Charon Olympus was grinning from ear to ear that morning. He woke early and bathed in the river outside the emerald valley. Then he took a rather pleasant walk as he waited for his fur to dry. He groomed himself once more to make sure he looked very presentable. After walking through that blasted swamp last night, cleaning up was just what he needed to do. Now the muscular brute was clean as a whistle, obsidian coat shining from head to toe. The gold flames sparkled as they traveled up his legs. He truly looked like the god he was meant to be. Now it was time to take action. As soon as the sun was fixed low in the sky, he turned toward the Olympus border. He had been wandering half a mile away all morning, giving his glorious queen some time to wake up and make herself presentable as well. On his way, Charon picked a small bouquet of wildflowers, their colors bright in the early spring. His new personality was slowly clicking into place, covering his old one like a mask and cape. He would pretend to be good and loyal to his queen, gaining her trust and rising through her ranks. He would prove his worth through battles and feats of strength, and would display his intelligence without its usual dark undertone. He would solve problems instead of creating them. But only for a while. Then when he had reached the second or third tier, the carnage would begin. He would take over the throne, leaving death and destruction in his wake. Then a new reign would be born, with Charon as king. The throne was rightfully his, and he would earn it with his own sweat and blood. And with the blood of a few others, of course. With a proud stride in his step and a new, friendly smile on his face, the large ebony brute would come to the border. He would lay the bouquet of little flowers at his feet and raise his gold trimmed head to the sky. He sent up a melodious song, calling for Virgil Olympus, the queen of these lands. The temporary queen. His call would soar across the valley, rolling over green hills as it went. He couldn't wait to see the face of that golden goddess. He would pull her under his spell. He would convince her of his act, and keep all anger and malice under control. Charon Olympus was posing as a good guy now. "SPEECH"

Curiosity fueled the boy. Well, that and nosiness. When the call for his mother went up, Nemesis took it upon himself to answer, ignoring the part about it being for his mother. They hadn't said 'Virgil only, no nosy little boys' and that meant that he was welcome to mosey on up, right? At the very least he could pretend to just stumble across the caller. Whatever. He did what he wanted. There was a motive behind his nosiness. Since the plague had struck him hard, his recovery had been long, leaving the child with plenty of time to do nothing but think. He'd relied heavily on his imagination, acting out wild fantasies in an attempt to keep his sanity, and while that had worked, eventually he'd run out of dreams to lose himself in and had been left with the crushing emptiness of purposelessness. Now that he was healed, that feeling still remained. He wanted a job to do. Playing with his siblings just wasn't going to cut it anymore and so with that in mind, he decided to see what being an alpha was like. He knew what his mother did, sure, but he'd never experienced it. This was an opportunity to see what all the hype was about. Arriving, the boy was pleased to see that he'd beaten his mother to it. Perhaps he could try his hand at handling strangers? Sliding through the underbrush, Nemesis paused once he was within sight of the stranger. His tail lifted slightly, chest puffing out as he looked the ebony wolf over. The boy stood up straight and tall, hoping to look like he was all business. He was one of the Heirs of Olympus, a royal child. It was his birthright to be respected. From now on he was going to start exercising that right. It was about time, right? He was big and strong. One day he'd be a warrior, a defender of the pack. It was time he acted his age, got his act together. "What brings you to Olympus, stranger?" he asked, trying out a serious, no nonsense tone. His eyes went to the flowers and narrowed. He brought flowers? This brute wasn't here to try and marry Andromeda, was he? Gag. "What's with the flowers?" he asked suspiciously. One wedding was enough. "Speaking" Thinking

The brute waited for a short while before someone arrived. His face was bright and pleasant, not showing the impatience that was slowly growing inside him. He even managed to give a nice smile as the queen finally arrived... except that it wasn't the queen at all. It was a little boy, not even a year old, puffing out his chest as he observed Charon. The ebony brute felt his smile waver, but he quickly morphed the irritation into an expression of hopeful confusion. The change was seamless and the boy would never know the difference. However, in the future the Olympus brute knew that such a mistake could not be made. His mind quickly searched through his armor of pleasantries and manners, checking for any loose chains. He couldn't let himself fail now, not when he had gotten this far. His mask needed to be perfect. No questions asked. So Charon smiled again instead and leaned his head to the side as the russet pup approached him. Who the hell is this? his mind asked, while his polite voice asked a different question. "Good day, sir, do you know where Virgil Olympus is?" But the pup was on a roll now, marching up to him and raising his tail in dominance. Charon chuckled inwardly. This must have been one of the heirs to the throne. Too bad the obsidian brute planned to kill him in the future. Heirs were nothing but barriers on his path to the throne. These thoughts rolled through his mind silently as he gave a bow to the young man. "I am brought to Olympus by family ties, my dear boy. My name is Charon Olympus. Who may you be?" He watched as two blue eyes narrowed suspiciously, examining the flower bouquet. His next question was delivered in an interesting tone. Charon laughed once, his ears splaying to the side in a show of bashfulness. "I just want to make a good impression. Virgil deserves the best, does she not?" "SPEECH"

