenly the phone picks up on the other end.
#Jacques: "I'm in a tunnel and I'm getting reception. This is the best."
#Quinn: "Uh, FYI, we're not that far underground and there's a cellular tower nearby."
Logan: "Speaking of whatever you guys are talking about-- I'm not calling because Horsporar has become addicted to a recently opened site and isn't selling the statue anymore."
Max: "No. No, no, no."
#Jacques: "What? That guy really has a one-track mind. I guess the school is out one Ganesh statue which, I'm pretty sure would have driven people from the arts and sports extra curriculars to ours."
#Quinn: "You know, Tinco told me he dealt with this guy at the city library once. Horsporar was trying to borrow the same edition of Huckleberry Finn as Tinco was-- Tinco's reasons were to expose the book for bad spelling; but Horporar preferred that people to be reminded of the horrible state of society back then-- something Tinco thought was a great idea."
#Jacques: "Hah! No one reads Mark Twain for the stories."
#Quinn: "The point is, Tinco exposed the conflict as a stalemate and not a conflict, and Horporar hated stalemates as a principle, so Horsporar gave up the book and left; all while wearing a mysterious cloak over his head."
#Jacques: "Seems like a viable clothing choice."
Suddenly, the phone loses connection as the group reaches the end of the corridor where a giant gimbal sits the centre, with a coffin in the centre of that. The gimbal arms are bladed and dangerous. The room is a half sphere shape. A third bladed layer sits near the wall around them.
Quinn, shock: "The Ancient Greeks had a gimbal obsession. I went through a similar phase myself."
Jacques: "Amazing. You see, Charlize? This is what archeology is all about. Heh, heh. Heh--- You're everything I'm trying to be."
Charlize: "Flattering; but don't. As I learned in Delphi, even the best of us can be damaging to the field. Also, isn't that your friend?"
She points at Tinco, who's leg is trapped between two gimbal arms.
Tinco: "Just a minor set back. I'm probably not going to reveal how this happened."
Suddenly, the gimbal blades start rotating; Tinco is released. They find Eugene holding an ancient bottle of wine, lifted off an embossed pedestal.
Eugene: "Yes, of course it's the Greek army guy that messes things up, right? You guys are so racist against Greek armies."
Quinn: "We didn't say anything!"
Eugene tries to put the bottle back, but the pedestal sinks into the floor. Blades from the walls begin spinning, slowly shrinking towards them.
Tinco: "What the--?! So let me get this straight. They based that trap on a certainty that someone would pick up that bottle? What if the intruder wasn't a drinker?"
Eugene: "Don't you ever say that! The very idea of a non-Greek alcoholic upsets me."
Charlize: "Whoa. I'm getting the weirdest feeling off that coffin, and I'm pretty sure I don't access my own feelings as a rule?"
Tinco: "--Great. How about the feeling of staying alive, though?"
Jacques, walks over to Quinn who is reading the wall: "Any merit to Tinco's outrageous hopes?"
Quinn: "According to the inscriptions on the wall, the 'sleeping hero regrets the reckless and drunkardly lives of gods.'"
Tinco: "First, Achillies desperately has to protect his heel, now he can't stomach his liquor? Legacy ruined. By us."
Quinn: "How do we sleep at night?"
Charlize: "If we open that coffin, we'll know what happened to that crystal."
Eugene: "What? How could you just 'know' that? I call fake on you!"
He points his gun at her.
Charlize, confused: "I... I don't know. It's Achillies who's up there, isn't it?"
Tinco: "No time for questions! We'll just take her rambling as some sort of in-story-set-up."
Eugene: "Fine. But I'm still going to start shooting people. You can't expect me to get riled up about shooting and shoot nothing, you know!"
Jacques: "I guess he's got a point. --Anyway, those blades look like they have pictographs on them?"
Quinn: "Right. This outer blade represents the reckless lives of gods. It lists many of them along the blade."
He peers into the second one as it approaches.
Quinn: "The inner blade talks about one specific god that ruined the life of a young mortal woman. A centre point is indicated by the crystal symbol."
The blade behind everyone gets closer and closer.
Tinco: "The reckless lives of gods? That's like every god. ...Ares, the god of War, was wreaking havoc whenever he could. ...Zeus, himself, was crazy, and he got around, if you know what I mean."
Jacques: "We do not. But if the pictographs at Troy of the goddess Artemis is a part of all this, I think I know who they're referring to."
The outer blade smashes into an outer statue, closing in on them.
Quinn: "Just to add to that unlikely knowledge, but we will die if you're incorrect. The inner pictographs depict the deaths of us mortals who choose wrong."
Jacques: "Relax. You see, at Troy, the inside door depicted Artemis saving a young woman from the wrath of another god."
Tinco: "Wait! There was a myth around that, in which Dionysus meant to kill a girl but was saved by Artemis!"
Jacques: "Right. I believe the god this blade is talking about is Dionysus."
Quinn: "Wow, do we ever talk a lot in times of needed action."
Tinco: "We were just getting to that! We need to align the blades, using its main symbol. Did the Greeks know about levers by the 4th century?"
Jacques: "There's no time to find out or even recall mentally. Just use the wind crystal."
Tinco takes out the crystal and uses the wind to manipulate the blades. Each blast of wind rotates the inner blades, aligning the Dionysus symbol with the crystal symbol. The alignment causes all the blades to stop.
Eugene: "I didn't get to shoot anyone! Huh. But the results were positive. So, I'm conflicted?"
Quinn, offers the bottle: "Wine?"
Jacques: "Now, we check the coffin for the crystal and pray it's not another redirect. --If back story happens, nobody have an out-of-body flashback, okay?"
Charlize shrugs. Suddenly, the Cult enters, with its members blocking the entrance.
Nikos: "Well, well, well. If it isn't the illustrious treasure hunter the Major has befriended."
Eugene: "You!!? --And we're more like work-friends."
Jacques: "Aha! This is the secret religious organization Reen mentioned at Knossos, and who you said you had to protect your men from, when we ambushed you at Troy!"
Charlize: "Delayed revelations much?."
Nikos: "We've been after the Major for years, ever since he was a lowly Second Lieutenant. He is a horrible, horrible person; no offence to those who have judged him differently."
