Video; open to both courts

[spiritedbow]

Uh--hi, my name is Bianca. Bianca di Angelo. I guess I'm new here?

[ She pauses after that and fiddles with the locket a little, not really sure where she should go now that she's introduced herself. She has a lot of questions, and plenty of concerns, but she's also not really sure where or how to start voicing them. It doesn't help that this whole thing feels very impersonal. It's almost like she's talking to a wall and not a whole bunch of different people. ]

Right, okay. So I get why I'm here. I've got something important inside me, and...all that. [ It's said a little uncomfortably.  Not only is it a little weird to think she's been living her whole life with the shard of some otherworldly crystal inside her body, but she definitely has enough on her plate already, She doesn't want to worry about a another war on top of everything else. ] But what if--[ She hesitates again, biting her lip. ]

What if we have something equally important to do back home? Will they send us back? My--friends are in serious trouble. [ And it's definitively her fault they are. She didn't listen to Percy, and now, well, things are bad. Really, really bad.  ] I'd like to be able to help them, somehow. Even if I can't return, there has to be something I can do from here, right? 

[ And then, just to have something a little less heavy to talk about; ]

Oh, and are the imps always so rude? I tried to talk to one, but it bit my finger.

Comments

[video]

[fell_to_hell]

[Nico has been checking the network regularly, mostly to keep an eye on his friends and make sure nothing unexpected is about to happen. He doesn't expect this post to come up.

For about six months, ever since seeing Luke here, he's been keeping the hope that he'll see Bianca again from getting out of control. He can't keep thinking about things like that, especially when she'd chosen to live a new life. Her death still cuts his soul, a wound that had been reopened during his brief stint in Tartarus, and that pain will always be with him, no matter how much time passes. Nico thought he'd been coping with it, but seeing Bianca's face again brings back the fact that he has only been deluding himself. Three or four years hasn't been enough time.

But he can't deny that, though he's in pain, he's also very happy to see her again.

Then Nico has one last fact sink in: Bianca is on the Unseelie side. The side that has a bounty out on him and Clarisse. The side that the Seelie Court is fighting against. Resolve hardens his heart. Nico is determined that while Bianca is Unseelie, he will protect her from those on his side who wouldn't mind seeing her blood spilled on the ground or would kill her just for being Unseelie. He's not going to lose her to these people. Never. He refuses to let that happen, to let death be her fate yet again. Nico doesn't think he can handle seeing that happen again, especially if he couldn't do anything to prevent it. Like the last time.

He has to take a moment to let his emotions stop running wild before he replies to Bianca. It's been so long...he's not sure how she'll react to how much he's changed since she saw him. Whenever that had been.]

Bianca--

[Nico chokes up. He swallows and tries again, tries to focus on something inane instead of something bigger. It's all he can do to keep himself from drowning in his emotions.]

I, uh, I don't know about imps, but the faeries are definitely nicer, but...they do like their pranks. Sometimes.

[video]

[spiritedbow]

[ He strikes her as very familiar, she can even pick out features she recognizes, but she doesn't let her mind wander any further than that. She can't. He's too old to be her brother, after all. He's too tired looking and not nearly as excitable as the little Nico she's known her whole life. If he was her brother, he would be running around annoying everyone by asking about the imp's stats and hit points. He would be happy and healthy and bright.

The one thing she can't avoid is how shaken he seems, how he looks at her like he's seeing a ghost. But Bianca tells herself that it's not her. This whole situation is strange and unsettling, and maybe, maybe it's hitting him a little harder than some of the others. She knows somewhere down in the pit of her stomach that she's in denial. She knows him, it's in the way he says her name. It's in all the little things in his face and posture. But there are so many unsettling implications that come with him being her brother, and she's not ready to face them just yet.

The smile she gives him is small and impersonal. ]

I haven't seen any fairies. They're on the Seelie side, right?

[video]

[fell_to_hell]

[He tries very hard to not let that hurt him. How can he expect her to actually recognize him? Nico has changed so much since when she last saw him, no matter when that had been. Tartarus has wrecked what he believes is irreversible damage, and it certainly shows.

Nico wishes he could shadow travel from here to where Bianca is without negative effects on his health. He can't, though, and trying would be suicide in many different ways. At least if they were face-to-face, maybe this wouldn't be such a shock to his sister. Maybe...but a cynical voice in his head says that it most likely will only make it worse.

He swallows, though it feels as though a fist is clenching his throat in an iron grip. Nico tries to make this a casual conversation, though he's probably failing miserably.]

Yeah. A lot of people from our world is on the Seelie side. Percy Jackson, for example.

text »

[atoned]

[ zuko's taking a moment to help ruin the imps' reputation. he doesn't have the answers to her questions. he can barely find the ones he has questions about. but perhaps he can help her by giving her something else to focus on. it's why she asked about the imps, isn't it? ]

Yes.

They get ruder after you burn them.

[ duh, zuko. ]

text »

[spiritedbow]

[ She laughs a little, even though he can't hear it. ]

I think the same can be said about most things, you know.

text »

[atoned]

Shouldn't they be scared? Pliant?

How are we supposed to get them to stop biting our fingers? Be kind to them?

[ ... probably? fire isn't destruction, but it sure does fucking hurt. ]

audio;

[judicatus]

Should the rulers of this land have the smallest concern for our affairs at home, they've yet to make any indication as such.

[ No, he's not bitter at all. Definitely not. ]

audio;

[spiritedbow]

[ Bianca can't blame him for that. ]

Yeah, I guess I shouldn't be surprised. It was worth a shot though, you know?

audio;

[judicatus]

Such is the common sentiment among those of us newly arrived, it would seem.

