Izroulia: Hunt for the Lost Pod

Chapter 31 | the watering hole

A map of Izroulia lay out on the table, a few crosses and lines on it marked out. The group sat around it, all looking down at it and thinking.

"Ok... since the more inland you go the less people there are I'd say we keep within this area" Aries said.

"Good idea. I don't feel like becoming sushi" Pandora replied.

"I think we can go for an ambush approach. We want to get Agnemetra in the water, she's a fire being so she's powerless when wet. If we can figure out a way to stop her henchmen from attacking us so it's just us vs her we can push her into the water and render her powerless"

Aries circled the castle on the map, it being near the north coast of the island.

"Idea: if you have the destruction ring we can block off the area around the castle by cracking the earth big enough no one can get over it. Then we push her toward the sea and finish her off. And then I can put the earth back together with the creation necklace" Icarus suggested.

"Good idea, that way she can't escape"

Aries marked off an area around the castle and coast that they could try and crack once they'd harnesses their powers.

"We can also use Zag's illusion bracelet to distract anyone that tries to get involved in the fight we don't want" Pandora said.

"Also good idea. I reckon we scout some more for good locations in the area to ambush from, then refine from there"

With their plan set in motion, the group went back into Izroulia, landing in the same spot as before. Each of them with a map and a spot to go check out, and a backup plan in case anyone got in trouble. Although in the middle of nowhere they didn't expect to run into anyone. Most of the population was by the coast.

"Meet up at... 3pm, signal if anything goes wrong and mark anything important on the map" Aries said.

They got agreement from the others, and they all split off to their areas to scout. Aries adding a note to Icarus to stay on the path and not get lost like she did at camp when this all started. Zagreus did intend on scouting the area he was assigned, but there was something else he wanted to do while he was here, and that was see the Naiad again. He couldn't stop thinking about Styxx since they met. He was so head over heels it was almost scary how fast he fell.

But Styxx was just so pretty... and his voice was smooth and gentle, his smile bright enough to light up the bottom of the Mariana Trench.

He needed to see Styxx again. So he detoured off the path to the same lake he'd fallen into before, and stood at the edge looking for any sign of the Naiad. This time he knew not to fall in.

As he looked around, he noticed movement in the water and up popped the exact person he was looking for.

"You're back!" He smiled.

"I'm back, scouting for the plan" Zagreus replied, ducking down to Styxx's level in the water.

"I was hoping you'd come back. Not every day you see a merman when most of them vanished"

"I still don't know much about this place, you wouldn't happen to know of any areas well hidden and good for an ambush would you?"

Styxx climbed out of the water, squeezing his hair and shaking his pants dry.

"I do actually, I'll take you" he replied.

"Thanks, I knew I could count on a Naiad" Zagreus said.

"I want that old bitch off the throne just as much as you do man, she'd constantly threatening us water people 'will be next' if we don't comply to her. I'm lucky my families lake is all the way out here, no one ever comes here so we can get away with disobeying her sometimes" Styxx explained, leading Zagreus down a route he clearly knew well.