Eugene: "Translation, I used to be a lot more heinous back in my day. Anyone that crossed my path, I would literally post to crucifixes. They served as both an anti-Christian demonstration and Ancient Greek tribute..... Ah, I miss those nailings."
Tinco: "Really not normal. Let me guess. Then you decided to hunt for ancient artifacts, the sole pastime of the Cult for centuries."
Eugene: "Who told you--!? ...Oh right, deductive reasoning."
Jacques: "Why are we doing backstory? I specifically said not to do that!"
Tinco: "Relax. I've got the only thing that matters here. The Mexican wind crystal."
He searches he pockets but doesn't find it.
Tinco: "Um. Redact that?"
He then looks to his side to find a half-dead, decomposing man in Ancient Greek armour crawling near him with the crystal. The man, unfocused and angry, then blasts everyone away and back.
Tinco: "Aaahh!!"
Quinn: "Another halfie... That's what I'm calling people who are half way to dead."
Jacques looks up and notices the coffin has been opened, and that the man came from there. The coffin then falls to the floor.
Jacques: "Ugh. Is that... is that Achillies?"
Charlize: "The armour looks consistent with the Bronze Age. Not to mention that the coffin has his name on it."
Quinn: "You said the pictographs at Troy depicted Achillies stealing the crystal from Acamas, Theseus' son, during the battle of Troy, right?"
Jacques: "I say a lot of things, not expecting to them to be used as references."
Quinn: "Well, according to this coffin hood, at his death, his men were ordered to force-feed him the Greek crystal. They probably didn't even know it would preserve him and so they buried him in this elaborate chamber."
Eugene: "Ah. That's a communication disconnect between a leader and his soldiers. I get the wrong kind of musaka all the time from my front-line soldiers."
Half-dead Achillies blasts them again. Niko then approaches Achillies slowly and starts speaking in Ancient Greek.
Nikos: " Μεγάλη ήρωα, να σώσει τη γη σου, να συμμετάσχουν σε Διόνυσος."
(Great hero, help save your land, join Dionysus.)
Quinn: "He's telling him to save the land and join Dionysus."
Jacques: "Dammit. The most famous hero from Greek history and the first person he connects with is an extremist cult leader."
Tinco: "You're not stating irony, by the way; just current events."
Jacques: "Correction-- really, really current events."
Lost and half aware, Achillies hands the crystal over to Nikos.
Nikos: "Excellent. This was sent to us from the gods themselves."
Quinn: "Mesoamerican gods, as it were."
Nikos: "You dare contradict reality? --Men! Seize everybody!"
The Cult members apprehend everyone. Nikos then walks over to Achillies and shoves his hand down his throat.
Jacques: "Hey man, that's no way to treat the heroes of the past. He should be in a museum--- wait. Dammit. Charlize, what's the protocol for living-finds again? Something about plastic wrap, right?"
Finding nothing, Nikos walks over to the coffin and lifts the hood.
Nikos: "It's more on Alexander the Great. He found the crystal right here in Achillies' tomb, but took it for himself!"
Quinn: "Well, it sure was nice of someone to make that story addition to Achillies' already-decked-out tomb."
Nikos: "Fearing its power, Alexander hid it somewhere in this area in memory of his campaigns."
He points to a city-pictograph huddled by ship pictographs. Both Jacques and Tinco are close enough to see it as well.
Tinco: "That looks like... Cyprus? The island of Cyprus was a source for building warships for several campaigns."
Jacques: "Hm. Not a bad stretch-of-outlandish-logic there, my friend."
Tinco: "I think it's also describing Aristotle's search for Alexander, in an attempt to murder him?"
Jacques: "Yeah, well, you can't always be right."
Later, at night, the group is on the Cult boat, heading east along the Mediterranean. All of them are tied up at one mast, on deck. The leader walks over with the crystal.
Nikos: "I really must thank you for this. It's proven to be a great asset in getting that drunk sea Captain's ship off our bow. That guy needs to learn how to steer."
He walks away.
Quinn: "What other options do we have?"
Jacques: "Be trapped is all that's coming to me."
Tinco, struggling until loose: "Luckily that one cult guy messed up my knot. I'm willing to bet they don't have a knot-tying program in their organization."
Quinn: "Whoa. Let's not get judgmental on cults here."
Jacques: "Perfect! You can set us free and we can jump ship!"
Tinco: "It took me a little while to wiggle loose; it should take you the same amount of while. Because I'm grabbing the wind crystal and going to Cyprus."
Jacques: "What?!"
Eugene: "You selfish kid! Also, why am I still working with kids??"
Tinco: "Relax, I'll give the wind crystal back to you guys later. Besides, you, yourself, agree that I'm perfectly capable of all this."
Jacques: "Yeah, but despite that, your deathening is imminent!"
Tinco: "Huh? I'm sorry, I must've drifted away from an insane point there. Where was I? Oh yeah-- Trust me, I get it now. It's your drive that gets you your finds-- that, and some creative thinking over my previously established closed-mindedness. Don't worry, I got this one."
He runs off.
Quinn: "How are we going to explain this to the Captain?"
Jacques: "That cult leader is not a Captain! We get out and go after that ambitious student historian. I can't believe how rash I used to be. --That's me equating Tinco to my past self, by the way."
Quinn: "Now you're the Captain; Captain Obvious. By the way, that's from a PSA television show from the 60s."
They start wiggling. By day, Nikos and a few of his men approach them, just after they get loose.
Jacques: "I guess it was more closer to morning than we thought."
Nikos: "Correct. And one of your guys stole the wind crystal right from my boat office. And just after I thanked you for it! That's time I could have spent securing a better lock for my safe."
Quinn: "You left it open, didn't you?"
Nikos: "Don't you dare presume to know my archrival habits! This is not the appropriate way to treat your captors."
Nikos accidentally drops a rolled up poster-photo of the inner lid of Achillies' tomb. It unravels before everyone.
Jacques: "Wait. Is that from the tomb? I didn't notice those etchings above the location."
Nikos: "That's because it was covered in a layer of organic crust-- Achillies', to be specific."
Quinn: "I didn't think the halfies could get more disgusting. --Anyway, that's cuniform writing."
