robinnest | Children of Hades

[ she nods sagely. ]

That is what printers are for.

[He blinks, genuinely surprised.]

You can connect a phone to a printer?

And the how is going to blow your mind.

[ 🤩THE WIFI 🙌🏻 ✨ ]

Edited 2019-09-10 00:34 (UTC)

A...cord?

No. You said it earlier. Who still uses cords?

[ when the silent generation meets gen z. ]

[Cords are out??? When did cords go out? He likes cords, cords make sense.]

...Google? [No, wait, Wifi makes more sense. Nico lights up, speaking again before Mal can tell him that he's wrong.]

Wifi! [Nailed it.]

Edited 2019-09-10 01:04 (UTC)

[ HE NAILED IT AND SHE IS SO PROUD. ]

Look at you! You deserve the keychain.

Damn right, I do. [He says triumphantly without remembering he never wanted a keychain. He grins proudly nonetheless.]

Okay so, what's the difference between the internet and wifi? [And it's in this manner that they pass the next few minutes of the ferry ride. By the time they arrive, Nico feels much more confident in the fact that he knows nothing about technology and there are a lot of terms he'd never even heard before. Thankfully, he doesn't care that much.

Once they've disembarked, they're separated into groups based on their ticket types and Nico sticks close to Mal so that they don't get separated in the throngs of people.]

[ when nico is not looking, mal steals glances at him. he has been freer with displays of affection from the beginning. a hand on her shoulder; taking her by the hand. but whatever hesitation he may have had previously seems to be evaporating. for her part, mal is surprised by comfortable his presence, how accustomed she has already become to it.

mal hugs closer to him as they follow the flow of people off the ferry. no sooner have they set foot on liberty island than they have to pass through yet another security checkpoint. mal raises her eyebrows at nico like are these mortals serious? above them, the statue stands proudly, holding her torch aloft. many tourists are already aiming phones and digital cameras at the statue. most have their tickets and identification in hand to get through security. mal pulls out her spell book.

like she did with the cover, mal has left her mark on the pages. doodles in the margins, passages marked, notations scribbled to make her life easier. mal stops at a section helpfully labelled sneaking around ( to accomplish your vile mischief! )

mal's lips move as she reads along silently until she is certain she has read it correctly. quietly so only nico could hear, mal recites, ] Though they look, they shall not see. Let us by without difficulty.

[ the security agent they stop in front of does not look at their faces. his eyes continuously slide over them like there is nothing interesting about them. their tickets get a cursory glance, and he does not ask for identification, instead waving them on. he seems to forget them as soon as they are past. no one else looks their way. as soon as they are through, mal trades her spell book for her phone and smiles at nico. ]

What do you think? Head up first or see what's down here?

[He shakes his head and grins, delighted. Is Mal sure she isn't part Hermes child? Because more than the skills, she has the expressions to prove it.]

Let's go up. I bet it's a cool view. [He might have been worried about being so high up and being in Zeus's domain, but the truth is it really isn't that high in comparison to other buildings, and anyway, if Zeus is gonna be that much of a dick, his life is just screwed no matter what. Once they push into the crowd, Nico takes Mal's hand again, taking the lead until they reach the stairs. His eyes widen as he glances up and shakes his head. It's a good thing he's in shape.]

Wow. People do this for fun.

[ wait until you meet jay, hermes' long-lost child. ]

Come on, old man. [ mal smirks at him in challenge. ]

Last one up is a rotten apple!

[ no, mal—

and she's gone. ]

Edited 2019-09-11 20:46 (UTC)

What, hey! That's cheating! [He calls after her as he takes off, grinning. He heavily considers shadow travelling ahead of her and decides to be responsible and not do it. (It was definitely because he's responsible and not because there weren't enough shadow patches to give him an advantage.) Halfway up, Nico has given up on chasing and has slowed to a comfortable walk. He might be in shape but his stamina still isn't good enough to run up twenty stories without a break.]

Youth these days! [He calls after her, shaking a fist in the air for good measure.]

[ the youth are also struggling. with magic, mal could have raced up and down these stairs twice without breaking a sweat. or she could try one of the many transportation spells in her book. ( there is a risk of getting trapped in walls, or worse, without proper control, which is why she has not yet. her mother could transport herself from one spot to the other without blinking. )

trying to be fair means running, though. which eventually becomes jogging. and soon gives way to walking. and then the handrail is not so much for safety as a handy means to continue pulling herself up.

mal has enough air to laugh when she hears nico's shout. at the next rest stop she comes to, each one a recess off the stairs, she pauses to catch her breath and let him catch up a little. ]

We'll get you a walker next time. Paint some skulls on it so you know what's coming. Oh! [ she nearly crashes into someone coming down the stairs when she turns. ] Sorry!

