Overlooking Roma

Gaius's hulking form filled the entrance to the winding cave system that he claimed as his home. His gemstone eyes take in the beautiful landscape, gazing over the place that he was raised, the city of Roma, as much as it had changed held a special place in his heart. He had seen much of the world in the time he had walked the planet, but Roma held a special charm that nowhere else possessed. It was the heart of the west in the past, a great sprawling empire. Now... It was a place that those known as tourists came to visit on their holidays.

Gaius feels the vibrations traveling through the earth that he sits upon, feeling the heartbeat of Roma, scooters buzzing to and fro, cars driving their operators across the sprawling city, buses moving their cargo of tourists and citizens throughout the old cobbled streets. The Vatican sits near the heart of Roma, the place seemingly abandoned compared to the hustle of the rest of the ancient living city.

The gentle giant is lost within his own memories of the place, ancient memories, of when Roma was the entire world to him.


A few cycles of the sun after he had first emerged from the place of his birth, Gaius had discovered the city. Before he had managed to use the gift of Gaia to so much as shift a pebble, he had stumbled along the shore and been discovered by a priest of Neptune. Although Gaius had the strength of many men, he had been as a child in the way of knowledge. For many days he followed the being around... It was the closest thing to himself that he could find. Cassius had been terrified at first, but Gaius was implacible, mostly out of ignorance, and followed the reclusive priest wherever he had fled...


Gaius is brought out of his musings over ancient memories by the footsteps of a Lynx coming closer and closer, investigating the cavernous entrance. Gaius watches the mammal, utterly immobile, as it approaches him; He fails to feel any fear from the small furry animal, because long ago he had learned that hardly anything posed a threat to his stony carapace or immmence strength. The carnivore hisses slightly, confused by the goliath, but enters the system nonetheless.

. An ancient colossus of indestructible proportions, one who stalks around the region of Italy that has come to be known as Rome. Silus was all to happy to travel here, to the land of his ancestors. Silus Atterrius was born to Ouroboros (Zell Atterrius) who was the son of Dartamease Valtiari, an Italian nobleman who was over three hundred years old...and a very powerful mage. Granted, issues being issues he was forced to change his name to Gibson Atterrius and basically gave up their "perks" of nobility...not that it mattered now, but owning the Valtiari castle would have been SOOOO cool! Alas, being a tourist was his secondary purpose. Granted, wandering the streets with Two five foot tall wolves and a wolf-pup got him some pretty interesting looks. Rome was home not only to things like the Pantheon and Vatican, but it was also home to many hidden and dangerous magical artifacts. Ones that Silus needed to ensure his father never got a hold of.

   Gaia is being rather stingy with me at the moment... Kaisses said to the other wolves and Silus telepathically (thanks to Silus' gift). He audibly sighed as he trotted along on Silus' left side. Silus' mind was once again brought to the revelation that Kaisses himself was actually once a druid who lived during the ages of Ancient Rome. It was supposedly he and his brother who crafted the magical charm Silus wore to this day. Silus reached his little hand up and began to pet his loyal companion. Hocus chuckled and Yancey, the little wolf stood on Silus' shoe, using his nails to digging in, allowing the shoe to carry the young pup for the most part. He laughed as he kicked the pup up and caught him. The little pup assailed Silus' face with a coarse tongue that made the little eleven year old giggle.

   So Mother Earth will not assist us? The soothed and calm, disciplined voice of Hocus came across.

   Now I never said that. I said she's being stingy. She's refusing to tell me anything about the stone giant. She keeps asking me what his name is... Kaisses groaned internally as he kept trying to recall the name.

   You were a Druid of ancient Rome...how do you not know the name of it's mythos?" Hocus chided the silver wolf as he tried to think of the name. Silus laughed a little at this.

   "I can't remember what I had for breakfast, cut me some slack Damnit!" Kaisses seethed, speaking out loud, causing several people to turn and look. Yancey, god bless the little pup, had the right mind in using his light bending abilities to bend light AROUND Silus, making him invisible, so the public was stuck staring at two big wolves.

   "Time to flee!" Hocus yelled. Silus promptly took a hand of fur and hopped onto the wolf, who took off flying. Leaving the beautiful city of Rome behind a little, the wolves and Silus would soon find themselves hiding just outside the immaculate city.

   "Wow Kai....just wow. Way to talk in public." Silus teased as he placed an arm around the wolf and gave it a kiss on the side of the cheek.

