Nico "The Phantom Diviner" di Angelo (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
fell_to_hell) wrote in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
eachdraidh2014-08-01 05:58 am
fell_to_hell) wrote in eachdraidh2014-08-01 05:58 am
[Video; Open] 03 Shadows [Dated August 2nd]
[Nico opens up a video on the Locket for the first time since the memory-sharing incident. He still looks like he’s going to be sick, and is still tired from his summoning the dead stint during the battle a few days ago. At least he’s more alert and not fighting to keep his lunch down today.]
I wanted to share at least one story from my world, gods know there are plenty to tell, and I had some…encouragement.
[He looks off to the side to give an annoyed look at a certain someone who happens to be in the room with him. That someone happens to be Jason Grace, son of Jupiter and moral support extraordinaire.]
Also...when I’m done, I suppose I’ll answer any questions people have regarding my powers. I don’t know if I’ll be able to answer all of them, but I can try.
[Within reason. He’s not about to give away his weaknesses to potential enemies.]
First, I should probably say something about the gods in our world. There are twelve “major” gods, though technically it’s fourteen, but only twelve reside on Mount Olympus, the home of the gods. It’s where their seats of power are. The other “minor” gods go wherever they please, though not a lot of them live in Olympus.
There are two cultures in our world who have the same gods, but with different names and personalities. Mine is Greek, and the other is Roman. Jason and I can hash out the differences between them if you want to know more.
[Jason is their only Roman demigod, at the moment, so...yeah. And Nico is a mythology nerd, so he’s got the rest definitely covered.]
Anyway, this story is a kind of popular one at home. Well, one version of it is, at least.
[Nico looks vaguely annoyed.]
Mostly, it’s mistranslating and a bit of another religion getting in the way of the actual story. Plus, the story is told more in sympathy with one goddess than the other, so the view is a little skewed because of it.
[He shakes his head. He knows he’s stalling. Nico sits back and gets comfortable.]
There was a goddess named Persephone, goddess of flowers and fertile vegetation. She was the daughter of Demeter, goddess of agriculture and a very over-protective mom to boot, and Zeus, Lord of the Sky, King of the Gods...who was, and still is, married to Hera, goddess of marriage and Queen of the Heavens. Yes, Zeus does this a lot.
[It’s really ironic and hilarious that Zeus has two kids who are either very faithful to their lover or have sworn off of love and lust altogether, one of whom lets out a groan at that whole description.]
Don’t remind me.
[Nico rolls his eyes.]
It’s your daily reminder that your dad is…[A man-slut? Player? Stereotypical hotshot jock from high school with absolutely no control over his raging hormones?] ...like he is.
[That’s polite enough. Right?]
Anyway. So. A couple of other gods try to get with Persephone, like Hermes, god of travelers, thieves, roads, other things, and Apollo, god of the sun, prophecy, medicine, music, and poetry. Well, Demeter wants absolutely none of this, and she fights off all of Persephone’s suitors tooth-and-nail because she doesn’t want her to be with anyone Demeter feels isn’t good enough.
One day, Hades, god of the Underworld, Lord of the Dead, chanced upon her and fell in love with her. He met with her in the guise of a mortal shepherd ‘cause...well. He’s the Lord of the Dead. He’s very recognizable and he doesn’t want trouble with Demeter, who will without a doubt stomp her foot down and say no to him courting her daughter.
[And probably because daddy-dearest was shy around a pretty lady. It apparently runs in the family. (minus the “lady” part) (shut up Jason nobody likes a smartass)
Nico is also starting to animate as he tells the story at this point. Talking about mythology does that to him. Normally, his gestures are close to his body when he talks, but as he starts to get into telling the story, his gestures become bigger to show off that excitement. He likes telling Greek mythology to people who’ll listen, and this is honestly a really good outlet for him.]
