The city tasted of greed.

That's the first thing that floods Fidi's senses as her forked tongue flicks from her mouth. It's a rotten, metallic taste, but it's soon whisked away by the next sensation: Pain. It floods through a collarbone she shouldn't have, far too many limbs hanging off her body, all numb.

"How is Lieva doing back there?" Phre's voice is filled with worry, barely able to be heard over the roar of the engine and pull of the wind.

"She's out," Fidi explains.

"...That can't be good. According to Chiffon, we're almost there, all right?"

Fidi nods, gripping at her chest. Fresh blood leaks onto her finger while dried flakes weakly plaster at the wound. It aches, but she knows there's nothing she can do but wait.

Instead, she reached out a hand to try and push herself up to a seated position. It feels awkward though, and takes her a while to regain herself. But, once she's there, she lifts her head, pushing her bright red bangs out of her eyes.

Buildings rush past them, but it's not the disheveled scraps of concrete and bricks that Fidi is used to. Instead, these are more polished, towering high into a darkened sky just starting to fade into night.

"Where are we?" she asks, still trying to take it in. We wouldn't be heading into the center of the city now, right? That would be idiotic. She glances up at Phre, still driving through at a reckless place. Please tell me you aren't.

"We're heading to Asphodel," Chiffon answers. "That's where I met the god."

"Right..." So the outskirts of Tartarus then. It isn't all that much safer, but it's better than nothing, she supposes.

Still, it's strange to see a world of lights for once, the streets filled with blinking signs and Humans of all shapes and sizes. They walk about, shopping, laughing... a few even dance on a street corner as they point to a hat filled with coins. So this is what life is like when the Demigods don't take everything from you. A wave of jealousy floods her body, making her tail twitch in disdain. How peaceful they were, living their lives, paying the bike no mind. For now. She knows it won't last long. It's only a matter of time before they call upon the Demigods to entertain them with slaughter.

"We're here."

Fidi blinks as Chiffon points to a small, rundown shack, already disliking the flashing of bright lights and thudding of music in her chest. With a nod, Phre parks, the bike jostling to a stop as she pulls it into a single, marked off spot.

Fidi's knees feel like liquid, wobbling beneath her as she slowly stands up. Her head spins, darkness pressing at her vision, but as she looks at the store front, she wishes it could have taken her completely. The windows are plastered with images of men and ladies, all in far less than she wants to see, and she can already taste the sickeningly sweet flavor of alcohol in the air.

"I see. So these are the types of places you frequent, Chiffon?" She raises an eyebrow at him, confusion filling her as it feels strangely for a moment, before she remembers that it's pierced.

"No!" He shouts, far too quickly. "Besides, what Beast can get into a place out here?"

"Fair point," Phre juts in, swirling her key ring around her finger. "But at that rate, if this is where your so-called god is, how'd you get in in the first place?" She jerks a thumb towards a Human bouncer, blocking the door. "He doesn't seem too friendly."

There's a silence before he explains. "That's because he's not in there. He's probably not that far. Come on."

With that, he is walking towards the side of the building, down the dark, narrow alley at its edge. Looking at Phre, Fidi catches the same, shared feeling of anxiety from her as her gloved hands clench into nervous fists.

"Are you sure we can trust him?" Fidi asks. He didn't taste of lies before but...

"Yeah, but going into an alley with a strange is always a stupid move," Satyr finishes for her.

So you are awake then.

"I-I'm sure it's fine. What happened to your motto?" Phre chuckles, tugging her hand along, even as her steps tremble. "Nothing you can't solve with a little fire."

The walls of the buildings seem to rise up forever as Fidi takes another step in. It's far too dark, and with a glance behind her, she ignites the spark in her chest, feeling it burn until flames lap at the roof of her mouth. It draws out of her with a sharp breath, and she raises a hand to catch it in her palm.

It's easy to make Chiffon out now, his silver hair reflecting the light as he throws his head back to look at her. "What? Do you think I'm going to stab you in the dark or something? You're going to get us caught."