  "Ah, sorry." He replied, a little embarrassed by his lack of restraint.
  "Well if you had NOT told Gaia you though she looked :Rounder" than you thought we might not be in this situation." Hocus said with a snarl.

  "She is bigger than we though. Back in MY day we thought she was flat as a map and on the back of a damn turtle!" Kaisses retorted.

  "Hey guys..." Silus began.
  "Just because you saw a globe doesn't mean you need to walk up and say that she's looks pregnant." Hocus scowled as he turned and started to walk away.

  "It was like looking at a pencil and then suddenly VAWOOSH it's a dman beach-ball!"

   "GUYS!" Silus screamed, slightly concerned that his pack was going to fall apart. Well, as Alpha it was his job to make sure that he remained in control.

   "Us?"
   "Oh! THAT WAS THE NAME. Guysus" Kaisses replied with a wagging tail and then suddenly growling in thought. "Oops wait no...Guy-us  Gaius! yeah, it's Gaius!" He cheered. Hocus dropped forward onto his stomach and brought his paws up over his snout.

  "He give me a headache."
  "I give me a bo-"

  "KAISSES! Not in front of the pups!" Hocus snapped, voice booming, followed with a groan of frustration. He turned it into an exhausted whine, just wanting to go home and ignore the annoying Silver haired packmate. Silus rolled his eyes as he sat down and leaned back into the large black-haired wolf with red eyes (Hocus) and nestled in getting comfy and close to his friend.

    "So...how are we gonna find this thing?" Silus asked aloud, open forum question as he picked up his phone to text Niall. He then remembered that Niall left his phone back in Chicago so he'd need to go to the next greatest thing. Brandon.

   Doing fine. Kaisses got my pack run out of Rome. We think we found the guy. Will txt later! xoxo ~ Silus  (>^.^)> Kirby2Kool  

Silus' Pack/Grids:

Rome, a place that was once a powerful nation, or so Brandon Hale believed. That wasn’t important to the plot in question however, Brandon Hale was in Rome and doing whatever it was that Hale’s did outside of Chicago; work. The sun shone down brightly upon Brandon, casing a harsh glare that caused him to squint and adjust his sunglasses. It also made him pleased that he chose to wear something light colored instead of the usual. A white colored graphic tee, and white boarding shorts that brought together a certain surfer appearance about him. His cellphone was tucked neatly into his pocket and the outline was more than visible, not that he was really trying to hide it in the first place, his wallet seemingly more important than that. If he lost his credit card one more time, Brandon might have more trouble from his mom than anyone else.

There were rumors surrounding something, a strange figure that resided within th cave about the area and one that he planned to investigate. If things went well, maybe he could do tourist stuff before Aaron griped at him to get back to Chicago, which was an unknown anyway. With a hand resting over his eyes, Brandon looked into the distance, street crowded with people as they went about their daily lives. Everyone doing whatever it was that they did, whether that be visiting family or working. A small vibration within his right pocket caused the Hale to snap from his stupor for a second, eyes looking over the text for a second as a small grin formed upon his lips. So Silus got chased out because of one of his talking wolves? Sounded like a believable enough scenario, considering the one that wore that hate had quite the mouth on him anyway.

Rad! Wait, Kaisses is the one with the hat, right? ~ Brandon ᕙ(⇀‸↼‶)ᕗ” Brandon rapidly fed into his phone, fingers dancing over the surface of the touch screen. Wait, so it seemed that both he and Silus were searching for this same mysterious being, which meant that he could make some kind of race of it. A sly smirk formed on his face, white teeth flashing brightly. Yupp, he would find the rock dude first, even if it meant doing  a little flying.

In the nearby town, a large industrial development had sprung up in recent weeks, providing employment for hundreds in the rural region. However, the pollution was unaccounted for, and would start affecting the wilderness. Today, several buildings in the Development went up in flames, causing the people to spend the entire day fighting the blaze.

Hours Later, in the Forests outside the caves

Dusk brought laughter and music from a camp isolated in the wilderness near the caverns. Two groups, one a paramilitary bunch of misfits in conventional battle dress and ski masks, met with a larger group of black robed folk who resembled monks... Monks carrying high tech laser rifles and wielding archaic melee weapons and shields crackling with energy.

“Greetings, Sons of Gaia. We commend you on your righteous act against the enemy.” The tall, lanky, elderly leader of the cult stepped forward, accompanied by a younger woman in nun robes, albeit a pair of katanas sheathed at her sides.