[ laughing, she continues past them and up the stairs. ]

[His eyes glimmer mischievously at her comment and he raises an eyebrow.]

You mean Dad? [Come to think of it, Hades probably would enjoy the little skulls. It's not like his decor could argue otherwise. He steps out of the way of the man who had almost crashed into Mal and the man glares at Nico. Nico continues past, rolling his eyes. Tourists could be so pushy.]

[ mal’s laughter echoes back to him in response.

the interior of the statue is well-lit yet a brightness steadily grows above them until it resolves into sunlight streaming through windows. one of the park rangers motions for mal to wait. a father and his daughter, a girl no older than eight, are standing before the windows, looking out to the city. both of them are wearing foam statue of liberty crowns like nico. when nico joins her, mal points them out. ]

See? The crowns look very cute.

[ the ranger soon informs the dad and kid that their time is up. the woman waves mal and nico on, but before the father has cleared the viewing platform mal has already hopped to the windows, all but dragging nico with her. one of them is open letting in a strong breeze from the bay. after the impromptu race, it is a god(s)send. ]

Look at it!

[ “it” does not make clear what she is referring to. her eyes sweep as much across the view as they do the interior of the statue. her phone has been in her hand the entire time and she quickly aims the camera. ]

[Mal's laughter is infectious, and while Nico barely resists the urge follow suit, he can't hold back a smile. He rolls his eyes and shakes his head when Mal gestures to the other family ("other family" because he and Mal are a family too!) but he notably does not disagree. They had looked very cute though he maintains Mal should be wearing one too for the full effect.

His eyes fall on the view at Mal's insistence though he's far more interested in watching the play of emotions across her face. Nico decides then and there that one of his new life goals is to never stop taking Mal to places that make her light up like this. He gives the camera a small smile when she aims it his way and then nods at it with his chin while wrapping an arm around her shoulders.]

Take a selfie. [For as technologically illiterate as he is, there were just some terms and concepts that were inescapable, even at Camp Half Blood.]

Well done! [ she compliments him with a grin.

standing with their backs to the view, mal raises her phone. they are framed against the city, one of the green spikes of the statue's crown visible at the corner. at the last second, she wraps her arm around nico's waist and hugs him close.

smile. ]

[As clearly intended, Mal's hug produces a warm and genuine smile for the picture. By the time the guard motions them on, he's sure they've taken at least half a dozen different ones. They've just reached the first flight of stairs back down when a loud snort catches his attention and Nico looks up to find the same rude tourist from earlier glaring at them. He blinks, vaguely confused, and instinctively takes Mal's hand.

He doesn't know why this woman is so annoyed with them, but it's putting him on edge.

As they pass, the woman begins muttering under her breath and Nico can make out a few nasty insults that he gets the feeling are directed at them for some weird reason. He doesn't rise to them, instead feeling for his sword at his belt (invisible to the mortal eye shrouded in mist as it is) and beginning to map their escape routes. (It's fast work because they're in a stairwell.) Something isn't right. The woman doesn't feel right.

Nico lets go of Mal's hand because they might both need their hands soon. The woman shuffles behind them closer and Nico turns around at the same time that she jumps for their backs, raising his sword just in time to block razor sharp claws. He uses his sword to push her back even as he hears panic begin to spread through the stairs and slices at her arm—and then watches in dawning familiarity as the wound immediately seals itself back up. She grins and the light catches on her extra long canines.

Oh.] Shit.

[ mal recognizes the stranger too. her fingers begin to itch for her spell book, but before she can even reach for her bag, the woman is lunging at them, and nico's sword has sliced into the stranger's arm, and the woman— ]

What the hell is that?! [ mal screams.

the monster—this is what nico meant, this is what he was talking about—charges, claws extended. mal does not think. ] No! [ her arm catches nico in the stomach, shoving him behind her. instinct has her raise her hands.

the green fireball smashes the monster into the stairs, twisting the metal like clay. mal stares at her hands in disbelief. her gloves are unburnt, her jewelry intact. yet she felt it. she felt the heat pool in her palms, explode through her skin. without an incantation, she summoned fire. ]

How—

Edited 2019-09-13 22:02 (UTC)

[Nico is prepared for a lot of things to happen in the fight. He's prepared for the wolf to charge or maybe even transform (can they transform during the day? He doesn't remember but he's prepared for it just in case.) He's also prepared for it to pull out a weapon or call on friends. What he is not prepared for is for his amazing lovely sister to shove him down the stairs. He lets out a panicked yelp and tumbles back gracelessly, coming to a stop when he reaches the next landing with several new bumps and bruises.

What the fuck just happened???

A moment later he gets over his shock, remembering that Mal is still up there fighting and now surrounded by flames. He jumps to his feet immediately, wincing at a twinge in his ankle.]