"Sorry to not want any more injuries while I stand here with a bullet taken to the chest for you," Fidi retorts, a fang poking out of her lip as she frowns. "I'll take more chances next time."

He opens his mouth, most likely to reply with his own, half-witted comeback, but he's cut off by a single figure laying in the flickering shadow. "Awwwww yeah... someone brought a lighter."

Fidi reaches her hand out even as Phre draws closer to her side. The flame's light stretches, revealing a garbage can practically oozing trash, asphalt littered with paper, all sprawled against by a man in loose clothing. He sat up eagerly, drawing long, wild hair off his face to look.

"Ohhh, nah that's a real fire. Heh. Well, lights stuff up all the same right?" He grins with a mouth full of yellowed teeth, the scent of burnt snuff sitting bitterly on Fidi's tongue. He winks a purple eye as rich as wine, only to leave open one as green as leaves. "Care to share?"

"We're not here to light your blunt, Dionysus," Chiffon remarks, tapping the frail man's side with a boot. "I brought you the Chimera. Now what?"

"Yes yes... she's a real beauty innit she?" He stands, almost toppling over before he catches himself on the brick wall, dirty nails scratching at the stone. "That's the shame about the houses 'round these parts. Everyone's Human. People got no taste anymore."

"Yeah. A real beauty." Phre steps in front, glaring down at the shorter man. A tap echoes as her claws drum against the stone of the wall. "So I better not be hearing that you'd want her to join the club?"

"And who's she?" His far too wide, mismatched eyes look her over. "Don't tell me you found the other two Marked Children, did you Ch-"

"Chiffon."

Fidi narrows her eyes at the Griffin. The answer was far too quick, the sharp scent of panic too potent. Still she doesn't have long to think about it before he continues with a roll of his eyes. "And no, only the Chimera has the Mark. The Harpie is just her girlfriend."

"Just? I gave you a ride here and saved your life, you ungrateful bastard!" Then Phre's talons sink into his shoulders as she shakes him back and forth.

"Hot." Satyr's voice echoes in her mind.

Not the time, Fidi thinks back. Instead her mind trails to focus on the mark on her wrist. It glows a bright crimson as the fire dances in her palm, but she knows the second the magic is released, it will fade down to the same pitch black as the scythe on Chiffon's own arm.

Tapping her foot, Fidi reaches out to push the two apart, shaking her horned head with a sign before turning to Chiffon. "Enough. I'm tired, in pain, and I want to sleep. No more games, no more meeting people... can you just show us where the god is?"

He blinks. "You already have. He's right there." A lazy hand waves over the wasteland that was the man's body. "Dionysus. God of Wine."

"Aaaaannnd other pleasures," he clarifies, even as Fidi and Phre stare at him, mouth agape.

"That's the god we came all this way for?" Fidi's stomach sinks, her heart pounding in his chest. I left behind everything... for this?

"Chiffon! The hell?" With that, Phre takes hold of him again, shouting at his face as he trembles in her grasp. "How are we supposed to escape Tartarus with him? What kind of god is this?"

"Look! He just had a plan and I listened, okay?"

"What convoluted, half-brained, ecstasy-inspired-"

"Phre-" Fidi interrupts, clutching at her shirt again. The skin feels warmer now, aggravating and itchy. She longs to scratch it, but somehow that seems like a bad idea to her already blurry mind.

"Awww is the little lady hurt?" Dionysus croons, leaning forward as Fidi's wobbles in place. "You probably should follow me back to my place. I'll getcha patched up."

"Honestly, I'm surprised you even have a place." Phre crosses her arms, fingers still tapping.

"I call it my 'House of Inspiration'. My Mansion of Muses. My Abode of..." he trailed off, eyes staring off into the distance. "My abode."

"Yes, great. Wonderful. Does it have medical supplies?"