“Well, well. Welcome, Reverend Cassius. Join us; we’ve enough drink for all.” The leader of the more boisterous group greeted the priestly figure, a rugged and battle-dressed Italian man in a red beret. He preferred the dashing beret to his balding appearance.

The robed, bearded leader looked about the camp. These Sons of Gaia were revelling with food, wine, smoking and using recreational drugs. A few couples began to undress and make out right in the camp. The Reverend rolled his eyes, and looked at the Captain.

“Thank you but I must decline... I would not wish to impose on your... merriment.” He said, simply. Matthias laughed at the would-be priest’s aversion to his men’s simple joys.

“Well then. Let’s get to discussing payments.” The Reverend nodded to the Captain’s request, and they walked over to a Land Rover, from which a couple of large weapon crates were disembarked. Inside were new generation laser rifles, cutting edge weaponry that would revolutionize warfare... and terrorism.

“Yes. We have delivered a dozen of the holy weapons as agreed; so that you may continue...” The Reverend looked away as the camp’s enjoyments became more liberated... and debauched. “...The holy cause.” He paused a moment before finishing his statement.

“Ha! Anything you say, Reverend. The Sons... and daughters... of Gaia welcome any support to put an end to the reckless development and industrialization of sacred land.” Matthias laughed heartily looking at the high tech weapons. He extends his hand to shake the Reverend’s.

“Yes...” Something in one of the tents caught the Reverend’s eye, and proceeded over. The Sons’ enjoyment came to a halt, the music playing turned off. “What is this? You... you keep a metahuman demon among your ranks???” The Reverend opened the tent to reveal a shirtless young man on his back, passionately making out with a now undressed female werewolf.

“Eh? What’s it to you Reverend... WHAT THE HELL!” The captain raised his voice when the Reverend forcefully yanked on the werewolf’s fur and tossed her out into the open.

“I do not think you understand our mission, Matthias. THIS IS THE ENEMY. The SPAWN of SATAN. The Evil that blights our world!” The Reverend said, with a burning anger and conviction, yanking on Ines’s fur once more, pointing a gun to her skull.

“This man is insane captain! We should not deal with him!” Ines said, her claws coming out of her fingertips. The Reverend backs off, letting go of Ines’s mane.

“INES! NO!” The captain shouted, though the werewolf had already scrambled and pounced on Cassius. His bodyguard quickly moved, virtually in a flash and kicking her in the gut in midair, and assumed a fighting stance against the werewolf.

“No Captain. She is evil, and she is here to corrupt you! Do not fall for the devil’s trickery!” The Reverend’s bodyguard ducks beneath Ines’s claw swipes, and runs her through with her dual katanas, the weapons carrying enchantments that bypassed her supernatural durability. The werewolf would’ve continued fighting, but three more Radiant Soldiers came forward, spearing Claire in different places.

“...Jean... I love...y...” The werewolf coughed up blood and choked as she tried to look at her boyfriend, crumpling to the ground dead.

“...Fuck... Fuckk.... fuuuuck! Ines! INES! Don’t... don’t leave me...” Jean cried and sobbed deeply, holding Ines tightly to his chest. The others Sons watched in shock, looking to their Captain.

“Be glad brother, for now you can cleanse yourself of her evil. Her soul is saved.” A Radiant soldier came forward, consoling Jean, his girlfriend’s blood still staining the Radiant’s energized spear.

“FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU ROBE WEARING FAGGOTS!” Jean spat in his face, and pulled out his pistol and gunned down the Radiant soldier who attempted to console him, then another, before a marksman stopped him with a laser beam to the shoulder. Jean collapsed in pain, unconscious. Two Radiant warriors lie dead around him, bullets in their heads.

“...You think you can just walk in here and kill my people?! YOU SUNUVABITCH!” The Captain pulls out a gun and points it directly at the Reverend’s head. The camp erupts into a stand-off, though the Radiant had the Sons surrounded, outnumbered and outgunned. The Sons were still half-dressed and only grabbing their nearest weapons.

“I am ready to DIE for my beliefs, Captain.” The priest spread his arms open to the sides, pressing himself against Matthias’s pistol. The Reverend’s bodyguard moved quickly to place a katana to Matthias’s throat. “Make your choice then. Will you condemn yourself and all your men to death, or will you willingly purge the devil’s influence from your ranks?"

“Everyone... Stand down. Get Jean some help.” Matthias said, ordering his rag-tag band to tend to Jean... and not to fight.

