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!}
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-- Metaphorically.
Mmn, no wait I don't think that's a metaphor.
But you get what I mean, right?
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As much as I have to. The less who know what I can do, the less chance they'll have of finding a weakness.
[Nico has absolutely no intention of becoming a prisoner of war again.]
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You're really starting to sound like a soldier, Nico di Angelo.
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...Yeah, I'm starting to get that sense.
[Nico looks at Rachel for a moment before asking a question he's been wondering for a while now.]
How much did you see of what would happen to me?
[His tone is curious rather than accusatory. He can't blame her for her gift anymore than he can blame the sun for shining.]
aw that icon ;;
At home? Not as much as the other demigods I've seen, though I'm sure that's not too shocking. You're difficult to pin down. I don't think your dad likes me seeing much of you in my dreams. [ ... ] Which sounds weird, but whatever. With you it's more- feelings, than actual seeing. Most of the time. It's like I know when you'll be around, even when you shouldn't be. Or when you really should be around. Depends on how you look at it.
-- But that's all confusing. Um.
Most of the time, I only know when I should feel proud of you, or worried for you. I don't always get to see why. I can feel it though, when you're there. Helping, or doing something that will help the other demigods. Or hurt them. Mn, when something you've done will have a direct effect on a quest. Does that make sense?
[ but that's not including what she's seen outside of quest things, or of the past. ehh. she won't get into anything specific unless he asks her to ]
sob he has an uncanny ability to look like a kicked puppy ;;
That makes sense. He hasn't had much love for the Oracle since the first Great Prophecy. It's possible he still holds a grudge. Sorry about that.
[He hesitates, unsure he wants to know the answer, but...he goes for it.]
Um...what about other things? Things not related to quests?
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[ her mouth twists a bit. it's good that they're not having this conversation in person, because the pull of a direct question like that would probably force some kind of vision, something she might've ended up pulling Nico into too. which isn't always fun. ]
I can tell you I've mourned the fiery death of more than one Happy Meal, but I don't think that's what you want to hear, is it? And I know- that you're in the future, which you should be glad to hear. That stupid quest- [ it's not stupid, it's dangerous. but important. and while she stops herself from getting all huffy about how stressed out she gets thinking about the Prophecy of Seven, she huffs a small laugh ] - You're a little bit of a nightmare for an Oracle, you know that? You change the rules. You defy fate in a way that most can't. [ but that's dangerously close to stuff she shouldn't talk about with anyone, so ] I've seen some of your time spent at the casino. But I don't know if you even remember that, so I feel like I shouldn't either.
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It's fuzzy, but I think that's the point of that place. You're kind of...lost in a haze, like you never want to leave, but when you do leave, the memory kind of...fizzles away. It probably won't come back to me unless I get near the Lotus Hotel again.
[It's a weird feeling that he kind of wants to go back, but really kind of doesn't.]
Rachel...I have to ask, but I'm not going to pressure you into answering. Did you...see me in Tartarus and then the bronze jar?
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[ not quite sounding urgent there, but it's edging along that line. the idea of him going back near the hotel ever makes her feel nervous, and that's usually.. not a good sign. that last question she answers with a shake of her head, at first ]
I didn't know about the bronze jar until- probably the same time as Percy. I think we shared the same dream. [ she kind of snarls then, just her lip pulling back. Rachel doesn't get mad often, but if there's one thing that really genuinely gets under her skin, it's- ] Even though I delivered that prophecy, it is annoying how little I can actually see of what's going on during the quest. I should be able to know those kinds of things, but I don't. With the gods having their identity crisis, it's left me out of the loop in a way I shouldn't be. [ what's the point of an Oracle that can't always see the future? but she takes a breath, nods ] I did know you were in Tartarus. But I also knew you were there because you wanted to be, and telling anyone at camp would have been a disaster. I hated it, I hated keeping that to myself. But I have to keep those kinds of secrets a lot, so.
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I won't. Promise.
[Nico looks a little surprised that she's angry on his behalf. He honestly doesn't experience that very often. After a moment, the son of Hades speaks again.]
I know you have to. You have to let things take their course and...that's hard. [In that way, he thinks that Rachel understands what the gods go through with their own children, forced to watch as their children take their own path.] I didn't strictly want to be in...in Tartarus, but it turned out that I had to. It was where the Doors were, and I told Hazel I'd find them.
[And it took a high price to succeed in finding the Doors of Death.]
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I think the Spirit of Delphi was protecting your mind. If you'd seen what I'd seen....
[He trails off, trying not to think about it. He switches to another topic.]
You wouldn't have been able to get me out. It's like a black hole. Once you get pulled in, it's impossible to get back out. The only reason I got out was because Gaea wanted to use me as bait in Rome. [Nico pauses for a second.] I don't blame you, Rachel. I'm not even angry at you. I just wanted to know how much you knew so that I could gauge how much explaining I'd need to do.
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You don't need to explain anything.
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Reyna and I are...were, I guess, going back to Camp Half-Blood. After we drop off the Athena Parthenos, I'm planning on leaving. Don't expect to see me there for very long.