Charlize: "Correct. I recognize the etchings. It's exactly the same pictographs etched into a known Persian pottery fragment from the Bronze period. They describe the settlement of Baalbek; coincidentally, as the fragments were excavated in Baalbek."
Jacques: "Pottery. The world's greatest achievement."
Quinn, reading: "That pro-archeologist is right. --You know what this means? Alexander brought the crystal to Baalbek-- not Cyprus!"
Jacques: "Of course I knew that. Wait. No, I didn't know that. You're not judging me though, right?; on my knowing of things?"
Meanwhile, on Cyprus, Tinco approaches the House of Dionysus, where there are mosaics of Theseus and Minotaur. Nearby is a recently excavated and imported mosaic of Alexander the Great.
Louise: "Hello. I'm the on-site archeologist. We just wrapped up here, but I do not mind introducing you to this newly imported and discovered mosaic of Alexander the Great."
Tinco: "Man, that guy was busy. In the span of a few days, my friends and I have effectively uncovered four sites directly altered and booby-trapped by him or people who knew him."
Louise: "That's not outlandish and over the top at all."
He looks over and it shows Alexander bringing the crystal to a village Baalbek.
Tinco: "Wait. This is about him offering a powerful crystalline object to a small village to look after. Baalbek!"
Louise: "Please, sir. No yelling on Cyprus. It annoys the Ottomans."
Tinco: "I thought this place was locked in immortal Grecian-Turkish battle?"
Louise: "No, yeah; they just came back."
Tinco: "Oh. --Dammit! I was wrong about this place too, wasn't I?"
Louise: "It sounds like you're referring to something on a greater scale, so I will answer on the smaller scale of things and hope it aligns by chance......... Yes."
Then, beyond the mosaics, in the distance they hear a boat crash upon the shore.
Curious as to why no one is around, they walk over and examine. They find that bodies litter the deck and trickle onto the beach.
Tinco: "This is that drunk Captain's boat!"
Louise: "I've met him. He tried buying our mosaics to use for a Greek handball court once. --Are you doomed or something? I get that feeling from you."
Tinco: "Oh please. Would a doomed guy enter a boat full of recently murdered bodies?"
They board the boat, noticing the bodies have rips in them.
Louise: "Either this is murder, or people's insides just decided to hate themselves?"
Tinco: "Things that can't have feelings or talk, can't have feelings or talk."
They approach the cargo area to find a crate from Knossos has been torn through.
Louise: "The Captain must've arrived from Crete, and was shipping some recent archeological find."
They notice that there's something inside.
Tinco: "Except, maybe this is more than just a find..."
Louise: "What do you mean? You trailed off, as if to insinuate something entirely on another level of comprehension?"
Tinco: "Remember how you thought I was 'doomed'? Well, there's a chance your previous theorem was correct."
They hear a deathly moan sound from inside just as the creature, Minotaurus, leaps out at them as Tinco ready's Ehecatl's wind crystal. Doom!
Back home, Logan and CJ sneak around an elegant house, where a group of collectors are holding a private party. The two hide behind bushes at the front as the Horsporar, hooded, walks into the residence.
Logan: "That dude really does dress oddly."
CJ: "You informed me we would be visiting a religions of the world information seminar today."
Logan: "I had to lie. I need the practice in lying. I'm just not good at it."
CJ: "What happened to Maximillion? Wait. Do not tell me. He became confused and alienated by your antics."
Logan: "You and I rarely talk, but it's you that gets me. --Anyway, Quinn's reiteration of what happened to Tinco and Horsporar convinced me to confront him again. I've been stalking the guy since yesterday."
CJ: "You show promising commitment. Do you mean to enter the facility?"
He looks over to find Logan not beside him anymore, but at the front door, talking to the door man.
Garges: "You don't have an invitation to this."
Logan: "No, but I do have this lump of coal, that when, put under the right circumstances, pressurized, can be transformed into diamond."
Garges: "Whoa. And I just bought a new car, so a diamond would help me a lot financially."
Logan: "You're a high school graduate?"
Garges: "What?"
Logan: "Never mind."
Garges: "Alright, you two can come in!"
With CJ approaching, he allows the both to enter the party.
Inside, it is busy with high society, sipping champagne and eating foods. He approaches the Horsporar, who is standing in front of a casing with the Ganesh statue inside. Horpsporar is talking to a collector.
Karx: "It cost me half my salary to bribe my way in here. You have to sell it to me, out of pure desperation and everything I've been through!"
Horsporar: "You're the westernized-Yakuza guy that went crazy in my house earlier, aren't you? Oh you provided me with much needed subtle-chuckles."
Logan: "Aha! You said you wouldn't sell, but look at this. Here you are, doing just that. You sir, have been dealt a stalemate."
Horsporar: "Dammit! I hate those! They're so inconclusive!"
He pulls off his hood.
Logan: "The professor!?"
The two approach to find that Horsporar is in fact Professor Brommen.
Horsporar/Brommen: "First of all, how did you two even get in to this top notch gathering?"
CJ: "Bribery, as it were."
Horsporar/Brommen: "Alright, fine, yes, I am the professor; and I would've gotten away with it too if it weren't for you meddling kids!"
Logan: "Gotten away with what?"
Horsporar/Brommen, stumped: "...Um, I don't... know... My lifestyle? --You see, I am and always have been, aside from my day job as a school teacher, the Horsporar-- the city's greatest ancient artifact collector."
CJ: "I recognize that cloak. It is a druid style cloak-- the kind you brought back with you on your trip to Scotland last year."
Horsporar/Brommen: "Indeed. It's one of my alter-ego's signature looks. Sure, I could live off the money I make trading, but I'm obsessed with customizing my house with traps."
Logan: "So, you were being selfish when you refused to sell the Ganesh statue."
Horsporar/Brommen: "Partly. I really am preoccupied with a recent find in Lebanon. The moral pressure I put on your friend Jacques is a way for me to make up for my renegade ways."
Logan: "Well, I'll be a random person's uncle. So, can we buy the statue? It's for your school, by the way."
Horsporar/Brommen: "As you have just uncovered me as a hypocrite, I will comply, as long as you agree to keep my secret a secret."
Karx: "What!? How the hell does this kid keep winning!? It doesn't make any sense!?? Uggghh!!!"