“We hope to see you again in a week’s time in Rome, Captain...” The Reverend said, gesturing his soldiers to begin leave, forming orderly columns and carrying their fallen. Cassius was last to leave, accompanied by his bodyguard.

The Radiant warriors eventually leave the camp, boarding their 4x4 vans and departing the forest. Matthias broke out into a tirade of French and Italian cursing, kicking the reinforced plastic container with the laser rifles, then falling to his knees, striking the ground. The other Sons of Gaia were too busy aiding Jean.

“...I’ll bring her to the caves to be buried captain. That way the Reverend won’t do anything else to her body.” A young lady in a Sons of Gaia uniform approached Matthias, getting his attention and breaking him out of his angry brooding.

“Thank you... wait, are you new? You look kind of small...” The weathered looking man patted the young lady member of the Sons of Gaius on her shoulder, not recalling when they hired such a small recruit. The captain thought she must be from another cell.

“Yes Captain.” She responded, grabbing a cloth to wrap Ines in. For a small woman though she was pretty strong, carrying the werewolf in her arms with little discomfort.

“Thanks. Alot. What’s your name, recruit?” The captain asked, as he started walking towards their other injured comrade, ordering them to get him to a hospital in Rome... since, they just bombed the nearby hospital of the industrial complex.

“Ellie.” She responded simply, before marching towards the caves.

Cave Network

Ellie brought the dead werewolf girl to the caves, finding a deep place to lay the girl to rest. She took off her black ski mask and put on her tech glasses, to find the right conditions to lay a body under the earth and build a monument. Ellie had acquired all the necessary information she needed on this cell, and she would report to the Italian Government about the Radiant’s meeting next week. But, for now, she owed this girl a decent burial... though her sensors would not pick up the being of stone that inhabited the cave complex. She took out her phone, and realized she wouldn't get a signal in here.

Nekromonga wrote:In the nearby town, a large industrial development had sprung up in recent weeks, providing employment for hundreds in the rural region. However, the pollution was unaccounted for, and would start affecting the wilderness. Today, several buildings in the Development went up in flames, causing the people to spend the entire day fighting the blaze.

Cave Network

Ellie brought the dead werewolf girl to the caves, finding a deep place to lay the girl to rest. She took off her black ski mask and put on her tech glasses, to find the right conditions to lay a body under the earth and build a monument. Ellie had acquired all the necessary information she needed on this cell, and she would report to the Italian Government about the Radiant’s meeting next week. But, for now, she owed this girl a decent burial... though her sensors would not pick up the being of stone that inhabited the cave complex. She took out her phone, and realized she wouldn't get a signal in here.

Gaius senses the movement deep inside the cave, slowly rising onto his feet and he strides deep into the bowels of the caverns and tunnels that he calls home... striding diectly toward the human that carries a heavy burden judging by the way that it walks. The hammer that he carries upon his shoulder is massive. The edge of the mallet carved with Roman runes and lines, from where it rests against his body it bobs up and down with each step; occasionally scrapes against the ceiling, as he wills the earth to shift and change... his free hand waves slightly side to side in front of his chest, focusing his energy and moving the stone and dirt with ease to the side, bracing the tunnel that he creates so as not to collapse the hundreds of tons of stone above himself and the human.

He knows what flighty and fragile beings humans are, and decides to stay hidden when they first speak.

Ellie hears a slight rumble, growing closer and closer, Gaius's footsteps shake the earth. She looks to the exit and takes a few steps in that direction, but the walls of the path that she used to enter the cavern that she stood in, begin to close before her eyes, thick slabs of stone sliding smoothly out of the walls like the jaws of a giant flat toothed beast shutting before her, leaving her in the dark.

A deep voice, comes from the blackness "Me puer et lutum ignis timeas voco te. Eccum tibi simpliciter ... Dic mihi, quo historia." The voice rumbles the entire cave, the ancient language seeming to come from everywhere and nowhere... she knows the meaning of the words.
The inhuman voice is telling her "Do not fear me child of fire and clay, I mean you no harm. I simply wish to speak with you... Please tell me your story." Though considering her situation... It could be taken as an order.

. Kaissis' ears began to twitch as his head shot up. A soft breeze carried through the little region just outside of Rome. Silus took note of the change within his little friend, but Hocus ignored Kaisses, hoping it would be a mail-man or something the dumb silver beast could chase after. The littlest pup of course didn't care one way or the other. He was content to arch a paw up and "hold down" Silus dirtied sneaker and proceeding to nom upon it, opening it's little jaws and papering to be attempting to put the entire foot in his mouth as his head turned and little canines attempted to break the leathery shoes.

