riverview | ηʹ → ( 𝗏𝗂𝖽𝖾𝗈 ) un; ghostking

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ηʹ → ( 𝗏𝗂𝖽𝖾𝗈 ) un; ghostking

[ sitting in his room in marco's mansion with a record player belting out blitzkrieg bop. not so loud that he can't be heard, but it's clearly cranked up a little. nico, meanwhile, is sharpening his sword and looking a little put out. after having his memories shared with multiple people, he's not feeling too sociable. but he can hear jason grace in his head telling him he needs to get out of the house and talk to people. ]

Eight months. I've been here eight months and there's still no way to get back to camp. Back... home.

[ the fact he calls camp home now truly reveals just how much he misses his friends and family. ]

This place isn't too bad, but being the only demigod around here kind of sucks. I don't know how many people around here get homesick, but I would certainly accept even some of the gods, Greek gods showing up. No offense to you Norse types.

[ he picks up his sword and sets his thumb against the edge, cheering up a little as it nicks the skin, causing blood to well to the surface. sucking on his thumb, he sets the sword aside. ]

Whatever. Anyone want to go outside quarantine and kill some stuff?

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[He considers what Nico says.]

Which is why you get attached. Even if you don't expect to, or want to. It's not much different here, people show up kicking and screaming to go home, but eventually they start to get comfortable. It's easier here, it happens quicker... It's nicer here, that's all. The concept is the same, we find reasons to tie ourselves down. Whatever those reasons are, there's less suffering here, the people are better - the government... There are no gods controlling things. Everyone has their own reasons to find a place better or worse than where they were before.

[But he's getting off topic, he glances down as if just remembering what he was working on before this conversation started.]

Quests are like that too, you never knew when you were going to die. You had people with you, you worked together. It was the same thing in Purg, we formed bonds, we had to get along to survive- that's the part we get attached to, the people we came to care about. Saving people, being saved by people... That's what brings us together.

[At the mention of Percy Ed goes quiet for a moment, glancing up with a soft sigh.]

Sometimes the people we get close to are unexpected. We can't really predict how those things are going to go...

[The people who save vs. the people who betray, and sometimes those are the same people, all in one.]

You know the person I wound up closest to in that place, before everything went to hell anyway. He was from my home world, tried to kill me a bunch of times, probably blamed me for ruining his life... He was- really convinced the woman I killed was his mother. I guess it's kind of the opposite, I'm responsible for someone that he cared about dying...

[It wasn't really the same thing, Percy's situation was an accident, an inability to save. Not an intent to murder. He could go on about that, but he doubted it was a topic Nico really wanted to continue with.]

What's the giant's jar?

[ ed talks a lot. it's something nico's noticed over time. it's a lot more than he does, but he's always been more quiet and withdrawn. at least since bianca died. and ed still has his brother, friends, people to whom he's close. so ed's been able to be a lot more open than nico has been. still, what ed says reflects how nico feels and he nods along with what the older boy is saying until the question comes up. nico winces in memory of the jar and the sighs before explaining. ]

Giants. There were two of them. I got captured in Tartarus by monsters working for an enemy god. They forced me into a celestial bronze jar. Celestial Bronze is the only kind of metal that can really hurt a god or demigod, so I couldn't escape. I had no food, no water, and no air. So I was forced to eat special pomegranate seeds that put me in a trance called a Death Trance. It allowed me to survive almost a week before I was saved.

Combined with the lack of food in Tartarus—all there was to drink was flaming water from the Phlegethon—I was very weak coming out of the jar. I couldn't fight.

Edited 2017-11-26 14:24 (UTC)

[Purg changes people, any of these worlds where someone gets torn from their home changes people, and Ed was no exception. To Nico he talked a lot, but to a lot of other people he never really said much of anything, Nico just had the burden of being someone Ed talked to, which wasn't just anyone anymore. In fact, before Riverview it wasn't anyone at all.]

No air?!

[Yeah, that's all he's getting out of this. He's dealt with the whole no food, no water thing before. He's dealt with eating special food to survive, or food itself having nothing to do with survival. Even Purg had air, and Attollo had never been so cruel to deprive them of that to get what they wanted.]

[ there's not much nico can say except nod glumly. the jar had been a trial as much as tartarus had been. ]

I think they made it that way because they knew I could survive at least a little while.

I guess that's like Purg. We shouldn't have survived those conditions either, but something about that place...

[He shakes his head.]

How did they know you'd survive?

I'm not entirely sure how they knew. They just did. Maybe because I'm the son of Hades, or because I'm a demigod. I'm not sure. I do know if it had been someone else, they wouldn't have lasted as long as I did.

[Ed's wondering if it was intentional at all, or Nico was just lucky he happened to survive but he doesn't point that out. If anyone else would have died, maybe they did it assuming he would have died too.]

What was the point of putting you in there anyway? At least where I was - after Purg - they had reasons for starving us and not letting us sleep, or whatever.

I was bait for my friends. And since I was the only one who could navigate the House of Hades, to get to the Doors of Death, they needed to save me.

[You live a pretty fucked up life, kid. Nico says 'friends' but...]

Sounds like you don't think they would have tried to save you, anyway.

At the time... I didn't really think they were my friends. I didn't think I had anyone. Sometimes I still wonder...

[He's just going to glare at that, because Nico must have some pretty fucked up friends if he can't even trust that they are his friends. He's figured out where that protective side of him gets with the kid though, so not going to comment on that thought, instead he shrugs.]