CJ: "Interesting. Logan has an unexpected rival. --By the way, professor; if we may inquire, what is the issue you have with this find you speak of?"
Horsporar/Brommen: "Oh that! Well, that will take some explanation."
Logan: "Ooo, a story. --Waiter! One story-appeasing champagne please."
As the sun is setting, the boat lands in Lebanon, Tyre, where the cult meets a group of jeeps. Charlize and Eugene are helped onto a jeep, but Nikos stops Jacques and Quinn.
Nikos: "Apologies, but children have no place where we're going."
Jacques: "What? But your rebel group is founded on equality! --A complete opposite of similar groups in this region of the world, by the way."
Nikos: "I just don't want you to come, alright? Jeez. Way to take a hint. Also, we only require one ritual sacrifice and the Major offered himself long ago."
Eugene: "He's referring to our early conflict!"
Quinn: "Thanks for explaining."
Jacques: "Are you kidding me? The Cult of Dionysus never practiced people-sacrifices."
Nikos: "The early public ones did, and that is who we are; but in secret. We have continued the old ways, for centuries."
Quinn: "Gadzooks!"
Nikos, leaps onto the back of the truck: "Relax. You will still die. It just won't be in honour. Not that it matters for you. Lesson is, you shouldn't have left your country. Is it Canada? I'm thinking Canada."
The truck drives off, leaving a few cult members behind, each with a dagger, intent on murder.
Quinn: "Well, that was rude. We're not even worth their special ceremony."
Jacques: "Don't take it personally. They probably only need one person. They're an off-kilter group, but they have rules."
Quinn: "Speaking of kilter, we really need to talk about our archival habits when it comes to the wind crystal. Like a sit-down meeting with notes and everything."
Suddenly one of the cult guys attack, prompting Jacques to grab the arm and then counter-jab several times.
Jacques: "We're just going to have to do without that crystal."
Quinn: "Anyway, transitioning speaking of crystals; if even Aristotle was out to kill Alexander, why didn't Alexander use the Greek crystal to protect himself?"
One of the cult guys goes for Quinn, prompting Quinn to kick-block the guy's arm and then jump-roundhouse another kick.
Jacques: "That's a good question. Maybe Aristotle guilted Alexander into relinquishing it? He gave it up, but wouldn't allow anyone else to have it, so he allowed a team of his men to build all the traps in Kardaki, Skyros, Athens, Turkey and finally Baalbek."
He knocks two cults guys out.
Quinn: "More than that! Aristotle tricked him into giving it up so he could poison Alexander right away! It's no secret Alexander became a conquering tyrant-- the preferred career choice of 4th century BC."
He knocks out the last two remaining guys.
Jacques: "He may have been smart, but he was no match for Aristotle."
Quinn: "Wait. We like Aristotle now?"
Jacques: "Um, if it's the crystal he was able to pawn, yeah we do. I'm starting to believe that people need to give him more credit."
Later, the two hitch a ride to the Baalbek ruins, which has been taken over by the Dionysian Cult. The two wear cloaks to conceal themselves and blend in.
Quinn: "This fabric is really delightful. Tinco is definitely missing out."
Jacques: "Ugh. Don't remind me of that insanely eager kid. Talk about being overly excited about something way too early."
Quinn: "I'm sure it was just a one time thing."
They follow a line down toward the Temple of Baccus, where more Cult members are gathered, drinking and being rowdy. They all face a large structure which has emerged from beneath the floor.
Quinn: "What is going on here? This is like a College frat party? I'm too young for those."
Jacques: "Back in ancient times, the Cult of Dionysus was originally an escape from normal society. It was a place for women, slaves, foreigners and the like could be liberated and celebrated."
Quinn: "So that's how the rave scene started. I've always not wondered. This Cult sure is forced-interesting --Except, for maybe, the part on how they treat academics."
He points to the side, where a group of archeologists are tied up.
Jacques: "The Cult is also just that-- a cult. They worship Dionysus more than anything, and like most extremist agendas, over time, amplified that drive over their original intention."
Quinn: "At least the business model was growing. And that's the most important thing."
They watch as a stone altar is carried in and put in front of the large structure. Eugene, tied up, and Charlize, cut loose, are pushed toward the main area, where Nikos is waiting.
Nikos: "When you guys said Baalbek was where the crystal was, I had the entire cult located here right away. As you can see, we've been eagerly waiting for this night for centuries. --To clarify; I'm not saying we're old; we're just several generations in."
Someone brings over the ompalos vase and Nikos scoops out a liquid and tosses it to the gorund. The liquid starts smoking.
Charlize: "Ugh. That liquid is from the ompalos contents from Delphi? It's what produced the vapours, isn't it?"
-Marvs: "It's called ethylene. Why aren't you guys speaking to us? We're the experts on Ancient Greece-- we're actually reputable!"
Nikos: "More like you're experts of ruining things! But, technically speaking, you are both right. We only take what is ours. Note; everything is ours. --Also, we need you, the present day Oracle of Delphi, to assist all of us in connecting with what you have become; the bridge between our world and wherever those Gods live."
Charlize: "This is because those images I've been seeing in my mind, isn't it? Well, I am an archeologist; not some kind of metaphysical conduit!"
Nikos: "You can be both. It's a free country!"
Eugene: "Actually, it's closer to a dictatorship, but civil society does have a little---"
Nikos: "Quiet you! We pay you to die, not speak! Ugh. Wait. Did we actually give you money? Never mind. --The point I want to make is, you, Charlize, must realize your experience at Delphi is the quintessential of archeology. Don't you agree that learning and knowledge, is, at most, but little compared with that of which we are ignorant?"
Charlize: "Hm. You are describing a phrasing I used earlier; thus illustrating you play dirty."
In the crowd, Jacques and Quinn watch with shock. The vapours begin to grow around Charlize.
Quinn: "We're completely in over our heads! If we try anything, we'll be caught by this giant crowd. You know how I dislike being caught by giant crowds, on a whole. I repeat-- on a whole."
Jacques: "Stop talking already! We're fine; question is, how do they, the cult-oids, think they're going to even find the crystal? If I were Nikos, I would've kept you and I on board; as per the convention of treasure hunts."
Quinn: "Maybe because that!!"