  "You okay Kai?" Silus asked, genuinely concerned for his friend and packmate. The Silver wolf looked to Silus, obviously troubled about the news he was receiving, now that Gaia was speaking to him once more.

  "One of my people.... The Earth cries out...another Druid has been slain...one as me...a "werewolf"...a child of Romulus slain in his own lands." Kaisses said as he listened. TO Kaisses, the Earth spoke. Her voice was whispers as all nature carried news to the one-powerful Druid, and the most recent of them was a "message". The Earth was displeased, for a "Child of Romulus" was murdered, with no apparently good intent. Houses were burning, zealot of the human condition were masquerading in a ball of sorts, one that was a rather deadly one. Kaisses snarled as if he were about to lash out and strike at Silus, Hocus shifted, uncertain of Kai's intentions.

   "FILTHY HUMAN! Proclaiming to be the sons of Gaia! I Will show them her wrath!" Kaissis snarled. How dare they...HOW DARE THEY!? They proclaim to be the Mother's children yet forsake the sons of Romulus!? “I am ready to DIE for my beliefs, Captain.” The voice echoed from within his head, he whined, eyes tearing up even as a wolf, and his eyes began to glow an electric blue. Silus didn't have time to react, Kaisses took off into the woods not far from there.

Kaisses versus the Prodigal Sons
   Kaisses jumped out of the forest, his energies completely masked by the power of Gaia. To the humans he was but a lone, silver wolf majestic and entrancing. He looked to the, many of them stopping to whine. He flashed his fangs and growled. As he did the Earth around them began to alter. Stone formed in the way of an arena, plants and trees bent as the song of Gaia. It was able to be heart perfectly, Gaia herself was singing. Kaisses stepped forward as he encased the entire "sons and daughters" of Gaia in a large Earth dome. His eyes flashed their electric blue. There was only one way out...past him. Stone formed up and enveloped around him like a plating of sorts.

   "You....DARE....to call yourselves sons and daughters of Gaia!? You pretenders! Which of you was the one called REVEREND? Reverend, reveal yourself! Come and face, Kaisses the son of Romulus and Guardian of Gaia!" He snarled howling as he stepped forward, the warth molding, the large dome gaining spikes. "Where is the body of my fellow son of Romulus, WHERE IS THE WEREWOLF WHOM STOOD BESIDE OUR MOTHER GAIA!?" His voice boomed, any lesser ears would bleed and be deafened, but there were still those who could hear. In his rage, Kaisses had activated both spells, but let them falter in order to keep form slaughtering the foolish "sapien" creatures.

Kaisses Spells:

Catching Kaisses
  Silus and Hocus had taken off after the silver one, Yancey still clinging to Silus like a lost pup. They reached Kaisses only to find a large stone dome. Silus' heart seized, knowing that Kaisses was officially gone. His primal ferality would have likely taken hold, his power would enhance and woe unto those within the dome. Kaisses voice boomed and Silus winced, damn it was loud! He swallowed audibly and got off of Hocus, who bushed soft black wolven cheek against the young boy.

   "Leave this to me..." Hocus said, his smooth and wise voice always being just what Silus needed to calm down. Anxiety would strike again however, seeing Hocus walking off to Kaisses...potentially to the death of another member of his pack... the thought was more than he could bear...

So the way he was doing things was going nowhere, wandering around the city and looking for whatever he could find there, Sure the local fare was more than delicious, but he was here to do something of magical importance, not sample food. So soon enough Brandon found himself wandering the city once again, mind racing over the possible things that he could do. There was of course trying to use his magical senses to find what he was looking for, but when did they ever help beyond knowing something ten feet infront of him was magic? So Brandon found the highest place that he could stand and removed the ring that bound his wings from sight and leaping from that place they carried him aloft. Gusts of wind slapped against his face as his hair found itself being tossed about

He zoomed through the air swiftly, like a blur within the air, yet one thing caught his attention more than anything, A birds slapping into his face and nearly causing Brandon to nearly lose control, yet he actually managed to control himself. Following the source of the birds, he saw an entire flock fleeing from the forests and that meant that something was happening, something majorly magical. Flying over the dense forest, Brandon took notice of the earthen dome that was rising upwards and so Brandon dove down into the area foot first. The earth buckled under the force of his feet, and then began to shatter almost. Large chunks of the earth rose form that impact point, as Brandon landed outside of the dome. ’Well this is interesting.” Brandon muttered with a raised brow.

