JOSHUA FOUND.

If only I were a bird! Ah, but to eat caterpillars?
Palestinian proverb

To be the son of a God means more than just having abilities beyond the human norm, it means that one must be there for there fellow man, be they mortal or Godling alike. It seems I have taken it upon myself to lead our band.

Whilst we are all the children of the gods, and therefore natural leaders, I feel in my heart that it is my place to ensure the others are safe before I am myself. This is not through valour, or nobility, or even friendship, though I do feel those bonds. Neither is it because in many ways I am the group elder. It is simply a position I feel myself fitting into - the ordering of subordinates, easing of emotions, all such things come to me quite naturally.

It was because of feelings like this, I jumped off a cliff in the underworld today. Let me get back to where we were last week.

As you likely remember, the Ferryman had come to us to take us across the river Lethe. We were not yet ready to leave so he rowed away, though we did get a destinati0n. Asphodel. I knew, somehow, that this was a neutral zone of sorts in the Greek Underworld, for those spirits who are of an unexceptional nature.

Wuyi at this point bounced off back to the fields to retrieve her cauldron. It was now, whilst trying to stop Kelly doing any more harm to herself, or others that I noticed Tal cutting herself. Of course, she is Atzlanti, but I will have to find a way for her to make sacrifices without having to injure herself, or others in the process. Kelly took this opportunity to question Tal, and I could see that it was a line of questioning not to be pursued, so we put a stop to it.

The most noticeable thing about this is that the site of Tal injuring herself seemed to ruffle Pepper far more than it should have. Maybe the bird knows something we do not? Perhaps, though, she just opposes the practice to be contrary with Cal and Tal, neither of whom she seems too fond of.

Wuyi returned with the woman we had found in the cave, Kat, and so again we called the Ferry. Rhiannon sped off on her own before it arrived to pick something she had spotted in the river. A memory of sorts, though she says not of us. What is so important about it, I don't know. Whilst she was doing this, Wuyi chased her along the bank before I could stop her, and Kelly almost jumped in the river after her again. We managed to stop Kelly. I really need to keep an eye on that girl, she seems to be developing a habit of wandering into dangerous situations.

WE got on the boat, with Tal handing out the money, and missing out doing so for Kat. She, like myself does not trust the woman. I would rather keep her close to us for the time being though, so we can keep a wary eye on her. Wuyi, once again caused trouble by steling a coin from Tal and words were thrown, such as thief and princess. The two were getting ready to fight, and Tal even leapt for Wuyi, so I found myself intervening to prevent bloodshed at this early stage.

Tal leapt ahead of us onto the shore we had just arrived at and found some tracks heading to the west. Good girl. We began to follow, myself heading to the front and the relative safety that was at Tal's side after Rhiannon decided now was a good time to make crude jokes about myself and the other woman. I'm about 10 years older than Tal! Beyond that, it would be entirely innapropriate and unprofessional to get mixed up in such things when we have work to do.

The spirits all around us moved in, as if to crush us. It got colder, but not debilitatingly so for myself, so I let Tal lead the way whilst I checked on the others. Wuyi in particular seemed to be struggling, but Rupper was doing his best to cheer her up through his usual perversion.

Eventually we were guided to the edge of a nearby cliff, and we made our plans for getting down - Wuyi would go first with Kat, and then I would follow behind to defend her and help stabilise a rope for others to climb down. Cal was sent down on reconaissance, but was chased back up by a pair of bat-like women. Harpies. Tal got the one attacking Cal, and despite an early fumble, I managed to tear into the second one with my HK before it could reach the group.

Unfortunately, Cal had begun to fall down and Tal had gone running as if to leap off the edge after her. I stopped Tal, but then had the strangest urge to jump myself.

It felt like the right thing to do.

I fell, but Wuyi had already caught Cal, so instead I spread my arms and just let the wind rush around me. It felt the most natural thing in the world. As luck would have it, I also spotted Joshua, and managed to swing onto the cliff face again, remaining entirely uninjured.

When the others finally caught up, it was explained that the man locked up was Joshuas brother. The women bickered amongst themselves again, this time mostly in Spanish, so I decided to have a smoke, and was soon joined by Rupper and Rhiannon.

Last thing I heard was the chain break and the cry of harpies.