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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?

[timeshares]

I can't say I was expecting company. What's one dead demi-god right now, right? Worth even less than we are alive.

I should have guessed about paperwork.

[And leaves it at that. Even Luke is not going to talk TOO MUCH shit about Hades in his own realm. He throws the paper ball and it vanishes as it hits the ground, smoothing back out on the table, all the fields empty again.]

...

It hasn't been an hour, has it?

[abandon_hope]

[ Nico pads a little closer, his footsteps soft but still more solid than most other sounds down here. He considers the massive stack in front of them thoughtfully. ]

Used to be worse before Daedalus helped clean things up. But we had some hiccups.

[ He shoves both hands into the pockets of his jacket. Not the aviator jacket Luke saw him in before, but a similar design. ]

No. Couple years.

[timeshares]

[There was a thought- an important and a big one.



And then a record scratch.]

Wait? This used to be worse?

[abandon_hope]

Labyrinthine.

[ He smiles grimly at that. ]

You got caught at a bad time though. Doors of Death were open for a while, snarled everything up.

[timeshares]

[There's something really unsettling about suddenly being really REALLY grateful for having indirectly caused the ancient inventor's death...

But then the rest...]

...

That one was NOT me.

[abandon_hope]

I know it wasn't. Though I hate to see what you'd have done if Gaea could have resurrected you.

[ He stops at that to watch Luke's reaction. ]

[timeshares]

[The expression is mixed. Relief at this not being an interrogation visit was the first and plainest.

Gaea... mother of the titans, the earth herself...

Were the gods fighting amongst themselves again? (had ANYTHING changed?) Or did the near rebirth and defeat of her son cause her to stir?

Looking at the stacks of paperwork he could hardly read... could he say he wouldn't have taken the offer, even if it was just to betray her?

He's silent a long moment, staring at not much of anything. Finally, he takes another sheet from the nearest stack.]

I couldn't 'handle' a Titan. I'm not sure there would be any choice besides "what she told me to do."

[abandon_hope]

[ The fact that Luke admits that, doesn't seem to be eager to claw his way back to life and cause mayhem ... Nico wasn't really expecting Luke to, he admits, but that quiet response undoes a knot in his shoulders all the same. Now they might actually be able to talk.

... Now, he feel slightly more inclined to help. He starts by leaning up to take a page or two off the top of one of those piles. ]

No, probably not. They're no fun at all.

[ Was that a joke? His tone is awfully dry. ]

[timeshares]

[More than a little surprise and a bit of wariness crosses the spirit's face at Nico's actions. None of this was going like he would have guessed...]

Heh... Not going to argue there.

[The tone was dry and... Nico wasn't someone he KNEW. Had the General's first mission not failed, it might have been different...]

With the past tense, I'd assume the Doors are closed. Still dealing with her?

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]

[It goes down his spine, it itches through his finger and sharpens his vision. It's not quite a smell, but it's a feeling. There's a weakness there, that had yet to be present, one that completely changed the whole dynamics of the last few weeks.

He couldn't HELP but notice it...

He stands up from his chair and steps aside.]

You look like shit. And I'm the dead one here.

Sit down, man.

[abandon_hope]

Can't ... help it. Needed a quick route back.

[ He flexes his hands, trying to get feeling back into the tips. Sitting down sounds great right now, in fact. He reluctantly lowers himself into Luke's chair as he brushes some of the blood out of his face. ]

[timeshares]

I've seen you fight. What in all of Hades even gave you that much trouble?

[It's almost an unconscious gesture, -pulled towards it, maybe- reaching out to the wound Nico had just traced. Part of it WAS a much older memory, back to the days on the run.

It's just, when he touched the blood there, it was like an electric shock ran through him. He felt... solid. Like if he wanted to, he could take a breath and BREATHE. Like his heart trembled, aching to work again.

He pulls back, clutching his hand to his own chest.]

... You better patch that up.

[It almost felt like he could swallow hard. A tempting memory.] You travel with supplies right?