Cave

With precise, exercised movements, Ellie draws her weapon, looking around the caverns as it suddenly went dark. Her tactical HUD detected no movement, and its night vision mode outlined no figures save for her dead companion. Then she heard ... Latin. Someone or something was talking in very accurate ancient Latin.

“...I am here to bury someone who has been wronged. Who are you? What do you want?” she said, speaking slightly modern but still intelligible Latin. Ellie continued searching the caverns, her special armament’s laser pointer scanning every possible angle where she could be flanked.


Forest

The Sons camp was now awake and alert, the celebratory mood ruined by Ines’s death. The Captain was speaking on his satellite phone with a contact in the city, when the majestic wolf appeared before them. As Kaisses snarled, Laser rifles were quickly pointed towards him, then towards the landscape changing around them. It spoke, demanding to know Ines’s fate, referring to her has a child of Romulus.

The Sons of Gaia eco-terrorist group was composed of young people as well; the fighters between 18-20 and quite a few under aged members as well. Only their captain was of a different age, a man in his 40’s, influencing these young people to do his bidding.

Most of the fighters collapsed at the ear splitting roar; only the Captain, with ear protection, remained standing. Knowing it was a bad idea to offend such a powerful creature, he stepped forward to explain what had happened... somehow Kaisses seemed to know about it. “One of our own is bringing her to be reunited with Gaia in the caves! If we bury Ines in the open, accursed industrialization will eventually overtake her grave!”

He placed his weapons on the ground before Kaiss, slowly. “The foul Reverend Cassius has since left this place, mighty one. But, we will be meeting him in the Vatican in a week’s time... he is powerful though, and has an army of fanatics who wield powerful weapons. Swords and spears that could cut Ines’s hide like she was prey.”

Once completely relieved of his armaments, he raised his hands in surrender. “We simply want to preserve this land from the clutches of Industrialization. But those cultists... those Radiant... they want to kill every metahuman they see... and it has left our group less than what it was. We lost a dear friend, and our comrade Jean lost the love of his life.”  

“Ines... Ines...why...” far in the back, tended to by three Sons, the injured, unconscious Jean was still traumatized by the event, nightmares of Ines’s death haunting him.

“We do not want anything more to do with the Cult, but they have too much power. We will be quickly arrested or hunted down if we betray them.” Matthias said, wondering if they could ally with an actual earth shaper. Unlike the Radiant Cult, Matthias was a prudent man, and saw the potential power of metahumans and supernatural beings.

Nekromonga wrote:Cave
With precise, exercised movements, Ellie draws her weapon, looking around the caverns as it suddenly went dark. Her tactical HUD detected no movement, and its night vision mode outlined no figures save for her dead companion. Then she heard ... Latin. Someone or something was talking in very accurate ancient Latin.

“...I am here to bury someone who has been wronged. Who are you? What do you want?” she said, speaking slightly modern but still intelligible Latin. Ellie continued searching the caverns, her special armament’s laser pointer scanning every possible angle where she could be flanked.

Suddenly the trembles of the earth stop, Gaius's massive head turns, hearing the sweet song of Gaia... in the forest to the south, Gaia was awakening, moving.

A rumble, moving through the earth, carrying the voice of Gaius to the sphere of earth, using it as a giant voicebox. The rumbles of stone make it seem as though the very earth speaks to you.

"Gaia canticum cantat, omnia mater
Ostende mihi cur fueris Romae commemorem.
Golem sum Romana arma in se, et sic loquetur ad me, et ad aquilonem, unde sit in cantum cavernis. Te exspecto."

The words are clear in meaning to all who speak latin. The words translate into
"Who sings the song of Gaia, The All mother?
Reveal yourself to me and tell of why you are in Rome.
I am the Golem of Rome, come and speak to me within her arms, I reside in the caves to the north of the source of your song. I await you."

Back inside the cave, Gaius moves the earth aside and steps into the chamber, moving slowly so as not to frighten the human. He slowly lowers himself into a crosslegged sitting position on the floor, The Goliath speaks, "Nocentes parebunt qui te amicus tuus? quid in spelunca sepeliri? Haec domus mea, et specus. Hinc tibi, quae causa esset curiosus sum." and while the ancient language is difficult to understand, you know he is asking about your friend, and why you would choose to bury her in his home; expressing curiosity and politeness.

