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[timeshares]

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[timeshares]

[It was done.

There was something ironic about the fact that even as a spirit, in that dull, listless way one could drift into if one wasn't holding their attention carefully, his head felt clear again. Clearer than it's been in years.

Less ironic and far more expected was something of a new, unique and horrifying purgatory.

It seems the paperwork burden for reincarnation had either increased or was never actually privy to half-blood knowledge.

As said half-blood, as a ghost he was SOMEHOW still stricken with ADHD, and not really focusing well on these words WHY ARE THEY NOT IN GREEK... Of the three towering stacks of applications, examinations, essays and appendixes ...

Luke has finished...

Approximately one page.

Ish.]

Oh come on!

I already DID this one. Didn't I? What is the difference between HLL45X-Ba and HLL45X-Baa?

[He tries to flag someone passing by his blandly colored, despairingly aseptic workstation.]

[abandon_hope]

[ Fortunately for Luke, the person passing by his gray little corner of purgatory is none other than the son of the dude running this place. Unfortunately for Luke ... that person happens to be Nico. As little direct animosity as Nico might have towards the dude, he did sort of try to kill Percy on multiple occasions. And ... well. Nico has a couple different reasons to be mad about that.

So it isn't without some small measure of schadenfreude that Nico watches Luke struggle for a moment. Does not twitch at all, in fact, until the demigod turns to get his attention. And then he's just already standing there, impassive, looking every bit an Underworld demigod in his usual dark clothes and stygian blade. What may be surprising is how much older he looks since the last time Luke saw him. Fourteen, nearly fifteen, and while still on the small side, just now beginning to hit the start of what will become an intimidating amount of height.

Time sure flies when you're doing paperwork in the underworld, huh? ]

Ba is for ordinary souls, Baa is for half-bloods. You did the wrong version.

[timeshares]

[Were he still alive, Luke might have actually had a bit of trouble recognizing Nico... As it is, the demi-god's voice commanded attention with a compulsion he hadn't felt from ANY god, not even Kronos.

It rankled.

But.. that also meant that there was only one person it could be. Someone who---is pointing out something really important.]

.. The wrong...

[He stares at it, a little disbelieving. Slowly, he picks it up and crumples the page. For lack of teeth to grit, or the solidity to drop his head to the table, Luke forces up some cheer, tone almost bright.]

So, that's how it is.

[abandon_hope]

[ Nico is quiet, not demanding anything other than Luke's attention. But that sense of power is inescapable. A fundamental law of nature. If Nico requested something, Luke would have a better chance of asking gravity to reverse itself than resisting a command from a child of the Underworld.

No need for that here, though. He's only here to watch - maybe even help? - he hasn't decided yet. Since Bianca applied for reincarnation without saying goodbye to him, he's taken to meandering through here after major half-blood events. Especially with the massive clogs and snarls caused by that whole issue with the Doors of Death being open ...

A few of the more aimless spirits drift towards Nico; he gently (but firmly) nudges them away with a hand. ]

Which part? Messing up your paperwork or meeting me here?

CONTINUATIONS

[timeshares]

[It's been ... a while. Luke really doubts his time sense had any level of accuracy at this point. He had a vague sense that while he was working, it slipped along faster.

Still, it was punctuated by visits by the son of the ruler... and even with the distraction, it seemed like he was more focused. Maybe because of them. He found himself looking forward to them, even if he had a hard time understanding why they happened at all.

... Somehow, today, SOMEHOW, he got the feeling today was late.]

[abandon_hope]

[ Very late by mortal standards. Nico usually comes at very regular intervals, especially as measured by the dead ... But not this time. Gaea's influence may be broken, but there are still the occasional incidents above. The usual issues with monsters, getting half-bloods to the safety of camp ... Nico had been forced to hop a shaken young daughter of Hephaestus out of Detroit via shadow-travel. After fending off a few angry colossi that had formed themselves out of Fordite and abandoned manufacturing equipment.

His arrival is immediately obvious. His weakened state is like catnip to the undead, the blood on his face still fresh with the pulse of life. His fingers are faintly transparent from the strain of shadow travel. And while he knows he needs to be out in the sun to combat that side effect ... he can't bear it right now. All he wants to do is go back to his room and rest.

He doesn't even really mean to stop by Luke's area, except that this is a familiar stop on the way back to his own room. He blinks for a moment as he tries to orient himself. Familiar presence ... ah ... ]

Luke?

[timeshares]

[As much as many, many retail chains were monstrous in nature - quite literally being parts of a monster - there were some that offered a safer place for the wary and weary halfblood. Someplace that took drachma for a really large helping of Pan's cakes and was open after those terrible 3 am battles with hellhounds.

Being of a more divine origin, if you knew just how to turn the door handle to Denny's, the Dionny's logo would carefully rearrange itself, and the nymph at the counter would seat you with a properly greek menu and a sheet boasting of a rather robust wine selection.