Nemesis couldn't believe his ears. The brute called him sir. Sir! It made his little heart swell with pride. Obviously he was doing something right. This border stuff was a cakewalk. He could do this all day. The boy stood up straighter (somehow that was possible) and lifted his chin. Yes, he could get used to this feeling. That sentence, while laced with a title that pleased the boy endlessly, ended on a question about the whereabouts of his mother. The child deflated a bit, having forgotten for a second that Virgil's presence was required and that he was stealing her spotlight. His chest puffed back out again. The brute still needed his help getting to his mother so for the time being, Nemesis was still in charge. "Coming, I'm sure," he said grandly, "But if she's busy I'm sure I can be of assistance." His words were hopefully. Maybe his mom was off running the border or doing something...far, far away. Maybe. Hopefully. Finally the older wolf would answer his question. Nemesis looked the male up and down. Most of the wolves in his family were brightly colored. This guy was mostly black. True, he had yellow markings, but they weren't something the boy was familiar with. "I'm Nemesis, heir of Olympus." Curiosity compelled him to ask, "What kind of family ties?" Was this like his cousin or something? Or his mom's cousin? Or like some kind of uncle? His family was confusing; he had all kinds of relatives. "I just want to make a good impression. Virgil deserves the best, does she not?" Whew. Nemesis didn't think he could stand another wedding. Seeing Gaia and what's-his-face staring at each other all cow-eyed was enough lovey doveyness for his whole life. Any more and he'd ralph up all his lunch. The brute did have a point, though. His mom did deserve the best. She was the bravest, smartest wolf he knew and she deserved the world if she wanted it. The child was pleased with Charon's present. "The very, very best." he agreed, giving a firm nod to emphasize his words. "Speaking" Thinking

The little boy seemed to be glowing with pride as Charon played along. His toes flexed as he stood taller and his chest puffed out even more. The ebony brute nodded gratefully as the pup offered to be of assistance. "That would be wonderful, sir. Thank you. But I believe I need an audience with the queen if I wish to join your ranks?" He would say this with a shy smile, as if humbled by these words. As if he didn't deserve to speak with such a goddess. But he did deserve it. He deserved it all, and more. Charon then grinned, wagging his gold marked tail at the boy. "Are you training to be a fighter? If you are, and I join, then maybe we can work together!" It was sickening to act this way, but he had to do it. The large brute felt a smile lighting up his face as he waited for the boy to reply. Surely he would be excited. Charon would allow his false excitement to fade as the pup asked about family ties. Charon actually had to think for a moment about that. "It is a pretty distant side of the family, I suppose..." he would scratch a paw in the dirt before looking up at the boy. "My father, Remus, is cousin to Virgil. So that makes me her second cousin. And yours, as well, if you are the heir I've heard stories about." Perhaps the brute was laying it on thick. But this boy wasn't going to notice that. He was too busy basking in his own pride. Even so, Charon hoped that the queen would arrive soon. He could only flatter this russet boy for so long before he lost his lunch. "SPEECH"

Another 'sir' was tossed his way and the boy's ego ballooned. He liked being respected, liked it a lot. If this was what being an alpha was like then Nemesis was going to have to reevaluate his goal in life. Being a warrior would be nice and all, but an alpha got the real respect. Hmmm...maybe, since Gaia had a boy now, she'd be too busy making gooey faces at him to want to be the next alpha. A boy could hope, right? "You do," he confirmed Charon's assumption. Unfortunately. "I would if I could, but I'm not old enough." This was said regretfully. If he could accept the brute he would. He'd do it in a heartbeat. Charon was so cheerful, so respectful. He belonged here, Nemesis was sure of it. "I can vouch for you though," he promised, eager to please. "Are you training to be a fighter? If you are, and I join, then maybe we can work together!" The boy's eyes widened. "Would you really? I want to be a warrior. I haven't started training yet." He regretted the last sentence as soon as it left his mouth. It made him sound weak. The boy backpedaled, "I mean, I have, but I could use more." To get the subject away from his mistake, he asked, "Would you train me? I bet my mom would like that a lot." He tacked the last sentence on for good measure, trying his hand at manipulation. The brute kept mentioning his mom and he brought flowers to make her happy, so maybe he'd be willing to do anything to do that. In any case, it was worth a shot. Wait, Charon had heard of him? There were wolves he'd never met who talked about him? He was famous! This was the best day ever! The boy grinned, falling for it hook, line and sinker. His heart swelled, threatening to bust with all the pride that was currently oozing out of it. "I bet I am," he gushed, exaggerating the truth more than a bit, "I'm pretty well known around these parts." "Speaking" Thinking