He points at Reen, who pulls off the hood of his cloak to reveal himself. Reen approaches the monolith and Nikos.
Nikos: "The robes look good on you. Welcome to the Cult of Dionysus."
Reen: "Indeed. At first you were very attacky, but you now have finally come to see my revealed devotion to Dionysus."
Nikos: "Of course. Someone as betrayed as you was more in need of our gathering and our lord than anyone else; even for a foreigner, which is usually against our policy."
Reen: "Um, I know. I was there when you re-wrote it almost immediately after I told you about my history in dealing with hidden artifacts. --Now, to support that endeavour, what have you learned of this oddly constructed monolith?"
Nikos: "Just what these archeologists have discovered as of late. That it is a giant machine; almost exactly like, what they call an antikythera mechanism."
Reen: "Fascinating. Only one such mechanism was discovered at the beginning of the 20th century, and it was an astronomical gear-driven device made in the 1st century B.C."
Nikos: "And now we have modern day sextants. That is progress."
Jacques: "Dammit. The Cult must've helped that criminal clutz out of Troy. --But what does a device for astronomy have to do with any of this? And, we know the focus on Dionysus has to do with the cult, but what does Artemis have to do it? Is it that myth we learned about at Achillies tomb? About that woman?"
Quinn: "Way too many questions all at once. You know what over-intellectualism does to me."
Jacques: "How about we table your thoughts forever? --What we can surmise is, that, Alexander brought the crystal to Baalbek for safe keeping. The locals repurposed this device to protect it after using it for astronomy."
Quinn: "Makes sense to me. Who looks at stars anymore? All that neck pain."
Suddenly, Quinn's phone rings, alerting those nearby and getting the attention of Nikos. Two guys grab onto Jacques and Quinn's shoulders. Nikos walks over and tosses over their hoods.
Nikos: "Of course you're not dead! You know, I'm new to this bad guy thing, so I may have made some amateurish decisions."
Quinn: "You see yourself as the bad guy? That's a little abstract."
Nikos: "I'm just translating my issues to English! Don't ask me why. You Westerners are nothing but trouble."
Jacques: "Let Charlize go, Nikos!"
Nikos: "Is your tone supposed to convey a threat to me? I'm confused."
Reen: "Ignore this new-aged punk. He's merely a thorn that needs to be disposed of."
Jacques: "Give me a break, Reen. You didn't actually join the Cult of Dionysus. You're just using them!"
Reen: "What do you know, dumb stump-child. You still need a ladder to reach the top shelf! And your captured demeanor tells me you've lost the wind crystal! That makes you double stupid-- Actually, double that."
Jacques: "At least I didn't join the Cult of Dionysus-- the oldest known Cult in Ancient History. Pick one of the new ones. I hear there's a good one all the Hollywood actors are joining."
Reen: "Hollywood is a plastic-case! Therefore, you're a moron. Perhaps you should live a few more minutes to watch me acquire the Greek crystal and realize that fact. I know it would do me good."
Nikos: "Why are you people arguing? This is a joyful occasion."
Quinn, points to the monument: "Cheer is right! There is some Ancient Greek on that thing-- the kind I like. They say 'protection of man lies with the stars of the two battling gods over Achillies and Troy.'"
Jacques: "Are you helping the Cult?"
Quinn: "Or are they helping us? --No, you're right. I messed up."
One of the cult members push Jacques and Quinn closer to the mechanism.
Nikos: "More of that 'messing up' if you will? I'd like to acquire the crystal while I'm young enough to get a second mortgage on my beautiful Greek home."
Jacques: "Damn. They usually really are beautiful. Also, this says a lot about your character, by resorting to children-- the very same children you meant to murder, but were not responsible enough to make sure it was done."
Reen: "Speaking of resorting --I believe you hired me for that very purpose?"
He approaches as well.
Reen: "It is referring to the god-symbols encountered at Achillies' tomb and Troy."
Jacques: "Troy revealed Artemis, and the tomb-- that horrible tomb-- revealed Dionysus. Too bad you couldn't have joined us there. Haha."
Reen then starts moving the dials.
Jacques: "Wait. Stop! I prefer a clever retort!"
Reen: "If you are to know anything about antikythera mechanisms, it is that they are trackers of the stars and keepers of the zodiac."
Quinn: "You're leading up to something, aren't you? It all makes sense now, thanks to your inflections."
Reen: "In the first Century AD, Marcus Manilius made the connection between the gods and the zodiac. Dionysus is represented by Libra and Artemis by Cancer."
Jacques: "Oh please! His earliest work is just assumed-- plus, the zodiac was developed by hacks in oddly woven scarf-wraps!"
Reen moves the dials to the correct areas and the mechanism opens up.
Quinn: "Whoa. You were saying?"
Jacques: "I stand by it. That clothing choice is odd unless it's really cold out."
Inside the mechanism, a second dial is revealed, but not before the ground starts shaking. Suddenly the area around the monument opens up like a mote, trapping Jacques, Quinn, Reen and Nikos on the inside. They look down to see massive rotating gears.
Jacques: "Ah! I mean... I'm cool."
Reen: "--This is one of the greatest feats of engineering from the ancient world I've ever seen. Now to ignore it."
Reen goes over to the back of the monument, to read the inscriptions. Jacques looks over and sees Tagasaki in the crowd, as Quinn's phone rings. Tagasaki remains silent and watches. Quinn picks it up.
Quinn: "Y-ello?"
#Logan: "You're not Tinco. Is his absence proving something about the difficulty of the game? Never mind-- we've got it! We've acquired the Ganesh statue."
Quinn: "Not to be cliché; but now's not a good time."
#Logan: "How is that not cliché? If you want to be non-cliché, you'll address our acquisition despite whatever circumstances you're dealing with."
Quinn: "I guess you got me there."
Meanwhile, Jacques joins Reen behind the monument.
Jacques: "What's the matter Reen? Run out of zodiac?"
Reen: "No, but you've run out of floor."
He launches a kick at Jacques, which Jacques quickly grabs and uses to keep his balance. He then counters with multiple punches to the stomach. They activate a tile, which launches a deadly-gear to pop out between them.
Nikos: "Hah! Your feud is pointless. This crystal will be mine. It was prophesized to us by our forefathers, and their forefathers before them. They had a lot of free time, and said we are to destroy it!"