Today though, when Annabeth stepped in to get a table... The place was packed. Men in soldier uniforms, generals and grunts alike, set out a long line for the first available table. Matadors and skydivers, firefighters and police officers... Even some old faced from Camp Half-Blood that couldn't possible BE here. ... people that it wouldn't seem like they would belong until--]

Look, Anthesteria Special is going all day. I'm sure you'll get a table before Choes-ing time.

[The nymph placated a rather nervous spirit objecting to one guy holding a table for HOURS...]

I'd like another diet Coke!

[Said rude spirit, with three empty plates and a number of glasses, and a pile of half finished paperwork by him... has a NOTABLY familiar voice.]

[timeshares]

[The reason to dock the Princess Andromeda was fairly mundane. Even magical, monster filled cruise ships needed simple supplies, fuel and most importantly, junk food for the monsters so that the growing ranks of demi-gods didn't look like a reasonable alternative to Grape Gorgon Bites.

It was also, for Luke Castellan, a rare and frankly needed opportunity to get away from the coffin. Under the auspices of getting food and a half hearted look for an entrance to the Labyrinth - and by that way - the Underworld, it was away from the nightmares and pressure behind his sinuses, the gathering of monsters he'd otherwise just slay and the demigods under his care.

Which is why, carrying a ridiculous stack of still warm pizza boxes towards the dock, a half hearted check into a drain system--

--- lead him to an alarming clean sewer drain. Almost magically clean.]

... Huh.

[freckledninja]

[HOW STRANGE. HOW VERY STRANGE. Even stranger still, there's a skateboard on the ground, a few comics laying around. And.

And from behind someone lightening that load of pizza boxes. HE'S A NINJA, SON.]

[timeshares]

[OKAY SO NOT ON. WHATEVER MONSTER IS HERE IS GOING DOWN.

He pulls Backbiter and turns, irritated. He hasn't struck yet, looking for what ancient asshole he's facing THIS time. This one? Is not getting recruited.]

Do you mind! I paid for those.

[snappingturtle]

[That remaining stack of pizzas grows even lighter still. You've made a poor choice of lairs to wander into, pizza dude!]

[timeshares]

Seriously?! What in Hades do you think you're doing?

[The sword comes out at this point, swiping in a blind arc. That was for the frost giants!]

[sharp_as_a_tick]

[So, sometime after a really long dream - not that it was a bad dream - it had ice cream and rubber duckies and ... well some not as nice things but it worked out...

Uzume woke up without recognizing anything about his surroundings.

Not that this was the first time, but usually Koju was close by lecturing him about flood loss and moving around a lot.

Instead of bandages there was just this pretty gem stuck in his stomach.


It looked valuable. Like a LOT of meals valuable.

Like a lot of meals and a really nice inn valuable.


.... Time to try and pull it out.]

[ninetaledfox]

[BONKS ON THE HEAD. When did he even get here?? Who knows. Either way it's a solid bonk cuz you don't really hard to worry about the whole. Injuring Uzume thing]

Don't do that.

[sharp_as_a_tick]

[Yeah you might as well have punched a rock. It's kind of what you did.]

Ehhh? EH?

Utsuho!

[Distraction successful! TACKLING IN PROGRESS]

[liarliarliar]

[How did I even get here. How did you even get here. WHERE IS HERE. WHY ARE THERE SHINY GEMS IN ME.

he's pulled down his shirt collar to just. tap. at his gem.]

Uh Uzume. Is this another dream.

[sharp_as_a_tick]

...

Dunno... I remember a lot more than last time.


... Maybe we just fell really hard on someone's foolery.

[just_a_prick]

[Just quietly watching for a moment to see if he has any better luck with that.]

[sharp_as_a_tick]

[Luckily... or unluckily as their finances may go, he can't seem to get good enough purchase to rip the gem out.]


AH! Chooozzzaaa... do you have one? I can try that one....

[theriverlethe]

[ There.

Most people— or really, even most gods— wouldn't even notice the barely-there shimmer in the air, but Acheron was no ordinary god. So yes, he saw it. There was something about it, something that spoke of a malevolent power more ancient than him— and being eleven thousand years old himself, that was nothing to sneeze at. A power that old, that dark and twisted was something he hadn't seen since the likes of... oh, alright, probably about eleven months ago now. But that's not the point.

More than that, though, there was something else about this ominous shimmer. It wasn't just mind-numbingly evil. Wouldn't that make everything too easy? Hah, Acheron's life was never easy. But that's not the point. You see, this shimmer was a rip through time, through space, through...

...His kitchen.

And you know, it's not like he needed anything in his kitchen, but his very pregnant wife would be Very Upset if she didn't get her mint chocolate chip in the next five minutes. You would think Acheron cuts an intimidating enough figure that this wouldn't be a problem (6'8", decked out in a goth-punk aesthetic, and his hair is— what did he go with this morning? Oh right, purple.), but the truth was, Acheron was weak wherever she was concerned.