[ As if he didn't cause a very public scene in Caer Glaem on the night of the welcoming feast, himself. Whatever, Gabranth. ]

video.

[quest]

[ as soon as he sees her on the network, Percy panics just a bit. because yeah, he knew that people could come back to life here, but he was still unprepared for seeing another familiar face that he'd said goodbye to once before. he sends off a message to Nico first, checks up on him, because if it's jarring for Percy, he can't even fathom how the other demigod is feeling right now.

only then does he open up the video feed, expression bright as ever. ]

If they listened to things like reason, I think a lot of us would be back home by now.

video.

[spiritedbow]

Hey, Percy. [ She can't find it in her to be surprised by seeing him. After talking to Nico--well, she's not sure what to think. She can tell he's a little older, but she has no way of knowing by how much. ]

I guess that makes sense. How long have you been here?

video.

[quest]

[ Percy realizes that it's almost starting to feel normal, now. seeing people as they were in the past, rather than how they should be now. Luke and Bianca, looking the same they did the day they died, and Clarisse who had just stepped out of the titan war. another reminder of just how much has changed. ]

Two months now, I think. But it's been... a while since I last saw you. [ he pauses, thinking over what her original broadcast had said -- she remembered trying to help the team, which, really, meant she didn't know about something that Percy really didn't want to think about. ] Wait, you said imps? Aren't you in Caer Galem? There shouldn't be any imps here.

[video]

[chaoticwhimsy]

If you're nice to the imps, they'll be nice to you.

[The pink haired girl grins as she says this, and it's sort of a sly grin. Plus, she's some kind of Imp Whisperer so she might be biased.]

[video]

[spiritedbow]

Really? But I wasn't mean when I tried talking earlier, and he still bit me.

[video]

[chaoticwhimsy]

...Weird. Maybe they just decided they already don't like you!

Did you put up a big fight when they brought you here?

video;

[astrapi]

Bianca? [ Don't mind Thalia's surprise. But she never thought she'd see the little hunter again. In fact, Bianca might notice the huntress's silver circlet around her head on the video. ]

Yeah, the imps are the worst. I hate the guys. And things back home? Not something they care about.

video;

[spiritedbow]

Hey, Thalia. [ She's relieved to see her in one piece, but can't help but eye the circlet she's wearing. She doesn't ask about it, not yet, but it has her curious. And more than a little worried. ]

I figured. But it doesn't hurt to ask, you know?

video;

[enthraller]

[well, someone's got to say it sooner or later. at least it can come from someone who's, by all appearances, sympathetic and considerate.]

I'm sorry to have to tell you this, but they won't send anyone back. Not as far as I've heard, at least, and I've been looking for some sort of hope that the opposite might be true.

video;

[spiritedbow]

[ She nods slowly and tries not to look a little disheartened by the news. She can't say she hadn't expected this, but it still takes some of the wind out of her sails. ]

Yeah, I guess it was too much to hope for. I don't suppose there's a way to do something to help from here, either, huh?

video;

[oursavinggrace]

[oh. holy hera.

jason never knew her, but he knew that name, and he stares at her face in quiet awe throughout the video. it's...not exactly familiar, but he can see the family resemblance, kinda, mostly because he's looking for it.

(it's be more obvious, he thinks, if nico were healthier, if he weren't so gaunt and tired and sickly-pale. but it's hard to image a nico with that warm olive skin, even having gotten a glimpse of how he used to be as jason had.)

it's only after a long few moments that he realizes his locket is open and he's staring and he hasn't actually said anything.]

Uh. [smooth, superman.] Bianca?

[[and through all this, he still hasn't even registered the meaning of the whole "imps" thing.]

video;

[spiritedbow]

[ Bianca stares right back at him, to study his face in the hope of being able to place it. Does she know him? Had she seen him around camp? She doesn't think he's familiar, his face doesn't strike her as one she's seen before, but it's not like she'd been at Camp Half Blood long enough to recognize everyone there. ]

Uh. Hi. [ Her response is equally smooth. ] Do I know you?

[ Her eyes narrow a little. Not in suspicion, but in thought. She's almost positive now that he's a stranger to her, but the way he had studied her before is a little off. It doesn't mean he knows her, but it seems to indicate some level of familiarity, like he had been looking for something in her face. ]

voice;

[fakers]

Concern for your comrades is admirable, though I doubt your pleas will have much effect.

If they make an exception for one person, it won't be long before all are clamoring to return home, with grand tales about the importance of their struggles. [ a sigh. ] Forget about your friends for now. Thinking about them will just distract you from the present.

voice;

[spiritedbow]

So I'm just supposed to forget everything and take this in stride? [ She tries not to sound angry about it, but doesn't really succeed. It bothers her, to think she just has to deal with everything. Forget the trouble her friends are in, and fight in a war she didn't ask to be a part of.

She sighs. ] I mean, you have a point. I just--It's not easy to just accept this stuff.

video;

[gandere]

[ Was this girl uncomfortable due to the situation or the fact she has something within her? The timing indicates the latter, but Rin's never been the best at reading people. Still, it'd be rude of her to just let someone be upset over. ]

Imps are often like that in the stories so try to not take it personally.

While I can't advise you regarding your friends, I could try to comfort you in other ways. That shard that's within us isn't intrusive in any way.

video;

[spiritedbow]

[ Bianca tries not to look super uncomfortable. She's glad that the conversation has shifted from her friends, she's had a good number of people tell her the same thing, but the shard is definitely something she doesn't even know what to do with. ]

I know. But it's still weird, to think it's there.