Jacques: "What? How dare you?? Also, just because you predate us, doesn't give you dibs-- if anything, it gives you least-dibs."
Reen: "Will you two shut up!? I'm trying to read this infernal inscription. But it looks like it's been scraped off."
Nikos: "It happened against the siding when the Archeologists caused the monument to eject out of the ground last week. --Those words look like they are talking about the inside of this device."
Suddenly, the short ledge, holding them up, begins slowly retreating back into the monument.
Jacques: "A timer. Of course-- with all the gears and such. Well, it was nice knowing you-- I mean, not nice. I hate all of you."
Meanwhile, Charlize's eyes begin to glow, as she is being held down over the chemical fumes.
Eugene: "Fight it, Charlize! This isn't you."
Charlize: "Ugh--!! Odd that I receive comfort from a corrupt military jerk!"
Eugene: "Oh, get over it. Government corruption is just a part of my job; there's a lot of paper work too."
Charlize: "Those--- images---- gahhh!! I've been a scientist all my life, so this is really annoying and against my beliefs. You understand, right?"
Eugene: "There's only so much comfort I'm willing to impart, as I am currently on a sacrificial altar."
Quinn continues on the phone, while trying not to fall off the receding edge.
#Logan: "And it wasn't an easy acquisition either. Despite some seedy secrets, that of which I'll get into later, the Horsporar has been obsessed with some ancient find in Baalbek."
Quinn: "What? Why wouldn't you start with the secrets? Is it another hidden identity thing? We did one of those already; just so you know."
He almost loses his footing, but holds on, as he notices the receding ledge.
Quinn: "Ugh! --Never mind; that Baalbek thing wouldn't happen to be about the new structure at the Temple of Baccus, would it?"
#Logan: "Oh ya! Horsporar is obsessed with archeology. He thinks he's figured out how to get inside it. But I don't want to bore you with the details."
Quinn: "This is an amazing coincidence, but I need that information right this very second."
#Logan: "Well, I find it hard to believe that we've landed upon the unlikely chance that you would need information about something I picked up randoml---"
Quinn: "--Tell me now!"
#Logan: "He was just saying that he's reconstructed some scratched-out inscriptions that were published recently; which talk about some Greek myth that was mentioned on another wall at Troy, and some trap at Achillie's tomb."
Everyone clenches onto the edge as the ledge disappears.
Jacques: "Dammit, Nikos. End this!!"
Nikos: "Again with the arbitrary tone. Am I supposed to respond in kind? Help me out here?"
Quinn: "New topic-- Logan says Horsporar has been working on this monument and the back talks about the inscription at Troy and Achillies' tomb that describes a 'cherished woman who is protected forever.'"
Jacques: "Ah, yes, the back of the exit-door I saw before I escaped and left Reen to die."
Reen: "You piece of baklava! I was coughing up Turkish dirt for hours!"
Jacques: "Again, it had the goddess Artemis saving a young woman from the wrath of another god--- that wreckless Dionysus, as we observed at Achillies' tomb. Thus, this must be the story of Amethyst! You see, in ancient times, she was a mortal who was wandering the land and was approached by the demigod Dionysus. He wanted her, but she refused, so he promised his wrath. The goddess Artemis saw this and protected her."
Nikos: "Amythyst is also a known birth stone, of which were also linked to zodiac signs, in 323BC, when the Greeks translated the Hebrew Bible. --Amethyst is Pisces."
Quinn: "Zodiacs again?? Why don't we just do a gypsy dance?"
Jacques reaches over and begins shifting the zodiac dial. He lines up Picses, causing the entire temple to rumble. Meanwhile, Charlize becomes fully engulfed in metaphysical fumes.
-Charlize: "AAahhh!!!"
Quinn: "Yeah, we dropped the ball on the saving-of-the-girl thing."
Jacques: "Next semester, let's lock that one down."
Everyone looks around and finds the inner walls ejecting more ancient, and deadly gears, trapping the cult inside. The guards let go of Charlize as she hovers above the ground. --The monument unfolds to reveal the crystal, on a pedestal. The group looks on in awe.
Quinn: "Tinco was right! Ancient Greek civilization did grow by influence rather than independently!"
Jacques: "What? How did you even remember that?"
Nikos: "Amazing. The crystalline body really has been whittled down!"
Jacques: "By Minotaurus, no less. It's like he ate a person. Just picture that."
-Eugene: "It wasn't just that overly large not-dead-yet-person; the Cult had their hand at it as well! Before King Minos got his hands on it, the Cult worshipped it for 200 years!"
Nikos: "Now that we have it back again, some 3300 years later, our goals have changed. --Oracle of Delphi. I call upon the god Dionysus! His Cult offers their bodies to him, by way of this sacrifice!!!"
-Eugene: "I am a son of Greece, and in honour of my lost men, I will see this Cult in hell!"
The Cult guys, holding Eugene, stab him in the back over the altar, killing him.
Nikos: "Oracle, tell Dionysus we've acquired the Amethyst crystal!"
Suddenly, Charlize points outwards and sends the fumes out into all the Cult members. They all fall down or to their knees as they are possessed by Dionysus.
Charlize: "(I call upon Apollo's son Esclipeious to return Dionysus.)"
Quinn: "Dude. This does not look good. Let's make a pact to never go to a party in Turkey again."
Jacques: "We'll see. I hear the nightlife isn't that bad in Istanbul."
The god himself, is revealed as a swirl of vapours dissipates near the altar.
Jacques: "I could go for a Raki right about now."
Nikos: "He's real!"
Dionysus looks on in silence, absorbing the presence of his followers.
Quinn: "By my beard! It's actually Dionysus himself?? This is what happens when you taunt a god long enough."
Jacques: "Dionysus has been known to be reborn. It's possible that's what happened here, after him being gone for so long--- not unlike some Christian stories. In fact, some claim he is the same person in other cultures'---"
Quinn: "Now's not a good time!"
Dionysus immediately snaps his head toward the crystal on the pedestal. Jacques, Reen and Nikos notice this.
Nikos: "Dionysus wishes the crystal destroyed. It protects Amethyst, herself, from his wrath."
