How Carol met Leo

Carol came to Bournemouth University from a neighbouring village.
Daughter of the personal bodyguard of a famous American Golf player, her
family had never struggled financially.  Her father had never let anyone
forget it either.  Intelligent and well spoken, she had come to
Bournemouth to study English.
Carol first saw Leo at orientation, during fresher's week.  The
University's indoor sports hall had been hired for the day, and was home
to several queues covering different ranges of the alphabet.  New
students were lined up in the queue representing the first letter of
their surname, to collect their student cards and loan cheques.  Leo
Carruthers was in the very first queue, Carol Smith was in one of the
last, at the opposite end of the hall.  Even from this distance, and
amongst all the people and hubbub in the room, Leo was harder to ignore
than to spot.
She had caught his eye on entering the hall, and felt a sudden rush of
excitement by it.  Carol had never been the type to become foolish over
a man, but for some reason he suddenly became the most interesting thing
in the room.  Apparently she wasn't alone, as part of the reason Leo was
hard to ignore was that he was almost completely surrounded by people
who were originally queuing sensibly nearby, a gathering that also
attracted the gaze of most others in the room.  For some reason he was
commanding a very captive audience, who seldom spoke themselves, and
more than occasionally erupted into laughter.
The very thought, sight and sounds of him were like mental quicksand.
The more she thought of him, the more she wanted to think of him; the
more she saw him, the more she wanted to see him.  He wasn't even much
to look at.  Quite short, crimson tinged dark hair, slender frame,
smooth features and sharply dressed.  He seemed better dressed than he
was.  None of this made sense in Carol's rational mind, but as she
returned to her halls, she knew she was taken.  She had to meet him.
This was no difficult task.  In the first week the student's union bar
hosted some kind of themed night, every night.  Very few of the new
students had the wherewithal to venture further during the first week,
while untamed youth, excitement and the desire to be friends with
everyone fuelled their stamina to cope with 5 consecutive nights out.
She found Leo, but once again he was too engrossed in conversation with
other people to make a clean approach.  She spoke to the people
surrounding him instead, biding her time.
Working her way around his group, one thing became clear.  This man kept
very esteemed company, and didn't suffer lesser beings.  Amongst his
company was the son of an MP, a successful entrepreneur and several
budding models.  At one point a guy dared to do what she hadn't, and
directly slotted himself in coversation with Leo.  Much like Leo the guy
wasn't much to look at, but was a touch scruffier and held himself a lot
less confidently.  Intiially, Leo seemed happy to see this new intruder.
Carol watched the exchange intently, ignoring the drunk friend babbling
at her.
"Hi!  I'm Greg!"  He said with a sprightly tone.
"Leo.  Nice to meet you!"  They shook hands.  "So what do you do, Greg?"
Greg looked a bit puzzled by the question.
"You mean what do I study?"
"I guess."
"Oh, Computing Science."
Leo frowned slightly, "Hmm."  Greg looked hurt by the reaction, equally
as slightly.  "What do you parents do?"  Puzzle again, Greg spoke.
"Umm, well my Dad is a mechanic at Kwik Fit, and my Mum works for the
council."
"Oh, what does she do there?"
"You know, admin and stuff."  Greg said, suddenly unsure of himself.
Leo's frown turned to a sneer.  "I think your friends are calling you."
Greg looked around, and then back.
"No, I'm uh, here on my own."
"Go away."  Leo's face expressionless, his tone deadpan.  The people
surrounding him looked around awkwardly.  Greg looked heartbroken.
"Sorry."
Eyes lowered and voice reduced to a mumble, he turned around and walked
off into the crowd.  Leo, now grinning, turned to his friends.  They
smiled back.
"Wow."  Carol thought.  "What a complete cunt."
She had never enjoyed the company of nasty people before, and wasn't
capable of being mean herself.  There was no reason why she should like
this person, but she liked him more than ever.  She worried though, what
if he dismissed her like that?  She needed something to impress him
with, and she needed to compliment his ego.
She picked her strategy and got her chance later that night.
"Hi Leo, I'm Carol.  You're quite popular around these parts, I had to
say hello to the man himself!"  Leo was taken aback.  He grinned, wide
eyed.  The feelings that had been rushing through Carol up until now
suddenly swelled tenfold.  He moved to respond but she beat him to it.
"My father is Tiger Woods' personal bodyguard you know."  His grin
widened.
"Really?"  Leo said with enthusiasm.  "Well we should get to know each
other then."

A-MAZE-ING

"No Valentin, you can't be in the series. It's not real!" Ambrose looked out the window as the helicopter landed at Aylesford. "Yes I appreciate that is the whole point of the series, but we only created it because that narcisist decided he was going to try and impress all his friends with his new whole Superman act!
Look I'm here now so I'll call you back!"