Soooo...he gets the super amazing idea to ask Zeus for advice. He responds in very typical Zeus fashion, and that’s to say he suggests kidnapping her to the Underworld. [Another quiet groan from Jason and he flops back on the bed, covering his face. Somehow, godly parents manage to be a thousand times more embarrassing than mortal ones. Nico seems amused by Jason’s antics.] Annnnd Hades goes with that because it’s the best he’s got. He rips open the earth, kidnaps Persephone on his black chariot, and they go down to his palace in the Underworld.
Here’s where things start getting...weird, depending on the version you hear. There’s a hymn that details Demeter’s reaction to this whole thing. Her despair at losing her daughter makes the earth wither. Crops are failing, famine is spreading all across Greece, and the people have never had this happen to them before. All of a sudden, the people were experiencing winter when all they’d ever known was summer. Helios, the former sun god, took pity on her and told her that Hades, with permission from Zeus, had taken Persephone away to the Underworld to be his wife. Demeter storms up to Olympus and demands that Zeus get her daughter back. He tells her he can’t, so she leaves Greece in response.
[Not that anybody can blame her, to be honest, but at the same time...lots of mortals dying….]
Meanwhile, in the Underworld, and this is the part of the story not many people know about, Persephone is angry and Hades is just kinda. Showering her with gifts because he really is sincere about it all, even if the whole kidnapping thing is pretty much the worst way to make a first impression. She’s very unimpressed at first, but his sincerity and sorta awkward flattery makes her fond of him.
[Nico shrugs at this point. Gods in love, man. Makes a better soap opera than most mortals can create.]
Eventually, after the mortals plead for Zeus to help them, he actually decides to answer them and begs Demeter to try and come back. She refuses, of course, so he goes to Hades and demands that he release Persephone. Pretty much all like, “Look, little brother, I know I promised you could totally have Persephone as your wife, but we need her back, now, before Demeter starves us all, okay?”
[...okay, yes, there’s a touch of sass in there. At least Zeus isn’t here to rumble thunder in his general direction. Just a son of Jupiter. Who, to his credit, isn’t gonna argue with that sass at all. Dad’s kind of a dick.]
Hades agrees to let Persephone go, but the two then decide to pull one over on the other two gods because who says deities can’t be spiteful? He tells her that eating food from the Underworld means you can’t ever leave, so Persephone grows a pomegranate tree somewhere in there and eats some of the seeds. Hermes takes her back to the realm of the living, and Demeter’s happy which causes the plants and everything to grow again. Winter breaks and now comes spring and summer again. However, she’s quick to realize that Persephone has eaten food from the Underworld, and tells her daughter that they can only meet for half a year because of it. The other half will have to be spent in the Underworld with her husband. And that’s the story of how there are seasons. When Persephone is visiting her mother, the world will come alive again with spring and summer, but when she’s down in the Underworld with Hades, the earth will wither for autumn and winter.
[Nico sits back, kind of taking a short break from all that talking. Long story, and there are some that are even longer, like Odysseus’ tale. Anyway, who even knew that the Lord of the Dead is actually a cutie?]
So...yeah. That’s one story from Greek culture. [He glances over at Jason.] Maybe you can convince this guy to tell you some Roman stories. If he’s done being totally mortified by his dad’s antics and general jerkiness.
[His voice still muffled beneath the hands covering his face, Jason still seems fairly mortified.]
Dude, shut up.
[There’s wicked amusement in Nico’s eyes. Ask the demigods questions and they will see about answering them!]
{OOC: Blue is Jason, black is Nico! You'll be getting both 'cause Jason will pipe in whenever he pleases, haha. Also, for those newly accepted, please feel free to tag into this if you want!}
I wanted to share at least one story from my world, gods know there are plenty to tell, and I had some…encouragement.
[He looks off to the side to give an annoyed look at a certain someone who happens to be in the room with him. That someone happens to be Jason Grace, son of Jupiter and moral support extraordinaire.]
Also...when I’m done, I suppose I’ll answer any questions people have regarding my powers. I don’t know if I’ll be able to answer all of them, but I can try.
[Within reason. He’s not about to give away his weaknesses to potential enemies.]
