Heart of Darkness (Vexxie)

Working with the Ultra group opened up alot of interesting opportunities and interesting people for Diana. While she assumed it was a mostly tech based group, she was pleasantly surprised to find a small occult unit in some remote part of the HQ... and disappointed that is was small and had only a handful of staff. At first they were baffled by Ultra's arms master being there, but it was then she revealed that she was steeped in the occult.

There she met Kassandra and struck up a conversation about occult artifacts... which eventually materialized into a "Training Expedition" to Africa.


HEART OF THE CONGO

A plane ride and parachute drop later, Diana and Kassandra were there in Africa. A strange freak storm hung heavily over their intended destination, and were forced to land 100 km away down river. The sun began to sink into the horizon, and night time came. Diana traveled light for the expedition, bringing only one large backpack along. It contained a few solar power packs for charging their devices, lightweight water filters, first aid and only a couple of days worth of food rations and change of clothes.

Camp was set in a small clearing in the jungle, and it was Kassandra's responsibility to get a fire going and make some clean water. Diana had used her new compound bow to good use, snagging them several birds for dinner, put on a spit roast and slowly cooked. An abundance of crocodiles at the river discouraged fishing unfortunately. The entire area was thick with wild flora and fauna, and it was more likely to cut a path through to the destination than find one already made. This area was supposed to be teeming with rebels and bandits, but there was no sign of human activity this close to the Destination. However, hungry eyes and wildlife lurked in the dark, waiting for the duo to make a mistake.

On the mundane side of things, there was an abundance of mosquitoes and leeches just trying to get at their blood. Poisonous snakes hiding in the trees waited to pounce, but Diana with her jungle machete would have none of that.

Diana sat on a rock, seemingly comfortable living off the land. She wore some jungle fatigues. She hands Kassandra a roasted bird to eat.

"So tell me more about this thing we're looking for."  Diana asked, as she bit into the crispy fowl she had on hand.

And thus her missions began. Vexus was but a stranger within this group of apparent heroes. It was a different sort of challenge, blending in. Where she slightly felt out of place, she needed to remember that these people where unaware of her identity. Most of the world actually was unaware of her identity. It may have actually been pointless and over complicating creating this whole scenario with the clone and disguise and everything. Though it was already done and no turning back now. There was one individual that she did end up gravitating to. Her name was Diana. She was a young thing, but had much potential. The girl had some knowledge of more occult items, which would prove useful. There was another goal that Vexus had in view and if she can complete it through the assistance of these children, then more power to them.
Vexus', or rather Kassandra's, research had produced resulted suggesting and ancient codex hidden somewhere deep in the Amazon. Such an item she had deduced that a certain individual might be fond of. Though with how the conversation flowed between Kassandra and Diana it just seemed as if it would be a pretty typical mission. And just like that they were off. The plane ride she did not argue against, however the parachuting she protested against but was reluctant to go through with. Having such limited abilities was going to prove to be rather challenging. Searching for an artifact only being able to use a fraction of her power would be interesting, especially if they encountered any resisting forces.