The man has skin that is slate grey and looks to be made of stone, and his eyes glow like spotlights, shedding green light all across the walls wherever he looks. The stone hammer that he has resting across his legs is ancient looking, weathered and beaten, bearing the marks of the roman pantheon etched into its surface. His trousers are made of roughly repaired canvass, such as what sails used to be made of.

"Kaisses, stand down! They are human!" Hocus chided the silver wolf, leaping before his silver pack member, not allowing the wolf to take any further rash action. Hocus bore fangs and lowered himself, as if he were about to lunge. It was nothing more than a stand-off now. Was it going to be the Druid, or the Samurai? A voice carried through, everyone stopped, and Kaisses turned, listening to the voice. It spoke Latin, something that Silus and Kaisses both knew rather fluently.

"They allowed the Son of Romulus to die...out of cowardice!" Kaisses spat, ignoring the call temporarily. Silus walked up and placed a hand on Kaisses. Kaisses voice let out a high pitched whine as he looked into Silus' eyes. "E tu Brutus?" He asked. Silus' heart sank and his eyes watered. Did Kaisses truly believe that Silus...the Alpha was going to betray him? Silus placed his hand on Kai's head and began stroking it.

"Kai...it's not their fault...their scared." Silus said. Trying to remind the dog that people made mistakes, and the fact that he was the dog's buddy. His pal, his Amigo. Kai seemed to whine as he looked back to the humans with a little growl. He had contemplated leaving the pack, just to show these fools how cowardice was rewarded by the Sons of Romulus. Then he remembered. He was a Druid of Gaia before he was a son of Romulus. He whimpered, but then howled.

"I'll be back...and when I come back you had better be here. You're taking me with you to meet his "reverend" and then he and anyone else of this world who dares stand before me will feel the wrath of Gaia..." Kaisses commanded. At this rate it was uncertain if these people would be glad he was leaving, see him as a scary creature, or as the Knight they wanted. Dear God that would be awful. Terrorist group led by wolf who is directly able to speak with the spirit of the earth. Kaisses turned around and growled as he looked to Silus. "I know you heard that...let's get moving."

"Y-yeah okay just let me get ahold of Brandon...wherever he is." Silus said as he reached for the cell phone.

Brandon tapped a knuckle lightly against the earthen dome, a small rapping sound issuing from it as he considered what to do. There was of course simply knocking down the dome itself, but he knew nothing about the strength of it, and things like that. Black feathered wings flapped about, picking up a small bit of dust, and rearing his fist back Brandon let it slam against the dome. A large crack issued along the surface that ran all the way over the construct as a whole, and then with another punch a large whole was knocked in the side, followed by more of it falling as well. Blowing away a small amount of dust clinging to his fist, Brandon stepped through the hole that was created with that usual smirk as the wings would curl to cling against his back.

Brandon not even aware that they had torn away his over shirt and left him with only his wife beater. With a flap if his wings, some of the dust was tossed away and the visages of the male became more visible. ”Okay I’m here. Who do I have to punch?”

Caves

“Her name was Jacqueline Ines. She and I were comrades in a group who want to preserve the land. She was killed by men who believe only humans have the right to exist.” Ellie holstered her weapon, knowing this was a time for diplomacy.

“Civilization encroaches upon these lands, to develop them so that the Italians... the inheritors of Roman lands may prosper. Lands will be tilled, livestock raised, and cities will be built. Only here in this place will she remain undisturbed.”

“If you are the protector of this place, then I request that Ines be buried here, that only those who loved her will visit her.”

Ellie said only a small slice of the main story, but all of it was true anyway. Gaius need not know Ellie’s greater role, or the sad fact that if the cult had not killed Ines, Ellie might’ve eventually been the one to pull the trigger. Such thoughts did little to disturb the jaded spy, but Ellie’s calm expression betrayed none of her thoughts. Such was the calmness of one whose trade and craft were lies and deceit.

"I will leave you in peace after I am done here. I must go and seek out justice for her." She added a final note.

Forest

The Sons of Gaia terrorists slowly began to recover, and pointed their weapon flashlights towards the figures. “Can we go now? We’ve got alot of planning and preparation to do if we’re going to get back at the Radiant Cult.” Captain Matthias asked them. This was good. More metahumans were suddenly showing up and they seemed pretty angry at their own kind getting killed. He could use them to his advantage... and get out of this mess intact, rich.

I am sorry for your loss, I have felt the intolerance of man. In nature, everything has the right to exist.

Gaius bows his head in sympathy

My name is Gaius, I am the Son of the Stone, born from Gaia seven hundred years before the start of the New Age. The Italians are the descendants of Rome, the lands that they till, the livestock they raise and the cities they build are theirs to do with what they will.

