WHO: Frye twins WHAT: Testing out their minor magical artifacts from home & fighting a giant squid (solo random monster in the sewers) WHEN: May 9th WARNINGS: Eye grossness/general ick factor STATUS: Complete
This was not Jacob’s idea of a good time. They weren’t even in the sewer proper yet, but the air was rancid already. The maintenance tunnel was poorly lit at least, so he didn’t have to get in a staring match with any rats. He hopped down a set of stairs and lifted his flashlight towards the access point to the sewer.
“I have some serious regrets about following up on this particular report from our eyes and ears.” He wrinkled his nose and stomped closer to the grate in the wall. “We could just have easily have passed the information along to Sara and let her delegate it to someone she doesn’t like.” They’d been told there was a monster down here – a really slippery one – and they’d been looking for an opportunity to use the crystal skulls that had shown up recently. The ones they had were built for communication, visual and audio of the advanced Isu variety, and were easy to carry. Jacob pulled his out and pointed its face at Evie.
“I could hang back here, get a proper test on these things,” he said out of the side of his mouth.
“It would’ve just made paperwork for her and the Defense Department has no jurisdiction in the city.” Evie was always the one to think these things to death, but even she had to admit she wasn’t looking forward to going into the sewers. “And we might get paid by the locals if we take care of it.”
She rolled her eyes at the skull. “You can hang back a bit, if you don’t want to go in. We may not even find it and I’m certainly not planning on going for a swim looking.” Evie slipped in through the grate, her own skull in her hand. Thankfully she was wearing her least favorite part of boots. “We’ll likely need to split up anyway, I can see a few different paths for the tunnels.” Evie knew just what buttons to push as she pointed her skull back at him. “Scared of a little muck, Jacob?”
Jacob rolled his eyes. “You like paperwork. You could’ve done that part anyway.” He sighed, knowing their wasn’t really a debate here. There wasn’t even a real plan to hang back. He knew she’d challenge him just as well as she knew a challenge would work. It was the attempt that mattered. Sibling pestering was a well-worn pair of shoes.
“Just trying to work smarter not harder, but fine. Have it your way. Stop dawdling, chop chop,” he muttered, waving her forward and climbing into the sewer alongside her. His flashlight beam was weaker here. Or there was just a lot more darkness. “I’m taking this one.” He hopped over the railing onto another walkway heading south. “Don’t have too much fun without me!”
“You don’t have to yell,” Evie immediately snarked back with a grin forming because she’d won. Her voice now started to echo from the skull in Jacob’s hand, because his own had done the same on her end. She went east, slipping onto her walkway easily even with having to hop over a broken bar.
After a moment of walking and ducking and letting her eyes adjust, Evie took in everything and kept her eyes peeled. “You have to admit, for it being sewers, it still smells better than the Thames. Ugh, I’d made it a personal mission to never fall in that river when we had to deal with Templars on their boats.” She got further away now, could still pick up Jacob’s aura through the walls but his only sound came through the skull held in her hand.
Jacob moved carefully down the tunnel for a time, pointing the flashlight into nooks and crannies looking for signs for a beast. His eagle vision showed nothing distinguishable yet. Many animals had been down here. But even then, Evie was right. It did smell better.
“Oh, aren’t you special? Never fell into the Thames,” he jeered affectionately. He’d fallen more than once. But his fighting style was aggressive and reckless. His balance was also not as good as hers but damned if he was going to admit that. “I’ll engrave a medal just for you when we get back to the train.” He passed a pitch black side tunnel, only to catch a glimpse of movement out of the corner of his eye. Turning sharping and silently, he dropped to a crouch and looked through the walls again. Something large was headed their way.
“Evie, incoming,” he hissed at the skull.
“It’s not my fault you’re always in a rush,” Evie taunted right back, having been around him on more than one occasion when he’d come stomping into the train, soaking still from his river dip. “Try to keep your coat dry today and you can engrave yourself a rewar--” She saw the aura just after he did, and cut off her own words.
It came fast through the tunnel, in the murky waters just below the grate she was perched precariously on. The tunnels connected just a few feet ahead, merging into one longer one, but right now there was only forward or back, and she certainly didn’t want to put her back to something that large.
Evie started forward slowly, but only made it a few steps before something whipped up through the water and wrapped around her ankle. She was lifted and yanked forward by the beast, but kept the skull in her hand as she was pulled downward. “JACOB,” She didn’t know how much longer she’d be able to hold it, and her other hand was frantically reaching into her holster to pull a knife at the same time as she was dragged into the water and pulled back the way the monster had come from.
Jacob was already on the move as soon as he could tell the monster was on a trajectory for Evie. He could head back the way he’d come but it would take longer than the tunnel he could see just ahead that would drop him out behind the beast. He hurried down it, nearly tripping over his own feet watching a small projection from the skull of Evie being snatched up. Was that a tentacle. For fuck’s sake. He rounded the corner and hopped down onto the walkway that would lead him right to them, hoping the rattle of the metal would give the creature pause.