[abandon_hope]

[ Nico's head snaps up abruptly. He felt that too for a moment. Not as strongly, but he's been injured in the Underworld before. He knows how the undead tend to react to fresh blood. He knows how much power is in his blood specifically in this kind of place. Stupid, stupid ... He's lucky that this is Luke and not Minos.

Weakly, he staggers back up to his feet. ]

Ambrosia in my room. I was ... I was heading there anyway.

[ He pulls in a breath. ]

We got jumped going back to camp. Hephaestus I think ... She had an effect on these old automatons.

[timeshares]

[Your taste in company still remains REALLY QUESTIONABLE NICO.

Luke makes a face at that. Automatons were more than a handful for even a group of experienced half bloods. It's why he used them.]

Here I'd have taken you for a more prepared type.

[He glances out the door. He'd never seen that many spirits before... most of them were the nearly formless, shapeless of the lost and wandering. Those who retained little of themselves... but there was a press of stronger spirits...]

If you can't hold your blade, let me have it.

[abandon_hope]

[ Despite his better judgment ... he trusts Luke quite a bit. Enough to stay closer to him than the throng of dead souls crowded around them. Just enough for him to look down at the blade at his side and consider what would happen if he turned over the blade. Luke might be trustworthy. He might hold off the spirits for Nico long enough to get him to safety ...

Or he might turn and stab the blade straight into Nico's shoulderblades. He knows all too well the potential damage to be done by killing a son of Hades with a Stygian blade in the Underworld. Too much power there - too much potential to go wrong.

So instead, he draws the blade himself. He's weak, barely able to hold it up properly. But he doesn't quite trust Luke enough to have it. That doesn't mean he doesn't trust the dead demigod at all, though. He turns, slightly, so that the blade is between them and the horde and not between Nico and Luke.]

Cover my back.

[ It's a request, not an order. ]

[timeshares]

[There's no surprise or hurt on Luke's face, just a nod and moves into position. Simply: He wouldn't have trusted himself with it either.

Well, there's an eyebrow raised at Nico's weak form but that comes from being an instructor in sword play. The other spirits drew back, chittering warily, as the edge of the black blade threatened to the pull them in, destroy them utterly.]

... that's... unsettling.

[He'd seen it... but never FELT it like that. Like there's something deeper than death. He still doesn't pull away, settling into a defensive stance... the memory of a sword - at first the fragment of a scythe... then more solidly into a training sword from Camp - flickers in his hand.]


Ready as I'm going to be.

[abandon_hope]

[ It's a material that goes unnoticed in the regular world. A small, additional drain to the life-pulling aura that follows Nico around on a regular basis. Here ... it's a black hole. Nico at least has full control over it, so he doesn't swallow up any spirits he doesn't intend to. But he could. It's a very real and dangerous power, here among the dead.

He glances over at the weapon Luke summons. Well that is certainly ... appropriate. He's glad to see the scythe shift into something a little less terrible. ]

Stygian steel. Don't get too close.

[ Just like that, he moves forward into the waiting throng. The blade is a good deterrent, at least, despite the weakness in his arms. He just wants to get to a bed and that ambrosia... ]

[timeshares]

[He gives Nico ... and the blade a long look, before crossing into the ghost king's wake.]

No risk, trust me on that.

[Most spirits gave a berth too wide to slip in behind Nico, repelled by the way the blade seemed to tug at them. There were others, though.. the land of the dead were filled with those: those who had lost all self identity but their own regrets, hatreds and desires. They were stronger than the formless, shifting mass.

They tested the edges of Nico's defense from one side, then the next. Luke slaps one away with the flat of his blade, sometimes looking like Celestial iron, sometimes a less savory mix.]

[abandon_hope]

[ Nico, too, wavers from side to side to keep the worst of the spirits at bay. Not just for his own sake; he steps between Luke and a particularly nasty one, pricking it just enough with his blade to send it fleeing. He's aiming his influence to protect the both of them.

Slowly, slowly, they make progress. ]

Stay back. This isn't your end.

[ He allows just the smallest trickle of power into his voice. Obligingly, more of the spirits drift away from them. ]