I can't say anything for your situation back home, but we're friends and that's not going to change.

[There might be a hint of whether you like it or not there, Nico.]

[ nico's eyes widen a fraction, revealing his surprise at the comment. it's not that he doesn't appreciate it, only that so often he's been labeled creepy or weird that he's always assumed people wouldn't like him. this was beginning to change with will solace and jason grace's influence, but without them around to ensure he had friends, it's made nico doubt things... ]

...Thanks. You're my friend too. I really mean that.

[He watches the reaction curiously before nodding, after all if Nico says it Ed has no reason to doubt him.]

So, did you still want to meet up? I can always find something else to look into out here.

[He's good with whatever, any distraction. It's the familiarity of it that works for him.]

[ meeting up sounds good to him. he likes ed quite a bit and enjoys when they talk. maybe seeing ed in action would be interesting. ]

Sure. I can shadow over to where you're at, if you want. Should only take a second for me to determine your aura.

Sure.

[He motions somewhat vaguely to the darkness. Ed doesn't really get how Nico's whole thing works, but if he's confident about finding him that easy, he believes it.]

It's just some abandoned church, I'm sure you can figure it out.

[ the mention of an abandoned church helps, given nico's explored outside quarantine many times and the church has plenty of restless spirits surrounding it for him to talk to. so he closes the feed and concentrates, finding the strange aura that is ed and once he finds it, he grabs his jacket and slips into the shadows.

only to reemerge a few feet from ed, hands in his pockets. ]

I've been here before.

[He glances up at the sound of Nico's voice before closing his research with a shrug.]

Not surprising.

[Ed knew Nico was out here more often than most, he remembered that conversation well.]

I come out here to think, sometimes. It reminds me of someone.

[ an abandoned church that reminds ed of someone? that strikes nico as a bit odd, but he doesn't question it right away. he's focusing on keeping the spirits away from them, shooing them off with a mental threat. when he feels like the air has cleared some more, he steps closer to ed, hands still in his pockets. ]

This place reminds me of my father. Who does it remind you of?

[Ed's, of course, not aware of what Nico's doing. Those sorts of things don't occur to him, his head tilts curiously at the idea that a church reminded Nico of his father and his mouth opened as if to answer before seeming to think better of it. Abandoned churches reminded Ed of a lot of things, but he liked to ignore most of those in favor of the more positive ones, he didn't need that reminder souring things for him. After a moment he answered almost dismissively.]

A friend... She liked to stay at the church.

[He'd never really thought it was safe, never really liked the idea of staying too long in any of the abandoned buildings in Purg, but try telling that to a stubborn child who found that to be the only comfort in the whole place.]

[ ed doesn't reveal much, but nico doesn't push. instead, he leans against a broken pew and watches the (sort of) older man with interest, allowing him to continue if he wished. ]

Churches aren't really my thing. The gods don't tend to visit them and so neither do us demigods. [ he explains, gesturing at the gloomy surroundings. perhaps an odd thing for him to say given he looks like he fits right in. ] We try not to question whether there's a god-with-a-capital-G. Not our territory, you know? Makes me wonder if they worshiped that one here, though.

Churches aren't mine, either.

[There's a hint of irony in his tone there. The whole 'capital G' thing gets a quirked eyebrow but he doesn't question it.]

It's... not exactly an uncommon theme in my life, though. Back on my world we had more than one religion, all with their own god, at least three that I can think of - so it's not surprising to find churches and temples to different gods here, too. Even Purg had that and- well, Purgatorium was a much smaller map, you could walk the whole thing without needing to camp out anywhere.

I never asked Nill if she was there because she worshiped anyone, I didn't think to- probably didn't want to know, either. All I know is it made her happy to be there, so that's where you could find her.

Sounds like you knew a lot of people in that place. Did you have a lot of friends there?

[ if there's curiosity heard in his tone, it's because he is curious about ed's life in purg. ]

Yeah, I guess.

[He didn't really think much of it, but that was the luxury of being Edward Elric. Every passing conversation was a friendship in the making, even the people that annoyed the hell out of him were his friends down the road.]

When I got there I started working repairs at the General Store, I kind of inherited the place when my boss left. Which put me in a position of having to deal with a lot of people, so it was easier to make friends that way.

[Nevermind the fact that Greed basically forced employment on him probably for the sake of keeping tabs on him as a familiar face from his home world.]

Like we talked about earlier, you made friends to survive which meant people learned to make friends fast. I was lucky, when I first arrived I already had friends there who knew me. They accepted me right away, so I had help from day one.

That's lucky. Not many people get connections like that in new places. It took me a while when I got here.

[ kicking at a bit of rubble, he looks up at ed from where he's leaning. ]

Sounds like the place wasn't that bad if you had help. If I'd had help in Tartarus... Well, things would've probably been different.

I'd already been there before, I guess there was this mentality there that we weren't any different from our previous selves. So even without memories of the place, we were still friends to those who stayed behind. I had a friend from home too, and my brother was there- but he vanished about as soon as I arrived.

[He shifts slightly, watching the kick. One thing Ed did not like talking about regarding Purg was that Al disappeared as soon as he got there, it seemed to only highlight the point that they were just there to suffer all the more.]

If you lived there for years with an entire city of your closest friends? Yeah, probably. Somehow I doubt Tartarus was full of housing and shops to get by that long, though.

[This is said a bit wryly. It was hard to call Purg anything else, though. Even if he had literally hired people just for the sake of babysitting them on more than one occasion.]

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