Ambrose climbed out of the helicopter and headed into the swirling corn field. His aide came running after him
"The press have confirmed that the site is now closed down. We've relocated the widow and convinced her not to talk about what she saw. so we have effective control of the site now."

Ambrose nodded to his assistant.
"I see our two men of the moment are still here!" He looked over to another helicopter where he could see an increasingly frustrated medic trying to tend to Leo Carruthers as he repeatedly teased and generally tormented the poor woman. Whilst his compatriot Manny seemed to be dozing on the grass nearby.
"Ok I'll go see what Vladimir has done with the place, you go take a break. Maybe give Jacob a call"
He grinned impishly at his aide as she looked flustered.

"You know about that?" she half-glared back
"Hmmm?"

With that Vladimir came up and nodded to the both.
"How is Jacob?" the tall man quipped.
"I'm going now" she said, turning around and storming off.
Vladimir stared after her before turning to Ambrose "Cute"
"It's good it gives him another tie to us, that might be useful." Ambrose said watching his retreating aide.
"You can be a cold shit sometimes you know?" Vladimir retorted whilst scowling back at him.
"Whatever gets the job done." Ambrose turned back to face Vladimir "So is it secure now?"
"Yeah, I think Mattie is taking care of the last of them now - it took a bit of time once they ran into the maze but they weren't particularly cunning in trying to hide from us." he started walking to a gaping entry that was in the middle of the corn field
Ambrose followed after him. "The others are all still inside then?"
The other nodded "Yeah it is just the newbies upstairs still - they took a bit of a pounding by the time we got here but managed to hold them back. Oh and our honoured guests are currently being shipped to a secure unit with little Greg. They're both in dreadful shape but still kicking. Even the little one although I have to admit I wish for his sake he wasn't. He also won't shut up screaming - I think they really fucked him off."

Ambrose nodded "Yes I can't imagine why"

Ambrose whistled slightly as he stepped into the central Labyrinth chamber. Even his head swam as he tried to take the place in. He smiled "This will do nicely for our needs I think." he nodded at the other two in the room before turning back to Vladimir. "I think it's time to bring our newbies into the fold don't you?"
Vladimir exploeded "You still haven't told them yet? For f..."
"No I'll leave that to you - you've got the common touch after all" Ambrose fired back. "Between this and Jacob's little job I think they've passed the test. It's time we started anyhow."

In the news

Fire at oil rig due to faulty maintenance checks

Investigation teams for the recent explosion at the Piper Zion oil rig in the North Sea have confirmed that the accident was caused by incorrect maintenance on the gas pressure system. The buildup of which caused a pressure explosion which resulted in the deaths of everyone present on the rig.
A memorial ceremony today was led by Energy Secretary Jennifer White who thanked the families of the dead for the bravery of the staff who stayed at their posts trying to avert the crisis.


Robbery at tourist hotspot turns bad

Police have closed down the Aylesford Maize Maze after the death of it's owner Michael Bennett.
Mr Bennett is believed to have interrupted a burglary at the site office.
His widow was unavailable for comment but friends of the family said that she needed to be away from the site of the tragedy for the immediate future.


TV series filming causes scare

A new BBC series was the source of much excitement in Bournemouth yesterday when the TV production company staged several stunts from their new supernatural tv series "Becoming Legends"
A mockumentary dealing with people displaying suposed superpowers, members of the public were witness to several carefully staged stunts in order to create as realistic a reaction as was possible.
Production staff had to apologise and issue a statement after several calls were made to the police.
The series is due to air in the Autumn.

Back in the real world

University Hospital - Coventry: January 13 2012

Leo was gone. One minute he had been with them the next he had wandered off.

What had started out as a nice evening out had turned insane.
Insane. Maybe she was insane or would wake up any minute. It had just been too much in the last twelve hours.

She looked over to the bed where her friend Luke lay unconscious. He'd been hurt fairly badly, the doctors had stabilised him but had not believed what had happened. They said his injuries were from flying rubble.

She got out her phone and tried to call Leo again but it just went straight to his voicemail each time.
Where was he?

She closed her eyes and tried not to cry. After awhile she sensed she wasn't alone anymore.

Blinkingly she looked up.
"You looked like you needed this" Standing there was a Policeman offering out a cup of vending machine tea.
He looked familiar.
"Thank you" She took the cup.
Yes he was one of the ones from last night.
"Do you mind if I sit down, it's been a long night." he smiled
Carol sat up and tried to brush some normality into her appearance and smiled "Please"
He took a seat and watched her for a moment. "You're not going mad."
"I'm sorry? I didn't.." she started to say
"What happened last night was real, and it has only just started. Those things will be just the first and worse will come in time.
I'm not telling you this to frighten you. But you're not alone. Your friend - he's special." He smiled
"I guess you already thought that anyhow, but now you can see what he can do. He's helping us at the moment."
"He's helping the Police?" she asked
"Not the Police as such - in a way I also help the Police. But we'll look after you - I've got Officers looking for the rest of your friends. Leo would want them kept safe whilst he is busy I'm sure."