"Not to fret. I assure you it has everything." He lifts his arms up like a preacher, long sleeves slipping to show arms marked up with hundreds of jabs and bruises. Fidi cringes, averting her eyes even as the phantom sensation of needles on her skin runs through her mind.

She stumbles a bit, only to feel a muscular arm reach under her own, steadying her. Auburn hair tumbles across Fidi's face as her girlfriend raises her slightly, the support easing the weight off her torso.

"Please... just take us there," she asks, her voice gaining a soft tone even as Fidi hears the disappointment behind it. It claws at her conscious, reminding her of how this is just another letdown, with Styx as the first... and Satyr being the second.

"Well that was always the plan," the god shrugs, although part of Fidi still didn't want to believe that he was anything more than a homeless wreck. "I'm collecting all the Marked... collecting all the Marked..." He turns it into a full, off-tune song, swaying back and forth along the road as they creep out of the alley.

"What do you mean, collecting the Marked?" Fidi manages to ask. "Are there more like me? With magic?"

"Well duh..." His loose voice clings to the word as his flip flops continue to plop along in front of them all. "Did you miss your buddy Chiffon-" He cuts himself off to snort a bit for a moment. "-here?"

"Dionysus..." Chiffon warns, a low growl crawling along his words. Unease creeps through Fidi, curling a chill around her bones. Her eyes fall to the scythe on his arm once more. It isn't that the thought hadn't crossed her mind, but... I haven't seen him use magic yet.

"What? What don't you want him to say?" Phre wrenches her head up from watching Fidi's wincing face to glare at him. "What are you hiding, Chiffon?"

"Just a pretty, pretty magic scythe..." Dionysus answers for the Griffon as he continues to sing, and the alley falls away to an empty street with a line of parked cars. Apartments lie all to the left, but that's not where he heads. "All done up in sha-dow, Master of the Ri-"

"Would you cut that out?" He shouts, hands jumping with him. "You're going to drive me insane!"

"Gooooood... That means my godly powers are working," Dionysus drawls, flinging his body on a car that looks in worse shape than the run over soda can beside it.

A sigh pulls out of Fidi's aching chest and she eyes the mounds of trash inside. "We have to drive to reach your house?" Her voice sounds light, even breathier than normal as her mouth begins to taste of pennies, head spinning once more.

"Oh you're silly... This is my House of Inspiration. I have all my best ideas in the backseat at the late night hours. Now pile the Chimera in the backseat and I'll patch her up real nice." He removes a ring of keys from his pocket, clicking open the back door as used boxes and recipes tumble out to their freedom.

"Oh absolutely the hell not." Phre's talons click on the ground as she gently lowers Fidi to the street, the small push of a kiss on her forehead pulling her back to reality slightly. Then she stands, Fidi watching as she strides over to the god, hands clenched. "I'm sick of this. In fact, I'm sick of both of you."

Chiffon and Dionysus instantly back up, pressing up against the car as she towers over them. Her long nails reach out to dig into Chiffon's chest. "I trusted you. I want you to know I left behind everything just for even a shred of hope in getting out of this place. But instead you lead us to him-"

She turns to bring her face down to Dionysus, eye twitching as he only smiles up at her. "-who, as far as I'm concerned, is the least god-like entity I have ever seen! All I see is a rat of a man on more drugs than I can count, who wants to 'collect the Marked' like my girlfriend is some kind of collection. And you act like you're going to get us out of Tartarus?" Her nose wrinkles in disgust. "How dare you."

A rumble shakes through Fidi, shaking her out of her daze for a moment. It quakes under the asphalt, cracks breaking it up around her. A gasp escapes her throat as grape vines peel out of it, creeping toward Phre's back.

"Phre!" she calls out, but by the time she turns it's far too late. Wide, flat leaves greener than anything Fidi had ever seen wrap themselves over Phre's mouth, vines twisting around her legs until she is lifted with a muffled squeak. Dionysus looks up at her, his grin never fading.

"Am I a god now?"