First, I should probably say something about the gods in our world. There are twelve “major” gods, though technically it’s fourteen, but only twelve reside on Mount Olympus, the home of the gods. It’s where their seats of power are. The other “minor” gods go wherever they please, though not a lot of them live in Olympus.
There are two cultures in our world who have the same gods, but with different names and personalities. Mine is Greek, and the other is Roman. Jason and I can hash out the differences between them if you want to know more.
[Jason is their only Roman demigod, at the moment, so...yeah. And Nico is a mythology nerd, so he’s got the rest definitely covered.]
Anyway, this story is a kind of popular one at home. Well, one version of it is, at least.
[Nico looks vaguely annoyed.]
Mostly, it’s mistranslating and a bit of another religion getting in the way of the actual story. Plus, the story is told more in sympathy with one goddess than the other, so the view is a little skewed because of it.
[He shakes his head. He knows he’s stalling. Nico sits back and gets comfortable.]
There was a goddess named Persephone, goddess of flowers and fertile vegetation. She was the daughter of Demeter, goddess of agriculture and a very over-protective mom to boot, and Zeus, Lord of the Sky, King of the Gods...who was, and still is, married to Hera, goddess of marriage and Queen of the Heavens. Yes, Zeus does this a lot.
[It’s really ironic and hilarious that Zeus has two kids who are either very faithful to their lover or have sworn off of love and lust altogether, one of whom lets out a groan at that whole description.]
Don’t remind me.
[Nico rolls his eyes.]
It’s your daily reminder that your dad is…[A man-slut? Player? Stereotypical hotshot jock from high school with absolutely no control over his raging hormones?] ...like he is.
[That’s polite enough. Right?]
Anyway. So. A couple of other gods try to get with Persephone, like Hermes, god of travelers, thieves, roads, other things, and Apollo, god of the sun, prophecy, medicine, music, and poetry. Well, Demeter wants absolutely none of this, and she fights off all of Persephone’s suitors tooth-and-nail because she doesn’t want her to be with anyone Demeter feels isn’t good enough.
One day, Hades, god of the Underworld, Lord of the Dead, chanced upon her and fell in love with her. He met with her in the guise of a mortal shepherd ‘cause...well. He’s the Lord of the Dead. He’s very recognizable and he doesn’t want trouble with Demeter, who will without a doubt stomp her foot down and say no to him courting her daughter.
[And probably because daddy-dearest was shy around a pretty lady. It apparently runs in the family. (minus the “lady” part) (shut up Jason nobody likes a smartass)
Nico is also starting to animate as he tells the story at this point. Talking about mythology does that to him. Normally, his gestures are close to his body when he talks, but as he starts to get into telling the story, his gestures become bigger to show off that excitement. He likes telling Greek mythology to people who’ll listen, and this is honestly a really good outlet for him.]
Soooo...he gets the super amazing idea to ask Zeus for advice. He responds in very typical Zeus fashion, and that’s to say he suggests kidnapping her to the Underworld. [Another quiet groan from Jason and he flops back on the bed, covering his face. Somehow, godly parents manage to be a thousand times more embarrassing than mortal ones. Nico seems amused by Jason’s antics.] Annnnd Hades goes with that because it’s the best he’s got. He rips open the earth, kidnaps Persephone on his black chariot, and they go down to his palace in the Underworld.
Here’s where things start getting...weird, depending on the version you hear. There’s a hymn that details Demeter’s reaction to this whole thing. Her despair at losing her daughter makes the earth wither. Crops are failing, famine is spreading all across Greece, and the people have never had this happen to them before. All of a sudden, the people were experiencing winter when all they’d ever known was summer. Helios, the former sun god, took pity on her and told her that Hades, with permission from Zeus, had taken Persephone away to the Underworld to be his wife. Demeter storms up to Olympus and demands that Zeus get her daughter back. He tells her he can’t, so she leaves Greece in response.
[Not that anybody can blame her, to be honest, but at the same time...lots of mortals dying….]