Dionysus makes a move for it, prompting Reen and Jacques to leap for it as well. Jacques then snaps it up before them, leaping over the gear-mote and rolling along the ground.
Dionysus attacks Jacques, but the crystal protects him from any strike.
Jacques: "Amazing! I'm protected against anything, just as Amethyst was!"
He fights Dionysus back and knocks the god onto the floor.
Quinn: "Sooooo. In the myth, when gods roamed the Earth, Dionysus and Amethyst never eventually got along, leading to her being incased by Artemis?"
Jacques: "Exactly! The lesson is, don't talk to strangers-- even god-ones."
Dionysus gets up again, and the two fight.
Nikos: "You dare strike our lord!?!? --Everyone, serve your master well!!"
The Cult members, under a dreary influence, stagger their way toward Jacques. Jacques tries fighting them all off. Meanwhile, Quinn approaches Charlize, who is still hovering as the Oracle of Delphi.
Quinn: "Charlize. You have to call off Dionysus. He's like an annoying house guest that does magic tricks, and won't go home."
Charlize/Oracle: "The One has earned his right to be on Earth. Your purpose is to acquire the Amethyst crystal."
Quinn: "Wait. What? Why? I only rebirthed this hunt to get Jacques back into civilized society, and to support the betterment of celestial beings-- who I now see as helpless children."
Charlize/Oracle: "If the One acquires the crystal, he will once and for all destroy the maiden Amethyst. Her soul will enter the kingdom of the dead, and her soul will exist in an honourless state for all time. We must savior the material."
Jacques gains some distance between him and Dionysus, but is forced to fight off a large amount of Cult members. They attempt to bite into him, but his physical protection prevents any damage.
Jacques: "Ugh! I'm not food! Stop thinking I'm kourambiethes!"
He knocks them away and is suddenly confronted by Reen.
Jacques: "The tables are turned, Reen. Your men left you, and, you don't have the crystal. By the way, how did you even know about these crystals? Just a side question-- don't let it undercut my hostility."
Reen: "Research, you idiot. That's why I'm entitled to them and you're not."
Suddenly, Tagasaki steps on a nearby stone that activates a gear that pops up in front of Jacques and knocks the crystal out of his hands.
Tagasaki: "I tripped one of those earlier. The placement pattern wasn't hard to figure out."
Gears pop out all over the place, randomly, and take out Cult members.
Jacques: "You fool. You tripped a larger mechanism!"
Tagasaki: "Just like Mexico. It's like old times, isn't it?"
He attacks Jacques and knocks him to the ground.
Reen: "There you are! I expected to see you with reinforcements. I know how my being alive dishonours the organization to a high degree--- reinforcement-high, if I allude to my deeply-seeded knowledge of the organization."
Tagasaki, tosses him the crystal: "Perhaps it is our being alive that brings dishonour now. Shall we get out of here together?"
Jacques: "What? Since when do bad guys get along? This is not the way you're supposed to behave? I expected dysfunction!"
Reen: "Perhaps another time, you filthy lump of dirt. Hah! I compared you to dirt. Excellent work on my part."
Suddenly, Dionysus goes for Reen and the two fight. Jacques, dodging gear attacks, is then attacked by Nikos. They fight until both fall onto a lower platform, surrounded by gears.
Jacques: "Is this what your forefathers have been planning for, for centuries??"
Nikos: "In fact, yes! They were a patient bunch. You didn't get it, did you? The surge of power from Dionysus-- it happened when he possessed all of his faithful followers. We waited, and we were rewarded."
He attacks again and holds Jacques close to a rotating gear.
Nikos: "It doesn't matter what happens now because we won. --Since things are so good, I'll do you a favour and let you know where you went wrong. It'll be my parting gift for finally finishing you off like I should have earlier-- It's your friend from the boat that didn't make it; you see, you failed to ensure his protection, causing him to run off, due to your desperate search for this crystal. He was 'your' follower and fell right off the map."
Jacques, almost believes him: "No.... No! --It's a tough game whether you have your wits about you or not. That's the lesson here. He'll be fine. You on the other hand, who needed Reen, could use more wits--"
He presses down onto a lever, causing a gear to arch out and take Nikos down into the sea of gears below.
Jacques: "The placement pattern is Minotaurus' head-- how ambiguous and unrelated to anything."
The entire area turns even more chaotic with stone flooring projecting up into several random levels above ground.
Jacques climbs out to find Reen losing his battle with Dionysus. Jacques struggles over and rolls over a few levels to get to Charlize. She has just stopped floating, and is trying to regain control of herself.
Charlize/Oracle: "Ugghh!! I have to-- snap-- out of it."
Jacques: "No, wait! Don't do what a teenager wouldn't do, and that's snap out of a trippy daze-- You see, I need you to summon one more god."
Charlize/Oracle: "I'm-- not an oracle--- I'm an archeologist--"
Jacques: "You're that too, but maybe archeologists aren't always just archeologists. You said so yourself, that even the best of you were damaging to the field, and now here you are chasing what was giving you all those images earlier. --For a man to conquer himself is the first and noblest of all victories. That was Plato; and change man to woman in this case."
Charlize/Oracle: "Yes, it was my goal to discover this. I must accept it."
Her eyes glow again and she hovers off the ground.
Jacques: "Oracle, please call upon Artemis to protect Amethyst, once again. It was her that encased the maiden in crystal over 3500 years ago, to stop Dionysus' advances."
Charlize/Oracle, as full Oracle: "Is this your request? Do you not prefer more knowledge on The 5 Crystals?"
Jacques: "...Five? There's more than two?"
Charlize/Oracle: "Indeed. I will tell you---"
Jacques looks over at the crystal in Reen's hand as Reen hits the ground and Dionysus eyes the crystal, intent on its destruction.
Jacques: "NO! I need to know. But Amethyst needs us even more right now. Call the goddess Artemis."
Charlize/Oracle, hovers higher: "Καλώ τον μεγάλο Θεό της Artemis για να προστατεύσει όσους βρίσκονται σε ανάγκη." (I call upon the great God of Artemis to protect those in need.)
The clouds overhead circle around again, and the winds pick up. Suddenly, a brighter god, Artemis, a giant goddess, appears nearby. She takes a moment to gather her surroundings and then eyes Dionysus; who is taken aback by her.