I will allow you to carve a grave into the stone with your own hand if you so choose. However, I would like to know how you will seek justice for a friend's death. Gaius's latin is archaic but keeps getting clearer and clearer the more you listen to it.

The goliath rises to his full height, towering above Ellie, his stonelike skin making a horrific screech upon the low ceiling before Gaius ducks down and sinks into a deep and balanced stance. His gigantic foot stamps the earth, sealing the tunnel behind himself and opening the way that he had sealed.

      "You can go... Whenever you're ready to take your revenge on this cult...I WILL BE THERE. Just tell The Earth-Mother...and I will come." Kaisses said, he looked to the child and licked his face, making Silus smile happily as his heart began to leap because he hadn't lost his friend today. "Sorry Si..." He whined a little. Moments later there was a loud crash, From the rubble there was a man stepping through, blonde hair and a pair of awesome wings. Though one would have expected to see Brandon at the opposite side of the dome, he in fact was not too far away. Silus chuckled and started towards him. He jumped, and grabbed onto the blonde brute.


     "BRANDON!" He cheered as he clung on and hung from the male with a warm and happy hug as he nestled in. He giggled a little as Hocus walked up, growling at the humans. "Your anti-meta human weapons won't work on me...if you want to live long enough to take revenge you'll not aim those things at the Prince!" He snarled, his protective nature apparent. It was interesting how moments ago he was defending them, but with guns trained on Silus, there was no such thing as safety for potential threats. Kaisses jumped over and made his way to the large blonde.


    "Brandon, can you fly Silus to the caves? Silus will know where to take you...I will meet you there." Kaisses requested, taking off with Hocus towards the caves, leaving Yancey and Silus with the blonde Brute.

The Caves
    
    Kaisses had reached the caves, Hocus at his side, they had gotten there before Brandon and Silus it would seem. Kaissis saw the large stone blocking the way. Hocus growled as he noticed the rock. He began to pace, as if highly irritated by the blockage. Hocus was far form pleased, they had left Silus in order to come to a blocked off cave? Part of him wanted to tear into the old druid. But to one such as.
 
   Kaisses this was not an issue, for Kaisses could simply pass through objects whenever he wanted. The blessing of Gaia, the wolf was virtually a ghost, able to constantly move through objects not intended to cause him harm.... it tended to irritate Hocus. Kaisses stepped through and his bright blue eyes would glow in the darkness, the runic markings of Gaia upon his silver fur, illuminated in the darkness.


     "Okay...been a while...lemmie see. Latin..." He said as he seemed to growl, clearing his throat almost as if he were trying to think of the words. "Mater vobis benedictio! Ego sum Kaisses, Gaia's druidae" Kaisses said. It was a greeting used by Kaisses to those whom truly loved and worshiped the mother earth in thanks. The roughest translation being "Mother's blessing on you. I am Kaisses, Gaia's Druid". He smiled, remembering that it was how he met Silus...with those exact words...and Abra.... his heart sank. He and Abra never showed it, but as a pack they were close and even now his loss troubled him. Perhaps it was the true reason for his outbursts. The disciplined Druid lowered it's head to the golem and to the girl.

Brandon frowned lightly, a small amount of light shining through the hole created upon those that stood within the dome, some of them familiar and others altogether new. There were wolves, and then…Silus? The large blonde found himself smirking upon noticing the little Sean spawn among the small crowd that was gathered under the dome, one that was created somehow anyway. With the little brown haired ethereal clinging to him like some kind of leech, Brandon considered the others within the dome with a certain skepticism. ’Silus! What a…surprise to see you here.” He said messing the little kids hair up slightly as the wings flexed slightly against back, feather rustling. Guns were trained upon the young male and one of his wings unfurled, folding over the male to protect him, nearly impenetrable barriers. He would not let them hurt the child, no matter who his parents were.

”Take him to a cave? I think I can do that.” He said nodding to the wolf, looking to the child that was clinging to him, and pulling him from his leg and holding him somewhat like one would hold a small child, not that he wasn’t small. He felt light, yet when you can bench press tanks with ease, a child would feel light. ”Hold on tight, this might be a bumpy ride. You lead the way and I follow or, however that goes.” Takign a few steps back Brandon gave a might flap of his wings, and they were off once again. Darting through the air he kept ahold of the ethereal child with powerful beating wings. Now all he needed to do was follow the instructions of the small male and they would get there fine.