Unfortunately the two of them had to land off course due to a unrelenting storm. This was nothing like what Vexus had in mind. Just the two of them ruffing it like this was so very out of her element. Thankfully, she had brought a larger, modified version of her clutch. Now in a form of a book bag, she had a larger opening to store more useful items. In the wandering, the sun had began to set so they were forced with setting up camp. Kassandra had been tasked with getting fresh water and starting a fire while Diana went out to find some food. She seemed rather eager and failed to hear Kassandra out as she had brought some survival items. She had some logs in her bag that she threw into a standard tent like shape. Also, she had brought along kindling and flint in order to get the fire started quickly. In this abyss like bag she also brought a water filtration pitcher specially designed to handle uninhabited areas such as this.
Diana cooked up some birds she had managed to strike down. Kassandra shifted through her endless bag and pulled out an energy bar. Another survival item she packed. This bar was good for the night, filled her up but didn't give her unnecessary energy so she could still have a decent sleep. Her partner handed her a bird, which she kindly denied. Then asked what it was that they were looking for.
"An ancient codex of sorts. My research says it should be in some ruins down in the Amazon. This may prove difficult to find as parts of the forest haven't even been touched by modern society."
After she finished her small bit of food, she tossed the decomposable wrapped in the fire.
"However I'm sure we'll be able to search about for some clues ones day breaks."
Kassandra stood from her makeshift seat and walked over to some trees and placed her hands on them.
"I assume we'll need some kind of shelter for the night?" she said casually as the plants came to life. Some bent and contorted themselves, others were taken out of the ground completely. It was quite a magical scene as everything was being woven into an intricate camp setting. After a couple of minutes Kassandra had finished constructing their little camp site for the night. It was a rather large space, four walls, a door, roof, etcetera. The small house was supported at each corner by a tree still rooted to the ground. There were two separate beds, the blankets and pillows Kassandra had pulled from her backpack.
"Well, the beds may be a bit firm but I think this should do it for the night? Hopefully I wove the walls tight enough so that no little critters would intrude." she said with an accomplished smile. She headed into the small house, pulled her hair up and readied herself for be.
"I wanna cover a lot of group tomorrow, so I think we should get started as soon as there's light. I'm heading to bed now, but feel free to sneak in whenever!" And with that Kassandra closed the door giving Diana a light smile. So far things were going smoothly. Though very young, Diana seemed like a dependable companion for this journey. With her aid Vexus was nearly positive they would be able to find they target before nightfall the next day. Besides, sleeping on a bed of leaves wasn't quite her style anyways.

Diana returned to the sparse camp and was quite surprised. She polished off her own supper and joined Kassandra in the hut. She looked around, and saw it was luxurious compared to her original plan of just using the sleeping bag.

"Magic bag. not bad. Let's get some shut eye then, it's a long climb tomorrow."

DREAM SEQUENCE

Their sleep that night would be peaceful, as yet unknown forces at work on the mountain conjured a warning to the intruders. Strange visions of storms, of lightning and thunder, of wild beasts seeped into their minds. From the darkness a great cat beast leaps onto the dreamers, the dreams vivid and intense.

EARLY THAT MORNING

Diana awoke from her troubled sleep in a cold sweat, and the growl of thunder rumbled in the sky. The storm over the mountain's peak had not abated, but instead expanded now. Rain poured down on where they were, and Diana quickly changed and gathered her things.

"Oh crap... I think we should get going." She said, gently nudging Kassandra awake if she managed to sleep through the dream.

Once she exited the cottage, a large pole was placed in the middle of the camp. On it was impaled a Boar's bloody severed head, the wood coming out the mouth, the stump still slick with blood. It was a clear message from a vague source.

"I get the feeling we aren't welcome... well. Let's get going." Diana put on a raincoat her herself and her pack, and headed for the eye of the storm up the mountain.

Kassandra awoke shortly after Diana. She had experienced a slightly unsettling dream, though figured it was nothing to worry about. That was until she stepped outside to see that some barbarians had speared a boar's head through a stake. It was a very prehistoric way of saying 'leave' but it did get the point across. The two of them would continue on their way. Kassandra gave her hand a wave and their housing deconstructed itself, she also had a few of the vines take down the gruesome display and disposed of it within the forest somewhere.
"A rather barbaric sort of message wouldn't you say?"
She said casually as she exited the campsite and pushed forward. If anything, that warning was a good thing. Could have meant they were in the right direction. Though if the people who made this type of warning deiced to do so at night, without causing harm to them while they spelt, she had a feeling that they may not attempt to toy with them during the day. Kassandra was unaware of what abilities this Diana girl possessed, but she assumed she would be capable of defending herself incase they ran into some hostile natives.
"I'm going to take a quick look from the air. See if that can help point us in any particular direction."
Kassandra put her hand on the ground and from it formed a small platform that she stepped onto. It then took her high into the sky above the canopy of trees. It was a gorgeous view, this forest. At first noting stood out to her. It was all just a solid sea of green. However, it did appear as if there was a clearing ahead of their location. She lowered herself back down, and the small platform of earth merged back into the ground.
"I saw a clearing up ahead. It shouldn't be too far... Just seems like theres not much of a predetermined path, so as long as you don't mind a little bit more adventure." she said with a wink.

