robinnest | Children of Hades

[ 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)

[It's not part of the normal demigod routine and it freezes him where he stands. It isn't that he wouldn't like to help, it's just that it's usually not an option. For one he didn't have any powers that could help repair the damage. Mal though. Mal does, and he nods at her, moving back to her side. When she begins to tear through her book though, he reaches out, setting a hand over the one turning the pages.]

Hey, it's okay. Mal. [His fingers wrap around hers and he squeezes. He isn't sure if it's the adrenaline and fear from the fight or if she's feeling rushed but he wants to help.]

It's okay. Take a deep breath for me.

[ her head snaps toward him with a glare. for a second, she seems like she's about to tell him exactly where to shove that breath. in the next, she squeezes her eyes shut. her shoulders lift as she inhales.

mal pulls her hand free. she traces the spell in the book with her finger as she reads. ]

Please let me be on time, [ she whispers to literally any god who might be listening. louder, she commands, ] Time stop!

[ her eyes flash green. the air around them abruptly feels heavy. a strange electric sensation raises goosebumps on her skin. the spell fights her. this is the first time she has ever tried something so big, and the effort is almost more than she can bear. through clenched teeth, she finishes, ] Turn the clock back to the top.

[ as soon as the last word is spoken, mal drops. the spell book falls from her grasp. she does not see the stairs straighten, the metal regain its shape, the walls wiped clean. even the shouting stops, though a new voice soon cries out, "what the hell!"

mal presses a hand to her chest. ]

Okay, [ she manages weakly. ] Now we go.

[His heartbeat skips when she falls, and he catches her before she hits the floor, letting the book fall with a thud. He barely notices the spell's effects, instead focused entirely on Mal. Exhaustion, he's sure, from a spell that big. He doesn't need to know anything about spells to know what power drain looks like.]

Okay. [Twisted ankle be damned, after grabbing her book and slipping it into her bag, Nico lifts Mal as well, adjusting her until he's giving her a careful piggyback ride. It's like that he descends the rest of the way down (picking up the key chain that had landed at his feet after the spell and pocketing it for later.) The mist wards off unwanted attention and Nico doesn't stop until they reach a street a ways off from the Statue. Only there does he set Mal down, and only so that he can pull out his sword to stab it into the ground, his eyes closing as he summons a friend.

Moments later an old fashioned state car pulls up in front of them and Nico helps Mal into the backseat sectioned off from the front like a limo. A basket with a few water bottles and candy bars lays to the side and Nico grabs one of each for Mal, handing her the water first.]

'M fine, [ mal mumbles, waving away the bottle of the water.

the strange sense of malaise lingers, but it's starting to lift somewhat. her head still feels heavy to her, and it is with a not inconsiderable amount of relief that she lets it drop onto the back of the seat. she passes a hand over her face. a deep breath helps ground her once more, and she opens her eyes to find the world is no longer tilting dramatically.

and to discover that she is in a car.

mal frowns at it like it insulted her. ]

Where are we?

[After giving her another once over, Nico knocks at the window that separates them from the driver and the panel slides down with a soft buzz. Behind the driver's seat, there is a zombie wearing a chauffeur's hat.]

Jules Albert, this is Mal. Mal, this is Jules Albert, my driver. Um. Dad told me I can call on him when I need him. I thought it would be a good idea to let him drive us back to Camp. [After they make one important pit stop of course.]

How are you feeling? [In lieu of the water, he passes her a candy.]

Edited 2019-09-15 04:05 (UTC)

[ that sure is a zombie.

mal is too stunned to do much else than lift her hand and wave at jules-albert through the rearview mirror. mechanically, she takes the candy bar without looking away from their 100% dead driver.

after a second, she realizes nico asked her something. ] What?

[Jules Albert waves back and then closes the panel again to focus on driving. Mostly because there's a BMW in the lane next to him that he knows is trying to cut him off and he'll be damned if he lets that happen.

Meanwhile Nico is glad to see Mal more responsive and taking the candy bar which helps to answer his question.]

You're starting to feel better? That was a crazy powerful spell you used back there.

Yeah, I don't think it liked me very much. I should have… [ her eyes widen in horror. ] My spell book!

[ she sits up abruptly: a mistake. she leans over with a groan, clutching her head. she is about to faint. she has never fainted before, but she is about to now. she presses her forehead to her knees. ]

Edited 2019-09-15 04:25 (UTC)

Your book is safe, I grabbed it. [Nico digs through the basket with candy and water and—yes, thank you Dad—his hand closes around a bar of ambrosia. He breaks off a piece and closes Mal's fingers around it, his other hand at her back.]

Eat this, it will help, I promise.

[ mal does as she's told. to her surprise, the taste of strawberries fills her mouth. by the time she swallows, she no longer feels as light headed. carefully, she straightens. no dizziness.

her power still feels low, but a manageable level now. and physically she no longer feels like the statue of liberty fell on top of her. she turns to nico in surprise. ]

What was that?

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