So for the sake of his world... more importantly, so he didn't get in trouble with his wife... he would go through the rip in space, time, dimensions, and his kitchen. He was ready for everything, he figured.

He wasn't ready for a teenage boy. ]

[timeshares]

[The boy himself didn't look like much to normal senses. He was young, early twenties if there was any judge, but his hair was bone white... there was something sunken and sickly about him. He wouldn't seem like a player in this game at all except his eyes were absolutely clear, and full of an overwhelming amount of anger.

... the boy himself had ... a more than human aura. There was wind and speed around him. Temper and guidance. Whatever he was, wasn't your average Joe down the street. ... But that was barely a spot next to the force curling around him, in him... through him... literally devouring him for strength.

It was dark, stuttered the light and warped time around it. It was a force that was the universe before anything else lived in it. Breathed. Took a name or spoke a word. It regarded Archeron in Luke's distraction.]

... You woke me up over cookies? [The gentle sway of the floor could tell Archeron he was on a boat, if the view from the aft window didn't. The gentleness of the roll indicated a very large one. The stench of monsters ... indicated it was full of some of the nastiest things this world had.

The boy was addressing a younger child... Like Luke, he looked angry, feral... and more than human. ... Also really ashamed to be caught almost having taken a bite out of a certain mint chip cookie.]

Put it-

[Luke stilled, pale, almost white blue eyes narrowed at the god he ... didn't know, appearing in on his deck. His hand rested on the pommel of Backbiter.]

Who are you?

[theriverlethe]

[ Acheron looks like he's in his early twenties himself, maybe twenty-one at the oldest, but he's aware looks can be deceiving. This kid, though... For all that he's more, he's clearly just that: A kid. A kid with some serious trauma, if the white hair's any marker to judge by.

The kid clearly wasn't what he'd sensed, though— it was that dark force curling around the kid, ancient and evil and something that shook even him momentarily. But only momentarily, and the sunglasses he wore kept that flicker of apprehension in his eyes shielded from the kid.

And then there was the younger child with— was that a mint chocolate chip cookie? Damn, he hoped that wasn't from his kitchen. He hated going shopping, but if he was out of chocolate chip cookies, he'd have to do just that. Sigh. You'd think being a god would save you from such purgatory, but no.

The younger child didn't keep his attention for long, though, because the older boy was clearly apprehensive, and Acheron really didn't feel like getting into a fight if he didn't have to. Even if he was pretty sure he could kick this kid's ass. ]

The name's Acheron. What the hell is that?

[ He gestures to the... dark power... surrounding the kid. ]

[timeshares]

[The place Luke had eventually come back to tell Nico they could meet was... a strange one. A small crossroads in Heropa decorated only by a few wooden benches and a stone fountain with a cherub pouring water into a great overflowing basin. It was something of a large crossroads, splitting two neighborhoods.

The casual "look for a good place" might become immediately apparent to Nico, at least. While the other demigod had called for a flag of truce, no weapons, no tools... he'd also somehow found a somewhat unique place in Heropa... without much, if any human deaths.

For his part, Luke sat on one of the benches near the fountain, looking pensive, fingers rapping on the top of his knee. He seems to have honored his side... no sword was in his scabbard, the armor he was wearing earlier was gone.

He looks up and lifts a scarred palm in a casual wave, as if this was just two old acquaintances meeting.]

Nico di Angelo. I'd have picked a cafe, but ah... 75 dollars is going to be a challenge to stretch for a month. You'll have to excuse that.

[abandon_hope]

[ To say Nico was wary about this whole business was an understatement. Luke Castellan. Instigator of a hell of a lot, not to mention responsible for New York and the rest of the world nearly being overrun by titans. Not to mention the issues between him and Annabeth and Thalia and Percy ... But Nico hasn't encountered the half-blood personally, meaning that he - perhaps alone out of anyone else from that timeframe who would come here - is willing to parley.

He realizes what Luke's done as soon as he shadow-travels in. No recent deaths, only the faint smudges of a few mortal ones from centuries ago - and whatever animals have died here. All useless to try summoning in a fight, especially without his Stygian blade. Well. Half-bloods are never defenseless. He straightens up a bit, trying to hide the strain that teleporting had on his energy levels. Mostly by shoving his partially faded hands deep into the recesses of his jacket pockets. ]

You picked this place pretty carefully anyway, didn't you.

[timeshares]

[Luke studies the other demigod as he approaches with a particular intensity. He knew more about him circumstantially than he did personally. Nico never stayed long enough anywhere for his spies to get much information.

He flashes a smile. If he noticed it, it meant that little long shot was at least partially effective.]

It's amazing what you can find on the internet. It's all public domain. Some great translation programs made it a bit easier. I could show you if you like.