Bearding the Lion (tag: Nergal)
Philotes was beyond nervous. She was downright terrified, and wondering what on earth had prompted her to offer to do this. Sure, she loved her brother and her almost-sister, and absolutely, she would lay down her life for either of them, but this wasn’t a step in front of a bullet kind of a situation. This was more of a go poke the lion with a pointy stick to see what kind of roar you get sort of thing, and Lottie wasn’t at all certain of what she was doing. Or that she was doing it for the right reasons.
But she’d come this far. And Deimos and Harmonia were depending on her. Maybe Phobos too. Hopefully, Phobos too, though Lottie had some serious doubts that Dei’s twin was still alive. If he were, well, then why hadn’t anybody heard from him? Why hadn’t he contacted his siblings? Why…
Well that’s what she was going to find out.
Hopefully.
And not die in the process.
Very hopefully.
Taking Deimos’ advice, Philotes tried to find a location where neither of them would be comfortable. Which was a little difficult, actually. The sorts of things that would likely put a war god off guard were the sorts of things that were generally right up her alley. And vice versa, she supposed, though she wasn’t exploring those options so much. Nor should it be in a place either of them consider their “home turf.” There was too much of an advantage for him, and he wouldn’t give her such an edge. It was made more difficult by the debate as to whether they should be alone, so they could speak more freely, or in public so he’d show some restraint. Then again, in public could mean more bodies if he decided to hurt somebody. So Lottie tried to aim for something a little quieter, but not totally abandoned.
Someplace like a nature reserve. Tourists would wander through, but privacy was provided simply by lack of proximity. Most people didn’t just walk over and stand right next to you, after all. Someplace warm would be better, which ruled out pretty much all of North America at the moment. Nowhere Greek, Roman, Turkish, Middle Eastern, African… all of those were places where both of them had some influence. Which left her with South America or…
Australia it was. Specifically, the Devils Marbles Conservation Reserve. It wasn’t the huge tourist attraction that Uluru was, so there wouldn’t be big crowds. To reach the marbles themselves, it was a bit of a hike from the parking lot. There was also a campground, so it wasn’t totally isolated. And it was warm, which Lottie figured they’d both appreciate, even if they weren’t supposed to be comfortable.
After finding a spot that was a little bit hidden, kind of behind a pile of the bigger exposed rocks, Philotes closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and concentrated, trying to put as much friendly confidence into her call as she was able. “Nergal, son of Enlil and Ninlil, I am Philotes, daughter of Erebos and Nyx. And friend to Nanshe. I must speak with you.” It felt a little odd not offering a please, or adding a thank you, but Philotes figured that sort of politeness probably wouldn’t get his attention. As it was, getting his attention at all was a double edged sword for her. Maybe literally.
With nothing to do until she heard back from the war god, Lottie began perusing her surroundings, mostly to keep occupied but also partially looking for escape routes. What she discovered was that even without humans about, she was hardly alone in the location she’d chosen. For one thing, there were these little bottle shaped clusters of mud towards the underside of the boulders, that, once explored, proved to be nests of very cute little birds. Cute, but loud, and unhappy about being disturbed.
“Alright, alright,” she soothed. “I’m not touching your house, I’m just admiring the curb appeal, okay?” Philotes took a step back then nearly jumped out of her skin when the ground beside her moved. Rapidly. Something that looked a lot like a little reddish-brown Komodo dragon ran a few feet away, then puffed up his throat to hiss at her. “Yeah, well you scared the bejesus out of me too, so we’re gonna call that one even.”
Whatever the spiny-tailed monitor lizard might have offered as reply was made moot by the appearance of another member of it’s species. This goanna was nearly twice the size of the first, and lighter in color. Though no less speedy, Lottie discovered, as it took one look at the smaller lizard and made a bee-line for what it considered its dinner. Lottie’s eyes widened and she verbally encouraged spiny-tailed monitor, “Run for the rocks, little guy! Run!”