Meanwhile, Quinn, struggling with Cult followers, stops, along with the followers, looking at Artemis.
Quinn: "She's here! You know, the statue at Troy was a pretty close likeness."
Jacques: "According to historical accounts, Dionysus is only partial-god. Artemis should take care of him with no problem."
Quinn, points to inscriptions on the monument: "And it was her that protected Amethyst by expanding the crystal around Amethyst to begin with. So it's poetic. I'm sure that's what you were going for."
Jacques: "If you want to be corny, yeah. --Anyway, she's a protector. And by random chance it reminds me of how that is what Eugene was trying to be for his men."
Quinn: "Nicely done. Now if you'll excuse me, but I have a self-prophecy to fulfill."
Jacques: "Now you deserve the praise, for the smooth transition I mean."
Artemis quickly attacks Dionysus, sending him flying out of the temple into the sky. She then turns her attention to Reen, and starts to attack-- he drops the crystal out of anxiety in trying to hold it ready; Artemis is then intercepted by a leaping Tagasaki, crossing paths and cutting Artemis with Theseus' sword.
The crystal bounces around and heads toward a ledge over looking a sea of gears. Quinn dives for it and catches it just before it's too late.
Artemis takes a step back as Tagasaki helps Reen up.
Reen: "We'll be back for you, you moronic-child-face. Fortunately, I have a syndicate to confront before I can continue this whole... thing. You won't have that crystal for long."
The two limp over to the exit and out of there. The random, shifting stone-floors make it impossible to follow suit.
Artemis turns her attention to Jacques, who Quinn tosses the crystal to. After a moment of eye contact with Artemis, and Jacques trying to read her, she leaps back up into the clouds.
With the floors going like crazy, Jacques and Quinn dodge gears-their way over to the monument. Where Charlize and the other archeologists are huddled.
Jacques: "Nice work with the crystal, there, buddy."
Quinn: "The Oracle taught me materialism. Like it's some kind of relevant personal-value? Also, we helped the divine world."
Jacques: "Now you really get me-- Which is creepy, so please stop."
Marvs: "What are you two going on about? The thing we need to focus on is that we finally untied ourselves and now we're going to die like the Cult members did!"
Jacques: "Wow. An archeologist not accustomed to danger. How is that even a thing?"
Charlize, unfocused, regaining herself, points to the dials: "The end of the.... return of Dionysus."
Quinn: "She must mean Artemis, as the calculated end of Dionysus. According to Reen's first Century AD-Marcus Manilius' god-zodiac connection, Artemis lines up with Cancer."
Jacques: "Are you sure that's what he said?"
Quinn: "Also saw it on a candy wrapper back in Greece. They will trivialize anything for marketing."
He begins rotating the dials and the entire area begins to revert.
Marvs: "Ugh!; the smell from all the carnage; it's absolutely horrible. You get used to it, but you kind of don't want to."
The group leaves the temple area and hear a noise coming from the jeeps, nearby. Upon further inspection, they find partially-alive Achillies, tied up in the back.
Jacques: "He stayed alive all these years because he was protected by Amethyst's crystal. But immortality, in this case, has its costs."
They watch as Achillies takes his last breaths.
Achillies: "Η Ελλάδα θα ζήσει." (Greece shall live on)
He then passes out.
Jacques: "When Alexander the Great took the crystal out of Achillies' body, Achillies was left to die a slow, slow death... So slow, it took him centuries to die."
Jacques and Quinn walk away from the jeep and examine the crystal.
Quinn: "Dude; that was the creepiest thing."
Jacques: "On the plus side, Amethyst lives on as long as this crystal does. She is this crystal."
Charlize leaves the jeep and approaches the two.
Charlize: "I.... I said a prayer to Apollo for Achillies. He will live out eternity in the Elysian Fields."
Jacques: "You are not the Charlize I thought I knew??"
Quinn: "Yeah, you have that peace and love vibe about you. Never go to America; just saying-- also, anywhere."
Charlize: "To be honest, I do not know if I should be grateful for what I've been opened to, or repulsed. But what I do know is that I'm no longer burdened by the limitations of the archeological society; or my own expectations of fitting in with them. As Plato said-- We are twice armed if we fight with faith."
Jacques: "What? Plato quotes again!? Never mind. Just tell me where these other crystals come from and where can I find them?"
Charlize: "I'm sorry, Jacques. I'm no longer under the Oracle-influence. I barely remember telling you about them."
Jacques: "Quinn! Get the ethylene!"
Quinn: "Dude. That's more wrong than I can say-- and I tried to punch you out in two separate Aztec temples."
Jacques: "Ugggh. Fine. Will you at least stay in contact with us, in case anything comes back to you?"
Charlize: "Very well, but you should know I am considering abandoning all Earthly forms of communication to re-connect with nature, the way the goddess Artemis would want me to."
Jacques, struggling: "I have to go."
They leave her and walk away from the temple.
Quinn: "So, instead of more answers about these crystals, we get more questions. Is that what you were expecting?"
Jacques: "No, but thanks for making me feel better about it. Jerk. I wonder if Manolis Andronikos ever felt this troubled?"
Quinn: "Yeesh. You're touchy when women leave you. Will knowing that we snatched the Ganesh statue back home make you feel better?"
Jacques: "Hmm. Yes. That, in fact, does. Logan didn't uncover any secrets or anything plot-thickening along his travels, did he?"
Quinn, confirms: "Ohhh ya; personal-effecting in an immensely emotional scale. But the important thing is, we grew as people."
Jacques: "Never mind. Why do I even permit you to speak?"
Quinn: "You ain't the boss of me! Now, where to next, boss?"
Jacques: "With Reen out of the picture, we have an opportunity to jump ahead on the next crystal."
Quinn: "I'm not sure if I can commit to a 5-crystal plan?"
Jacques: "If we don't, your materialism will go to waste; we'll forever drown in curiosity; and Reen will win. The question is, where do we look next?"
Quinn: "Very well. The hunt is on! I'm sure Tinco would comply as well. Since he's not here, we'll speak for him."
They continue walking away.
Quinn: "Hey, you think we're a special type to be able to find these crystals?"
Jacques: "If 'certifiable' is a type, then, yes."
THE END