The Officer stood up. "I have to go now - still an awful lot to clear up from last night. Give me a call if you need anything."

Carol stood up and took the card from the Police Officer.
"Thank you officer!"

He nodded smiling and walked out the room.

Carol looked down at the card. It wasn't a Police business card at all. There was just a circle and a name.
Something clicked in her memory at this name and she looked up to call him back but he was gone.

No phone number or email on the card.
Just a circle and a name.

In the Beginning

"To begin with all there was were the Titans - primal things of Fire, Ice, Darkness, Earth. They warred, they created, they warred some more all in utter chaos.
Their creations, Titanspawn, if you will were powerful creatures prone to violence and destruction like thier creators - however some for one reason or another were different. This group of Titanspawn rse up against the Titans in war and defeated them - imprisoning them for eternity. They were the Gods. Your parents.


The names and myths of them are varied and are imbedded in Human History - though their presence in the World has diminished over the centuries - they are active still. A fact your other parent can attest to.

Despite their overall withdrawal from worldly affairs, the Gods are compulsive meddlers. Though seldom taking direct action against one another or overtly guiding the course of humanity, the Gods still possessed a means of interfering in human history, their Scions.

In due time, the Gods retreated from the World. With the titanspawn threat wiped out the corresponding rapid growth of human civilization and the conflict between nations threatened through the chains of Fate to draw the pantheons of Gods into war. To avoid this eventuality, the heads of the various pantheons met and agreed that the Gods should leave mankind to its own devices before the massive Fatebinding effects either threw them into conflict or changed them beyond all recognition. In response, most Gods retreated to the Overworld, only visiting the World occasionally in mortal guises.

Over the millennia since the Gods’ retreat, a myriad of Scions have lived and died, most ignorant of their fantastic origins. However, in every generation, a few Scions worldwide, seldom more than a handful, receive a Visitation from their divine parents, unlocking the power of the ichor flowing through their veins. One or two in a century might even be gifted with Birthrights.

All that changed with a single event, the escape of the Titans. Somehow sundering their Underworld prison (and in the process, damaging the realms of the dead), the Titans have reentered the Overworld after eons of imprisonment, hungering to regain their former rule and revenge themselves on their wayward offspring, the Gods. While a war between Gods and Titans rages in the heavens, the Titans have begun seeding the World again with their spawn. In response, the Gods have begun visiting their Scions in greater number and arming them so that they may stop the titanspawn from establishing a beachhead in the World of men."

Taken from a briefing by Ambrose Milan to Leo, Manny and Jacob on their way to the North Sea - January 13, 2012

Meridian Local News

Tonight Coventry was rocked by an explosion as a gas main inside the West Orchards Shopping Centre was ignited by an as yet unidentified source. 
Emergency Services rushed to the scene to assist in the rescue efforts but three members of the public had already died in the incident. The remaining injured were taken to the local hospital suffering from shock and mild hysteria.
Rumours of giant snakes and flying people at the scene have been condemmed as malicious rumour-mongering in the face of such a terrible tragedy by local authorities.
The scene remains closed whilst investigators attempt to work out the cause of the ignition.

Claire Morris • Meridian News

It begins

The last Scion had left them several hours earlier and debate had raged into the night about their suitability. My mistress was most unimpressed with her errant son's behaviour and attitude, it was only after the Wolf had promised her that he would endeavour to teach him some manners that she relented as much as she ever allowed.
 Quetzalcoatl was confident it seemed that his son would embrace the truth before long and seemed quite impressed that he had been so adamant that it was a dream. Looking around at the rather unconventional choice of forested banqueting room I was not sure that I could blame him. But Gods are not ones to do things that are tactful or subtle.
Athena was pleased that they would be able to assist her daughter with uncovering the truth of what was going on in Britain, whilst Agwe held his thoughts to himself other than to agree that they would be fine.
Cold Hel acidicly mocked them and said that she would be seeing them soon no doubt - but other than to say that she would put her own people on to it she was otherwise unble or unwilling to share anything further.
When the Dawn Wolf returned later with news of the battle in the citadel of Coven-Tary and the embracement of their divine side I saw Quetzalcoatl nod happily at Athena before we all returned to our realms

From the Chronicles of Mizuni, Scribe of the Sun