Cinder Understand situation w/ assistance: Exceptional Success
Hydra Strike vs Mina (DC3): Hit
Mina Cinder Illusion vs Hydra (DC3): Hit
Wading through the Phlegethon mire, Mina fumbled to catch the gasmask Mac threw to her. She continued forward, fighting the waters and the disgorged undead surging about her. All the while, struggling with the rubberized contraption of straps and gussets. Yet she eventually fit it about her face, the seal clogged with lank hair.
Now the adamantine tunnel was more claustrophobic than ever, oppressively cut down through the gasmask’s eye covers and muted with her own breathing loud in her ears. The dead still clamored about her, jostling her more with the reduced peripheral vision. Somehow, through it all, she heard Mac urging her onwards. Keep moving.
Fatigue weighed her limbs down almost as much as her waterlogged coat. Each breath was a struggle in the mask and she felt on the verge of hyperventilating, but she forged on. The hydra, unrelenting, bared down upon them. One of the many heads flashed towards the knot of undead which Mina found herself amidst. Jaws as wide as the channel she waded plowed behind her. A surge of water picked her feet from the floor and pushed her on.
A maw of needle-like teeth snapped shut not six inches behind her and tore a host of lost souls back to the underworld. The mask muffled Mina’s scream and she momentarily went under the Phlegethon again. If she didn’t do something soon, she’d be counted amongst the lost. Time—she needed time. Just a moment to catch her breath and figure out what to do next.
Turning in the swirl, she threw out a hand, partially to shield from the hydra. Deep in her mind, dredged from the depths of consciousness, Tisiphone stirred and crested. Even bound to Mina’s corporeal form and blunted to her vengeful glory, the sensation tingled through Mina’s every cell like she touched a live wire.
With a breath of creation, the tunnel wall bricked up. Hydra one minute, then replaced with solid and venerable brickwork. The flow of the Phlegethon assuaged, cut off as it was by the illusory blockade. Her ruse wouldn’t dissuade the hydra long, and already it pressed its shadowed bulk against the defenses.
Mina made it to the embankment and heaved herself onto the lip. There she lay panting, the gasmask pressing uncomfortably into her face. Her mind was awash with unwanted sensations. Sodden, she pushed to her knees, then to her feet. This alone felt like a moment to be applauded. With a grunt, Mina stumbled after Mac and onto what remained of the metro platform.
Mina Luck: 2/4
Hydra Luck: 3/4
Bearings: 2/2 – Hydra Luck vulnerable