There was a lot of movement in the dark and his assassin’s sight was finally able to make sense of the blob that was wrestling Evie under the water beneath them. It was a giant squid, so large it made Jacob wish he’d brought Excalibur.
“I’m here, Evie, hang on! Hey you ugly wanker! Let go…of my…sister!” He leapt onto the squid’s head and punctuated every few words with a stab of his kukri. He was too afraid to fire his pistol with Evie tangled up with it. The creature made an ungodly noise but kept thrashing.
Evie was trying to keep herself from drowning each time she was dragged underwater. But finally, with Jacob’s distraction and the fact that he had lept onto the creature, gave her a little extra wiggle room to wrap her legs around the tentacle to hold on her terms. She managed to grab the knife from her holster and stabbed it into the tentacle, but that only seemed to cause more issues as she was pulled under again.
“Are there--” She was halfway between gurgling water and shouting as she came up for air a moment later. Then she was dragged back down. The creature seemed to be dragging her further into the sewers, and wasn’t quite expecting the fight it got in return. “Eyes! She got out the final word when she came back up, and gulped a few lungfuls of air the moment she had the chance. “Stab the eyes, Jacob.” She pulled out another knife and stabbed it into the tentacle, and used the two to start climbing up the large body while she could.
Evie being bossy was a bloody relief. Unfortunately, Jacob was nearly thrown off the creature before he could do as instructed and he had to scramble back up the slimy handholds to avoid joining his sister in the murky water below. It was a precarious perch to say the least. His assassin blade dug in to the creature’s flesh like a piton jammed into the side of a mountain.
“Not sure it even has a face, Evie.” He dodged a tentacle and got slapped by another. He sliced the tip off the one that made contact and as the monster reared up in pain, he peer down at the exposed head and finally spotted the eyes lower than expected. “You’re really a nightmare, mate, you know that?” Collapsing his assassin blade back into its hidden sheath, he dropped into the water and stabbed into the closest eye with the wide blade of the kukri. A disturbing amount of ooze sprayed out. Worse yet, the creature’s last-ditch efforts to stay alive dragged him under. Hopefully, Evie was free or this was going to be a piss poor ending for the Frye twins.
“Disgusting,” Evie muttered as she pushed herself off of the tentacle with her feet. The thrashing gave her the freedom to launch herself away from the beast and climb onto a nearby grated railing. “Fuck,” she muttered the word as soon as Jacob traded places with her and went under, to their usual luck.
She didn’t want to risk jumping back in without a little stability, but Evie lept right back in, this time shooting her grappling hook onto a stable railing to allow herself to swing down on top of the beast with a little leverage. A number of throwing knives shot out from her hand as she went, up to the moment her feet hit the water and under, landing on the squishy body that held her brother captive. She grabbed something - his arm, by her best guess, since it was near impossible to see at this point - and tugged.
It was tricky attacking underwater. Jacob hadn't taken a big enough breath, but he still managed to bury his kukri into the body of the squid a few more times. He must have hit the ink sac because he was coated in splatters of black slime when Evie pulled him back to the surface, sputtering.
"Oh for fuck's sake, just die already," he growled with one more stab. The creature swung at them both with two bleeding tentacles but it was a weak attempt Jacob easily avoided. He grinned toothily up at his sister. "Thanks for the assist. Alright up there? I think it's on its last…legs." He was clearly pleased with the joke, even he barely realized he was telling it before the last word slipped free.
Well, if she didn’t think he was fine before, she certainly did now. Evie rolled her eyes heavily at Jacob’s joke and resisted the urge to let go of his leg. She didn’t, which meant surely she was destined for sainthood. Evie followed his grin up with another throw of three knives, all hitting their mark as it took the monster from weak to sinking into the water, limp.
“That was terrible. Make sure to say it again when you recount this to Serefin and Diego.” She tugged his leg, strained but not visibly hurting, despite giving him a hard time. “I’m alright, but going to drop your heavy arse if you don’t grab on to something soon. This was more of a test than either of us required.”
Jacob laughed and replaced her grip on his leg with an arm and grabbed onto the railing nearby with the other. He pulled himself up to her level with the trust of someone who knew she could plant her feet and take his full weight if she needed to do so. Being covered in muck didn't help though. The smell was already starting to get to him. Pulling the skull back out, he made an attempt to clean it off. It was ultimately a futile effort but it amused him anyway.
"Maybe more of a test but it was fun, all the same. Now we know for sure what they can do. We can test distance later." He sniffed himself, gagged, and slung an arm around her shoulders like the pain in the ass brother he was. "Tomorrow. After twelve baths and enough beer to forget stabbing that thing in the eye."
“Was that fun?” Evie inquired, but didn’t shrug him off. She elbowed him in the side anyway, hoping to cause a grunt. “I’d kill for a shower right now, I don’t want Sara to have to deal with this.” She dodged out from under his arm and started ahead, speeding up.
As she started to run, Evie glanced over her shoulder, “Race you. Loser gets second shower.”