γ → un: ghostking

[deathkid]

[ the view this time is of nico, sitting atop a gravestone. there's a fire crackling nearby, the glow making him look even more gaunt and sinister than usual ( if the dark hair, italian cheekbones emphasized by dark circles under his eyes, and the nearly all black clothing decorated with skulls aren't enough ). against the headstone he's sitting on rests a lethal looking, pure black sword.

it might seem like the beginnings of a horror movie of some sort, except nico is currently munching on french fries while gazing at the toy figurine he got with his quarantine equivalent of a happy meal. it's a pirate, of all things. ]

For those of you who are unaware, I am providing funeral services for anyone who decides to die heroically. Shroud burning, free of charge.

[ cheerful, isn't he. ]

Fortunately, I haven't had to do so yet, but where I'm from it's pretty common, so I might as well offer it here too. Trust me, though. Burning your body is best. You don't know who might decide to raise you from the dead.

[ and he gives a snap of his fingers. the earth at the feet of the tombstone he's sitting on begins to shift and soon enough, a skeletal hand begins climbing out. nico flashes a wry grin, and then turns the feed off. ]

Comments

[alchemyfreak]

You think no one's going to notice your little sign off, there?

[He did and he's not just going to drop it because Nico's acting like it didn't happen. No it wasn't a joke, and he wasn't laughing, but he might as well have been in Ed's eyes.]

[deathkid]

Because people don't get how valuable their lives are until it's lost. Death is as much a part of life as life is. Doing evil, giving up... those are ways that make it easier for me to call on the spirits of people who have died.

[ a sigh. ]

Look, I didn't ask to be a demigod. I didn't ask to be the son of Hades. But I was born with this power. And I'm trying to make sure people make the most of their lives so that when they do die, they don't end up somewhere they might not want to be.

There is no mercy in the Underworld. Only justice.

[alchemyfreak]

[Ed's been doing this long enough to know things aren't as black and white as he might have once believed. The change of tone definitely gets his attention, but he's not letting him off the hook yet.

He's filing that information about evil and giving up for later, but for now he doesn't comment on it.]

No one asks to be born the way they are, but you're not helping anyone with that stupid little stunt. That's not how you gain anybody's trust.

[deathkid]

[ pulling back as if bitten, nico looks away. his brows furrow and he's reminded starkly of the way will solace berated him after the war with gaea. ]

I don't need anyone's trust.

[alchemyfreak]

[Oh, well. That was definitely a reaction, and one Ed is all too familiar with.

There's a hint of humor in his reply, teasing, because he's pretty sure pressing this seriously is going to get him nowhere fast, anyway.]

That's not what you said before.

[deathkid]

[ scowls and the area around him seems to darken, as if the nearby fire has been banked. ]

And what makes you such an expert on this topic?

[alchemyfreak]

[Not the reaction he was expecting.]

An expert on what, exactly? Trust? Well, nothing... No one's really an expert on that, we're all just trying to get by as best we can with what we know.

What I know is that good intentions don't mean anything unless you back them up. Trust me, I've made plenty of my own mistakes and I've had to go back and fix every one of them.

[He is .... well aware of the irony of that wording.]

[deathkid]

[ still scowling a bit, nico huffs. but his expression relents a fraction as he pulls a knee to his chest. ]

You mocked me for saying "Trust me" and now you expect me to trust you?

[ his tone is more confused than accusing. ]

I thought I was making myself clear with that brief show of what I can do.

[alchemyfreak]

[Okay, obviously some things got lost in translation. Once again, Ed has adjusted to this enough to back up a bit and try to work out where to adjust. Otherwise this would have probably turned into a screaming match or something.]

Look, I don't know how things work in your world... but most people aren't quick to trust the guy raising the dead with a grin on his face on any world I've been to. You might be trying to help, but it- isn't how it comes off.

[He's not really sure how to address the whole "trust" thing, but after a moment Ed just sighs. He's not about to say he saw that he struck a nerve and was trying to move past that as quickly as possible, even if it was into the more predictable direction of anger.]

I wasn't mocking you-

[deathkid]

[ hunching down, nico looks away again. in fact, he looks down at the toy in his hand and sighs. ]

I'm not very good at this.

[alchemyfreak]

[This kid didn't have quite the same bravado as a younger him, to be able to admit that to a perfect stranger. At first he's not entirely sure how to respond, but after a moment he sighs - glancing away himself, even if Nico isn't looking at the feed.]

What, dealing with people? Yeah, you're not the only one.

[deathkid]

To be honest, I've spent more time with the dead and in the Underworld than around people.

But you... [ a pause as nico's colorless eyes take in ed's appearance. the golden hair and golden eyes. he seems like he could be a demigod too. though of which god, nico isn't sure. suffice it to say, the guy has the demeanor of someone accomplished and the looks to go with that. ( and no, he's not blushing. though his ears might turn a little red. ) ]

You seem like someone who gets all that kind of stuff.

[alchemyfreak]

[Honestly, he's got Ed's curiosity and to say he has questions is an understatement. Even if he hadn't spent years in Purg before this, he'd eventually want to start poking at someone claiming to be any relation to a god - but now his motives were different.

He might have answers to things that Ed's been trying to figure out for years if he actually knows his stuff, and if nothing else that alone makes him a person of interest.

Although when Nico pauses to take him in, he's not entirely sure what to make of it. In typical Ed fashion, he's quick to dismiss whatever that was instead of dwell on it though, completely caught off guard by the following assessment.]