Kassandra continued forward through the heavier foliage. She began using her ability to clear a path, it was getting a little too dense and slightly annoying to push through without it.
"Geeze, this learning definitely is further away than I was expecting..."
She said with an exhausted tone. She was not growing tired of using her powers, she was just getting annoyed. As Vexus she was so much more used to getting places quickly with a band of hired hands.
"I mean, if you'd like I can create floating platforms for the both of us so that we can speed up this adventure process?"
Hopefully Diana wouldn't mind. She seemed like an adventurous spirit, but maybe she didn't mind taking a short cut every now and again. Also, taking the high road so to speak may also help them avoid whatever natives or hostile people they might run into along the way. Unnecessary conflict would only slow Vexus, or rather Kassandra, on obtaining what she came searching for.

"It could also mean we're getting warming to where we want to be. Real polite of them, don't you think?" Diana remarked with a laugh, agreeing with her ally's unspoken sentiment. Diana saw the warning as nothing more than a challenge, a promise of combat.

They inched their way through the jungle the old fashioned way for a while, Diana enthusiastic with the machete and clearing a path for them. The pace though, seemed a bit dragging for Kassandra, as she just volunteered to fly up... once she came back she told them of a clearing, probably what they wanted.

"Oh... good. Is there a temple or something? And that sounds like a great idea. Let's do it... beats trudging through this thick jungle." Diana said enthusiastically, and hopped aboard with Kassandra to fly. Diana put her machete away and took in the view, when the rain began to intensify.

A flash of lightning struck a tree not more than ten meters away from the duo as they made leaps and bounds of progress towards the clearing. Diana visibly shook and crouched on the platform, as if it would do any good in the open.
"Okay... um... on second thought..." The squall of winged beasts broke through the pounding rain and thunder. Up ahead, giant bats ridden by some masked natives came into view. The bat creatures were immense, capable of carrying two riders. They shouted at the duo in their native language, and started throwing black tipped spears their way as they flew past. "We waxwayisa wena ! Manje wena ufe ! (We warned you! Now you'll die, Intruder!) "

Diana ducked under the spear toss, but the black stone spear left a deep cut in Vexus's platform, the magic resonating. For a moment, the platform shuddered. "Okay. Now they definitely don't want us to be here! Get ready for a fight!" Diana concluded, nocking an arrow on her bow.

"Killing natives and stealing their stuff! Are we the bad guys?" Diana remarked, lampshading their actions. Nonetheless she was prepared to defend herself and took aim at another skirmisher who was coming in; she let the arrow fly and nailed the Bat in the skull, causing it to immediately plummet to the ground below.

More came in, aiming their spears at Diana and Kassandra, the natives fully intending to skewer them.

Things quickly became complicated as they flew through the air. Not only was the storm worsening, it also seems as if the natives had spotted them. To her surprise, the appeared through the veil of rain riding what appeared to be mutated bats. In such an environment as this there would have been no cause of mutation. To think such large creates had been raised and trained by humans. Part of Elena wanted to capture one of these animals and study. There was no doubt that they had prehistoric origin, if they were not the original species that had been preserved through the decades.
However information on these beasts was not the pressing matter at hand. The individuals riding them had already damaged her platform forcing them to land. In the time though Diana did manage to knock down one of the enemies. The two women touched down lightly as the near army of natives closed in on them. Whatever it was inside of these ruins, they clearly did not want them to have it.