Charon was genuinely entertained as he saw the effect his flattery had on the boy. Some wolves may have toned it down, not wanting the pup to get a big head or get himself in trouble for the resulting cockiness. But watching such things unfold was half of the fun for Charon. So he would keep the flattery coming. After all, it was working well for him so far. This little boy was just eating it up, and he already seemed to love Charon. His personality mask was becoming more flawless by the minute. As the pup spoke, he grinned brightly, but on the inside the grin was more evil and twisted. He did, in fact, require an audience with the queen to join. But this pup was going to vouch for him, and tell Virgil that he was worthy of joining Olympus. So he would have no trouble with getting in. This good impression was going to last. He held back laughter as the pup registered his next words. Blue eyes would become incredibly brighter with disbelief. Would you really? I want to be a warrior. I haven't started training yet. Then he seemed to think over those last words again, because he said I mean, I have, but I could use more. Charon chuckled in a pleasant way, leaning forward to bump his nose against the boy's shoulder. "What else are second cousins for?" he laughed. "I would love to train with you. And I'm sure your mom will be very happy." The pup was not very subtle about his manipulation, but it still got through to Charon. All of these little things would get him on Virgil's good side. The flowers, the happy pup that he was training with - and who was going to vouch for him - all of it was helping tremendously. Charon almost felt genuine happiness at that fact. But then he felt a sickening wrench of his stomach that brought his dark mind back to reality. He was here to demolish and conquer. Not play with little cousins and make mommies happy. But that was step one, and he would have to deal with it. So Charon just kept on smiling as he waited for the queen to arrive. What was taking the bitch so long anyhow? "SPEECH"

Natalya Olympus

For whatever reason, Natalya had taken her time answering this call (ooc-cause Raii forgot :X). When she did finally arrive, she was surprised Virgil hadn't beat her there. The Empress's own son had arrived, but his mother had not followed. It seemed her pregnancy was taking more of a toll on her than the Centurion had realized. It took her a moment to realize who the caller at the border was, but once she did she grimaced slightly. She could tell by the scent that the wolf was related, but not closely enough for her to trust. It was one of the cousins she had seldom met in person, but had been warned about enough times never to forget. "So another family member has come to join us, eh?" Her voice was laced with the distrust she felt for this male. She knew that their numbers were low and had a plan that she had already conveyed in some fashion to other callers. She didn't feel like going through the formalities with this one. "I cannot accept you into our ranks at this time, but you may remain near our borders for a while. We will be calling a meeting soon, and there we will discuss the possibility of your joining, cousin." "Nemesis, you should go check on your mother, and please let me know if she needs anything." With those final words, she would turn and leave, barely giving the two males a moment to speak. -exit- Walk ---- "Speak" ---- "Hear" ---- Think

Hope added a glow to the boy's features. Oh, he was so excited! The child was, perhaps, a little too zealous about the whole thing, but he was starved for attention, particularly the attention of a masculine persona. He loved his mother dearly, but the boy craved the type of relationship one would except from a father. It was an unconscious want, but a want nonetheless and he was willing to take whatever came his way. If this cousin who he barely knew was willing to give him the time of day, the boy would take it without question. His mouth flew wide in the beginnings of a gushy reply, but suddenly his aunt was there and the boy fell silent as she took charge. The first thing he noticed was that she didn't seem too pleased with Charon. This sent one ear flipping back in uncertainty, but she gave off a take charge air that made him quite certain that no words aside from 'yes ma'am' from his lips would be tolerated so he didn't pelt her with questions. Instead he let his gaze flip flop between the two wolves, anxiously hoping his new friend would be accepted. The answer the big male got wasn't quite an acceptance, but it was close, right? In any case, the boy was going to treat it as a success. He grinned up at his cousin--a grin that quickly turned into a pout as he was ordered off to his mother's side. His aunt was right, he should be near her in case she needed anything, but he really, really wanted to hang out with Charon. Perhaps he could sneak back later when Natalya was somewhere else. "Bye Charon!" Nemesis turned back once to give his cousin a sneaky look to let him know he'd be back later and then was gone. -exit Nemesis- "Speaking" Thinking