Sorry to disappoint.

[He actually smirks at that, self-deprecating at best. Maybe something he wouldn't have noticed or admitted a few years ago, and not even an entirely accurate statement - but Ed's perception of a situation and fact didn't always go hand-in-hand, anyway.]

My brother's always been the social one, even with practice I've never been too good with people.

[deathkid]

[ a sibling. nico's gaze drops again and he remembers bianca. he wonders what or who she might have been reborn as. surely she'd be living her second life by now. meanwhile, he's still here in this life. without her.

( sure, he has hazel, but she's not in quarantine and he wouldn't want her to be trapped here like him. and there's no denying it... hazel isn't the same to him as bianca was. )

nico's shoulders droop and he sighs. ]

My sister... she was better with people too.

[alchemyfreak]

[Ed, of course, has no idea the depths of what Nico is thinking - only what he says out loud. Which, in his experience, the most reassuring response was entirely situational. He had no idea that Nico's separation from his sister was of a more permanent variety.]

Don't worry, when they get the portal working to send you home, you'll be back with her.

[Even if he doesn't believe a word of that himself, or know if the portal sends people back home.]

[deathkid]

[ that... just makes him wince. and the grief is visible in his features, even with his eyes cast downward. ]

I can't. I never will. She... I tried to bring her back, but she chose reincarnation after she- So even if I do get back, I still won't see her.

[alchemyfreak]

[Well, that certainly got to him - but he doesn't have much time to guilt over Nico's reaction when the other speaks again. Ed sucks in a breath at his words.]

Reincarnation...?

[That's not really a thing in his world, and if it is, it is certainly not talked about so- confusion. But mostly, there's a reserved closed off expression when he speaks next, quietly. There was no way he could he go back in time and stop everyone from messing with death like that, but every time he heard that someone else had tried it - he was starting to get used to wishing there was a way to stop people from doing things they'd already done.

There isn't much Ed can say, the words catch in his throat with emotion.]

You tried- to bring her back-?

[deathkid]

[ another sigh, but this time he's watching ed with some confusion. he gets that someone might not know about reincarnation ( not all pantheons feature it ), but the reaction to trying and bringing someone back... ]

Yes. In an exchange for a soul that should not have been alive. Daedalus had outlived his life and I intended to trade his for my sister's. But... she wouldn't let me. She wanted to move on.

[ the grief is visible in his features, but he remains strong as he continues. ]

Reincarnation is when someone chooses to be reborn in a new life, as a new person. In my world, under my father's domain, if a person dies three heroic deaths in their lives, they go to the Isle of Blest. It's... kind of like a special place in heaven, if you were to compare it to Christian belief.

[alchemyfreak]

You can do that-?

[What kind of a world was this kid from, anyway?]

I don't suppose this guy was willing to go along with trading his life for your sister's, expired or not.

[He sounds skeptical, like he's pretty sure Nico was planning on outright murdering someone to save his sister's life and that didn't exactly mesh well with the Elric moral code. Sure, he'd thought about it for a second, but given the option he couldn't go through with it even to save Al.

When he speaks again though, his voice is soft. Ed can't really imagine how he'd feel in that situation, if in that same situation Al would choose to move on and never see him, again. It didn't help that apparently that's what he did, maybe not in death - but what difference did it make, if the end result was still the same?]

So then... She decided to start a new life. You didn't have the choice of bringing her back.

[deathkid]

Daedalus was... well, he outlived his actual life. It's hard to explain unless you know about him and his son Icarus.

[ swallows, fiddling with the silver skull ring on his finger. ]

I can't actually bring someone back to life anyeay. I can raise the dead as skeletons, ghosts, or zombies. But... Bringing someone back to life isn't something that can be done in my world. I just had to learn that the hard way.

[alchemyfreak]

[He's thinking about that response, but he doesn't answer right away- and then Nico continues.]

Wait a minute, zombies?

[Excuse him, sore subject. He looks more disturbed than anything, but there's only so much teasing someone can take before it just causes an emotional reaction and that was a subject he'd never been allowed to live down.

Kind of made him want to punch Lyle all over again, at the reminder.]

[deathkid]

[ the disturbed one only makes nico remember how much his powers are disliked and hated. he frowns, more to himself than to anything else, and then shrugs. trying to act as though it doesn't bother him as much. ]

Yes. Zombies.

[alchemyfreak]

Okay, so zombies are a thing on your world.

[Sorry Nico, now you've really got his attention.]

You want to tell me what the hell they are?

[deathkid]

Moving corpses that occasionally have their own personality. Father gave me one for my birthday. The zombie of a French racer who crashed and died. He's my chauffeur.

[alchemyfreak]

[His eyes narrow in thought at that response, but he seems more annoyed than anything now. Mostly, he still just wants to punch Lyle again and it's been a long time since those feelings surfaced, the insufferable bastard.

To say that the reminder actually made him miss the damn place was an unsettling realization, and not one he wanted to to be having in front of a stranger - because he wasn't about to explain it.]

The guy that mentioned them... said they weren't real. At least on his world. I guess it's a little different when you're related to actual death gods.

[That tone? That's the sound of Ed trying not to sound skeptical about the concept of gods. It was still a rather- complicated matter with his history. How many of these 'gods' were just beings that called themselves that? And how much difference did that actually make, considering what they could do, whether they were actually gods or not.

His history has made him have to give these situations the benefit of the doubt, but even with the experiences he had something coiled inside him at having to utter the word.]