Meanwhile, in the Underworld, and this is the part of the story not many people know about, Persephone is angry and Hades is just kinda. Showering her with gifts because he really is sincere about it all, even if the whole kidnapping thing is pretty much the worst way to make a first impression. She’s very unimpressed at first, but his sincerity and sorta awkward flattery makes her fond of him.
[Nico shrugs at this point. Gods in love, man. Makes a better soap opera than most mortals can create.]
Eventually, after the mortals plead for Zeus to help them, he actually decides to answer them and begs Demeter to try and come back. She refuses, of course, so he goes to Hades and demands that he release Persephone. Pretty much all like, “Look, little brother, I know I promised you could totally have Persephone as your wife, but we need her back, now, before Demeter starves us all, okay?”
[...okay, yes, there’s a touch of sass in there. At least Zeus isn’t here to rumble thunder in his general direction. Just a son of Jupiter. Who, to his credit, isn’t gonna argue with that sass at all. Dad’s kind of a dick.]
Hades agrees to let Persephone go, but the two then decide to pull one over on the other two gods because who says deities can’t be spiteful? He tells her that eating food from the Underworld means you can’t ever leave, so Persephone grows a pomegranate tree somewhere in there and eats some of the seeds. Hermes takes her back to the realm of the living, and Demeter’s happy which causes the plants and everything to grow again. Winter breaks and now comes spring and summer again. However, she’s quick to realize that Persephone has eaten food from the Underworld, and tells her daughter that they can only meet for half a year because of it. The other half will have to be spent in the Underworld with her husband. And that’s the story of how there are seasons. When Persephone is visiting her mother, the world will come alive again with spring and summer, but when she’s down in the Underworld with Hades, the earth will wither for autumn and winter.
[Nico sits back, kind of taking a short break from all that talking. Long story, and there are some that are even longer, like Odysseus’ tale. Anyway, who even knew that the Lord of the Dead is actually a cutie?]
So...yeah. That’s one story from Greek culture. [He glances over at Jason.] Maybe you can convince this guy to tell you some Roman stories. If he’s done being totally mortified by his dad’s antics and general jerkiness.
[His voice still muffled beneath the hands covering his face, Jason still seems fairly mortified.]
Dude, shut up.
[There’s wicked amusement in Nico’s eyes. Ask the demigods questions and they will see about answering them!]
{OOC: Blue is Jason, black is Nico! You'll be getting both 'cause Jason will pipe in whenever he pleases, haha. Also, for those newly accepted, please feel free to tag into this if you want!}
Video;
[Nico is amused. He also waves a little at Flora in greeting.]
Honestly, not as bad as the time Apollo tried to marry all nine Muses at once. He got shot down super fast.
Video; 1/2
2/2
Then a dryly amused roll of her eyes]
Sounds like something one of my best friends or her boyfriend might try to do, honestly, but they'd probably manage it.
no subject
I wish them all the luck in the world, then. But...yeah this is common in Greek mythology. Not as much in Roman. Roman gods were more distant from mortals than their Greek counterparts.
no subject
no subject
Really? What happened?
god i'm so glad i remembered this this was hilariously dumb
It was very dangerous. In the simulation run, my powers lasted about a half second, another friend's didn't work at all, and the third's sort of...caused an intense cave-in that kind of killed us all by accident?
[Talk about Bad End.
She rubs the back of her head and laughs a bit before continuing like it's no big thing.]
Anyway, beneath Shadowhaunt is Downland. Downland isn't evil like it, but it's still a place where darkness thrives, and the crystals that support life down there can be very harmful to people who live on the surface, so my friends had very little magic to waste, which meant no flying. Stella is the fairy of light and the sun, so being down there was a double-edged sword. She could repel the darkness, but it was also poison to her, so she had the least amount of energy.
[To be honest, it was a struggle for her to even stay alive.]
On the way, Brandon, her boyfriend, fell off a really high cliff after a fight. Stella jumped after him. Without wings.
[Flora pauses here, frowning mildly and facepalming. Goodness, this all really happened, didn't it.]
Oh, but they were okay! The Princess of Downland found Brandon and took him prisoner, but then fell in love with him and wanted to marry him.