Log:Returning to the Scene of the Ritual

2020/05/06 Radical Grimm 1

Grimm stayed behind into the afternoon as police collected their evidence and taped off the scene of the ritual. The bodies have sense been removed. Gabrielle's perched on a nearby rooftop beside Montgomery and Associates with a better view of the site, and messaged Radical to meet her at this location as soon as he's free on his way to Steinberg Tower.

Radical shows up about twenty minutes later, appearing from seemingly nowhere. He gives Grimm a wave. "Hey there." He looks over the crime scene. "Umm...huh. What happened?"

The 20 meter pentagram burned into the street is still being cleaned up, as the slag piles are difficult to break apart and cart away while cataloguing the evidence.

Gabrielle hears the familiar sound and looks up from her research on her phone, looking a bit haunted initially, but then relieved when she sees him. "Man, I could just about give you a hug right now."

She gets up and walks over to him. "Amelia Halfdemon, I'm told. I tried to get ahold of you when shick was going down, but I figured based on the time, you were occupied. There were alarms all over the city at various magically-known venues...and some less publicly known. Including Steinberg Tower. But somehow, this didn't get called in as it was going down," she motions to the scene below.

Radical looks around. "How did no one react to something right here in City Center? There should have been cops around, right?"

"I don't know, but my guess is a magical disguising spell? But someone did witness it and didn't call in. I have a friend in the CBPD that usually responds to these sort of calls, and if they had a call in, he would've been here, without a ...doubt," Gabrielle says confidently until the end, suddenly looking worried. "Shick, what if he and others did respond and something happened?"

Radical tilts his head, "Who was found at hte scene?"

"Five dead Morbanes at each point of the pentagram, ritually sacrificed. Throats cut," Gabrielle says as her nose wrinkles. She has conflicting feelings on the matter. And those four pairs burning footprints," she points to the center. "I recognize the ritual from some studies with Ghostfist. It summoned the gatekeepers of the Obsidian Door. The doorway to Ares' prison."

Radical nods slowly. "I always wondered why Ares was supposedly locked away. There are plenty of war gods. What makes him different?"

Grimm shrugs. "I'm not sure what makes him more powerful. Supposedly, it was the other greek gods who imprisoned him because he became unruly. Pursued war at their expense and wouldn't listen. Don't you know? The gods are petty and cruel," she grins faintly. It doesn't last long.

"The bigger worry is why does Amelia Halfdemon, her Demon Lord, and followers want him out of the cage. She must think she can control him when a whole pantheon of gods couldn't, and that....that's f***ing terrifying to me," she frowns and looks back to the pentagram. "I'll see if I can send you the copy of a recording of the ritual. You should probably check on Steinberg Tower to find out what was stolen. Maybe get a list. I wouldn't be surprised of Halfdemon kept some of the stolen items that her zombie horde collected for her." She sighs and rubs the back of her neck. "I should probably see if I can get into Dr. Fate's sanctum. I hear that place was hit, too. Or there was an attempt, at least."

Radical nods. "Do you know what locations were hit? Do you have a list?"

"A lot of places. Dr. Wyrd's yacht, Fate's Sanctum, Harlequin's place, Lucky Finds bookshop, Undermoon's Embassy...and I think a book store, a tea house in Chinatown, and the Buddhist temple," Gabrielle tries to recall them all. "I think that's most of them. I'm kind of surprised by the Temple being targeted. All the others have some known magical association."

Radical chuckles. "I'm sure there's somethign magic there, too. Just not something we're familiar with."

Grimm nods and smiles. "Yeah, haven't spent time at the local Buddhist Temple for a while," she teases. Her? A Buddhist? HAH. She straightens up a bit. "More seriously, though, I figured you'd be one of the experts on Halfdemon and her Demon Lord buddy, and what she's up to."

Radical shakes his head, "I'm afraid I've been busy. I don't even know if I've seen her personally."

Grimm chuckles. "Yeah, I know you have. Which I appreciate, by the way. I don't think I know anyone who has encountered her. Maybe Moonshadow?" she ponders. She taps her chin. "Isn't there some meta claiming to be Artemis and a goddess? Maybe she knows something about all this?"

Radical nods. "Moonshadow has seen her in person, yes. Traumatized by it. I think I saw her briefly during that particular rescue."

Grimm snaps her fingers as she suddenly realizes. "Oh shick. I did get contacted by Amelia to help her, but after I cancelled my plans to help, I was told to forget about it. That was Halfdemon's doing?"

Radical shakes his head, "Artemis...I don't think is an actual Greek Goddess. She's an alien. But...there ARE heroes around with more of a Greek background."

Radical nods. "Moonshadow was tortured. Brainwashed. I was able to repair her mind, but she still needed time to recover."

"Alien? Weird. Appropriation much?" Grimm smirks in amusement. She thinks a bit. "Hmmm, other greek backgrounds. There was a guy....Oh, wait! Jonathan Vasilikos? The actor?" That's what she knows him more as than actually having dealt with Titan much in person. She grins to herself a bit at recalling the movies she's seen him in.

Grimm clears that grin off her face and looks more serious. "Yeah, damn. Healing from stuff like that takes time."

Radical nods, "A couple of months before she was back to her...normal self."

Grimm raises a brow. "Normal. Yeah," she says knowingly. "Any answer as to why Halfdemon did it?"

Radical shrugs, "Normal for her, at least. No answer as to why. Her motives always seemed odd to me."