She's a werewolf! Don't let her bite or scratch you! Find something silver! [And after shouting his instructions, he begins to hobble slowly back up the stairs.]

What?

[ mal has no time to look for nico. she watches in stunned disbelief as, under the burnt and ruined clothes, the burns close on the werewolf's body. the monster, annoyed now after having been roasted and thrown like a doll, comes after her with a snarl. mal barely manages to dodge, feeling the furious swipe of deadly claws in the air above her head. she backs away, but there is no space inside the stairwell. her shoulder hits the copper wall of the statue's body hard.

out the corner of her eye, mal catches sight of nico coming back up the stairs and fear grips her chest. she cannot let nico get hurt. the werewolf comes after her again. in her panic, she can only remember one spell. ]

Twist of hand, and twist of fate, leave the ground and levitate!

[ outside, the monster would have floated above them, furious and impotent. inside the statue of liberty, a ton of fur crashes into the stairs above with a resonating bang!

it drops back down as mal retreats down the stairs, patting herself for anything silver. everything on her, her necklace, her ring, the hand-flower, is either gold or platinum. she is struggling for the transmutation spell she used in mcdonald's to change aluminum to gold when her fingers brush her pocket. jutting out her hand, mal lets out a joyful cry.

on her palm lies the silver keychain shaped like the statue of liberty she had reflexively pocketed when no one was looking. the werewolf above her roars. mal's eyes glow green. ]

We've had enough of this tiring part, now punch my enemy through the heart!

[ the werewolf jumps her. the keychain shoots upward like a bullet from a gun. it cleaves straight through the monster in mid-air. the keychain's ring stabs into the wall of the statue. the werewolf explodes in dust. ]

[Nico is having a lot of thoughts currently, like: "Wow, that was cool," "We should probably do something about that fire," and "She couldn't have levitated me down the stairs?" None of which he voices. Instead, he watches the werewolf dust disperse in the air and stands there uselessly, his heart still thundering in his chest from when the wolf had jumped at Mal and for a terrifying moment he didn't know what to do. Thankfully Mal had figured it out because Nico had frozen—mentally at least, he'd continued charging up the stairs but if he wasn't going to reach them in time a lot of good that would have done.

When he finally reaches the top of the stairs he eyes the green flames still licking up the walls for only a moment before pulling Mal into his arms. With his head buried in her hair it almost sounds like he's choking or holding back tears, but after another moment it becomes very clear that he is laughing.]

I can't believe you threw me down the stairs...[He manages between snickers ] and then completely wrecked the werewolf with a keychain. [Truly, they are siblings.]

[Belatedly, still chuckling a little] Are you okay?

No! [ as the adrenaline rush subsides, mal starts shaking. she still has an arm around nico's waist. she has no recollection of having grabbed him, but her hand fists the back of his shirt.

anyone might have thought her afraid. but it is not fear taking her voice an octave higher than normal. ]

Look at me! [ she sweeps at her hair. monster dust forms a cloud. ] I'm covered! I'm going to be getting werewolf out of my hair for a week! What in Lucifer's name was that thing even doing here?!

[In spite of her complaint, Nico can feel Mal's shaking and realizes she's maybe more upset about everything else then she's letting on. In response, he gives her a gentle squeeze. ]

Monsters target half bloods, and ones like us—children of the elder gods—are especially powerful and bigger targets because of it. It probably followed us here.

[The faint sound of voices reaches him and he glances over his shoulder. After a moment of hesitation, he grabs her hand and begins leading her down the stairs. Mal's already shaken, he doesn't want to put her through his shadow travel weakness on top of it and he doesn't have any ambrosia with him.]

We need to get out of here, I'll explain more when we're safe. [Just as he finishes speaking, a pair of security officers comes charging up, guns drawn, and Nico does something he isn't even sure he can do. He closes his eyes, concentrates, and the officers' eyes pass over them not unlike they had when Mal got them in. The officers keep going and Nico watches after, a little shocked that it had worked. He doesn't manipulate the mist very often, though he's heard it's much easier to do in a chaotic situation like this. Apparently that was true.]

[ mal looks wide-eyed from nico's back to the officers running past them. when nico starts back down the stairs, she stops on the third step. ]

Wait. We can't go. [ she turns around again. the walls are blackened by the fire, the stairs destroyed. the metal is warped. above them, she hears shouts echoing from the people trapped above them. ]

We can't leave it like this. We have to help. [ not waiting for an answer, she scrambles to find her spell book. she rips through the pages so fast it's a wonder she does not rip them out. the book shakes in her hands. ] I can fix this. I know I can fix this—

[ she tries to read, but the letters swim before her, changing places, reversing shape. she has to read the first line three times before it makes sense, and she lets out a half-choked cry of frustration. ]

Edited 2019-09-15 02:28 (UTC)

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