Rivkah managed to get the plane back into the defensive areas outside the Poison Sun Ward. Unfortunately, the plane was still going down. Rivkah did her best to slow the descent, but Brock decided to bail out, using his divine abilities to reach the ground stealthily and safely. With a boost from TaK Me, Rivkah got the plane down with everyone in one piece.
After a moment, the Gremlins emerged, spotted by the eyes of a few in the Hestia. Nick quickly befriended them and they crowded about their apparent new leader. Almost immediately after that was resolved, several Japanese military officials arrived. These individuals called the Demigods foolish for almost attempting to enter the Ward without protection, and then suggested the Demigods hurry and follow them to others who sought to strike into the Poison Sun Ward.
Leander signalled to the still-hidden Brock, whom one of the soldiers declared a great love of. The group descended into a tunnel system, which may have been the sewer, and eventually came to an underground complex. The team was led to a room and asked to wait.
After a short time, they were informed that another of their band had arrived. Confused, they asked for this person to be shown in. It turned out to be a beautiful Demigoddess. She introduced herself as Jessica and suggested that she had come after a new portion of the prophecy had been revealed. She also revealed her heritage as a daughter of Aphrodite. At first, she was suspicious of Lha Mo, but the explanations of the other demigods managed to keep things civil.
After a time, the soldiers returned and explained that their intention was to aid the demigods in their strike, as they were part of a faction that disagreed with the decree that the Ward was off limits. To that end, they were crafting a weapon and defensive gear. That said, they introduced the team to the weapon maker... Muramasa!
While most of the group was unimpressed, William and Leander knew this was a big deal. Muramasa requested the Demigods retrieve four difficult to obtain items for him so he could create his weapon that could kill the God of the Last Breath. First would be the Flame of Katagumi, which was within a giant carp in the harbor. Second was a scrap of iron from the wall holding the Poison Sun Ward. Third was the blood of a pure dynast. And fourth would be the Ghost of Little Boy, created when the bomb fell on Hiroshima, which was rumored to be held by the Yakuza in the Great Market.
The Band, as was in character, headed directly to the Harbor, avoiding the small towns nearby. They'd discovered, just before they left, that there were Ningyo in the Harbor which worshiped the great carp, and prepared for the potential of a fight. Tak Me, who had spoken to Jessica, introducing himself and shocking the Hestia, flew the team to the Harbor, but there was no clear way to reach the carp once they'd arrived. As a result, they asked Tak Me to fly them back to the Harbor towns, much to the yak's consternation.
The team began their search for information at the library, looking for information on the Ningyo and the carp. They also checked on ways in which they could reach the carp's preferred swimming depth. After a time, they moved on to a nearby shrine where they encountered the spirit of a deceased Scion who flirted with Brock a bit before directing the team to a nearby salvage yard where the owner was a frequent diver and collector of submerged artifacts.
With some flirting (to the consternation of the show owner's granddaughter!) by Jessica and a promise loot from William, the shop owner allowed the team to take three suits for Leander, Jessica, and Brock so that they could survive the depths where the carp lived. Not wanting to waste time, the Hestia moved back to the waters and dove down deep.
After a time, they began to hear what seemed like singing. It was the Ningyo going about their daily prayers and communicating with one another. William used his skill with spoken language to translate and Brock used his newly developed singing ability, aided by Nick's ability to call forth music, to introduce us as children of Hestia and therefore related to the carp's progenitor, who had become an avatar of Muspelheim. The Ningyo agreed to take us to their leader.
Once there, the Ningyo tried to deny the Hestia access to the carp and hinted that they did not believe our story, flashing aspects of sharks in fleeting glimpses. Brock had a mighty plan, though, and cut himself, focusing his divine heritage and the gifts of Hestia to cause his blood to ignite into brilliant flame underwater, fully convincing the Ningyo leader and shocking Jessica, who had had no idea that Hestia had blessed the others in the band. The team was granted access and descended to the carp's domain.
Finding the carp was relatively easy given the fact that it glowed a fiery red in the dark ocean. It seemed not to notice the band at first, so Lha Mo attempted pulling a scale off covertly. When that failed, Nick tried talking to the fish and ordering it to give him an audience, but the creature had no sentience and so couldn't communicate it. The problem was solved, though, when Jessica and Brock, at Leander's suggestion, gazed deeply into the fish's eyes, mesmerizing it. Leander then directed the rest of the team to work together to cut off the tip of one of the carp's fins, with Rivkah hurling William to Lha Mo who caught him and redirected him so that he could strike with Foecutter. Nick, deft of hand, caught the fallen fin.
Not quite sure if that would be enough, Lha Mo also swam inside the incapacitated fish's mouth and took a vial of blood. William scooped up some nearby salvage and it was time to head back to the surface.
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