Kassandra paced both her hands on the ground and a serious look overtook her face.
"I honestly do not feel like wasting much time with these people. If you would kindly stand clear, Diana..."
After a few moments with her hands on the ground, and the natives closing in on them quickly she finally brought herself to her feet. The ground beneath their feet began to rumble, and then slowly break apart. Kassandra folded her hands together causing a large shockwave to erupt off her body, creating a small crater in the ground beneath her. There was an aura around about her person as her long teal hair floated weightlessly around her. The ground that had been splitting apart shot up into the air along with a number of trees.
Vexus took a stance, and immediately launched forward knocking the ground up behind her. In the blink of an eye the foot soldiers had all been knocked down and incapacitated. For a short moment, Kassandra could be seen standing at the end of the line of unconscious bodies. She was only looking back in order to make sure that she had not missed any of them.
In the next moment she rocketed herself into the sky and landed on platforms of land that had ben sent into the air moments earlier. These surrounded the large bats and allowed Vexus to bounce off of them and knock their riders off their monsters. In a few seconds, only the large pats remained. Kassandra had herself planted on a single platform. Assuming by instinct the bats charged at her. She only gave a smirk and casually waved her wrist, the trees that had flown up into the sky took action and gave devastating blows to the attacking animals. They plummeted to the ground, injured past the point of fighting again but nothing life threatening. Elena figured that Diana would manage to avoid the raining giant bats.

Kassandra gently landed on the ground and let out a deep breath. The aura around her subsided. She turned to Diana and just gave a casual nod of her head suggesting follow her as they headed towards the entrance of the ancient ruins. Vexus may have demonstrated a little but too much of her power, however it was not anything significantly revealing to her true identity.  Be though as it may, Kassandra still carried herself as if her performance was normal. As if Diana could have done the same thing if she wanted to. Entering the ruins and finding the codex they're searching for should be relatively simply. If need be, Vexus could just demolish the entire place and attempt to find the ancient book on its potential magic signature. But she figured she would at least see what Diana thought first.
"Not that it will take much time, but what method would you suggest in locating this lost codex? Do you have any items or devices that may be able to detect even faint magical signatures..?"
The ruins were rather maze like, and Elena could only assume that the book may be in a secret tomb or room that has been long since buried underground.
"We could also wake up one of the natives and ask them if worse comes to worst."
Kassandra continued on, not winded in the slightest by the physical display she had just put on to defeat the natives. Hopefully they can find what they came for and be on their way. Vexus was quite annoyed with this jungle and wanted to make her leave as soon as possible.

Diana watches and balances herself as they descended. They manage a rough landing, Diana reflexively jumping and landing into a roll into some tall grass, even when the platform wasn't that broken up. She visibly smirked at the sight of many natives chucking spears their way, while she loosed steel arrows that knocked them off balance, following up with a second arrow to finish them off. Once they got close, she happily picks up the spears they tossed her way, preparing for hand-to-hand combat.

And then Vexus caused a massive shockwave that knocks down the natives attacking. Diana kneels and braces herself with the spear as the ground cracked all around her.

And then she also ripped trees out of the ground with her mind. At this point Diana sighed and leaned on her spear, watching the bats plummeting out of the ground.

She looks around as the bad guys... er, natives who were defending their territory... fell around. A bat landed beside Diana and groaned, slowly getting up. Diana booped it on the head with the blunt end of her spear. "You sure know how to take the fun out of a fight." She said, a bit dejected at how Vexus moved things along.


Once they reached the summit they walked past markers and the mummified dead of ancient warriors. Romans, Knights, Vikings, British redcoats... that definitely confirmed their location. The Path led through a narrow chasm, and the temperature began to drop rapidly. The ground quickly transited from barren dirt to permafrost, and Diana stopped a moment to get some thermal wear from her pack.

Vexus asked Diana on the side how they'd determine where the codex may have lain. While putting on a nice looking black jacket, Diana pointed towards something in the isolated, snowing valley. Apparently, the storm was being sustained by a massive beam of white energy emanated from the highest temple situated in the center of the heavily snowed in valley, across a massive chasm surrounding it on all sides.

"Nope, I only have a slight hunch." She said, rather sarcastically.