...I suppose that isn't so strange. It isn't uncommon for sacrifice to be required for success. [he hates that, actually.
also, other things he hates! that! he's kind of hoping sei is far enough away that he doesn't feel the slight drop in temperature as nico hears that and immediately frowns at the gravestone in front of him. there's...no. just because it's a name he's familiar with doesn't mean it's the same person. of course, it's not impossible either and that's the worst part of it.]
...sounds like he was a good choice to win. He must have been someone people trusted.
[he's going to go home, go to california, and bury percy jackson in the dirt where he belongs. but it's also a baiting question to see if sei explains. maybe it's a totally different percy.]
[i flipped a coin and it decided that the gravestone she's working on is far enough away that she doesn't catch the drop in temperature. so, you know, small blessings for nico there.
this also means she doesn't clue in that this is a sensitive topic. she'd get it if she was looking at him, but right now, her attention is on the job at hand.]
He was. And he was actually worthy of that trust, too, which is rare. We were lucky to have him there, but I always felt badly that it had to be him... he had a really hard time.
[a beat.]
...he asked for a lot of things at the end, actually. That we'd all go home and that none of us would be subjected to this sort of game ever again. We definitely made it home thanks to him, but I guess keeping us out of the clutches of other games wasn't something the Sheriff could guarantee.
[small victories for goths. he's still working, but now he's busy thinking about this and trying to rationalize what the hell happened there.]
Different pantheons have different rules. It's possible to change some rules, but it depends what they are. [he's busy thinking about how things ended during the titan war and the things that were changed after that.]
...most people would have a hard time in situations like ours, wouldn't they? [he could outright just ask what happened, but...admittedly, he's also just curious what happened in that town with or without percy's involvement.]
It isn't, no. [the earth shifts beneath their feet and a few gravestones straighten out.]
I get the feeling a lot of people shouldn't have to be here. [lightly, because it's true. it's not like people deserve these things. he's busy thinking of people like reyna, like magnus, kyouka...people who deserved better. percy was in that same category, too, and it's why after a moment he says:]
You're right... they shouldn't. No one should have to.
[well
maybe she wouldn't shed too many tears if a certain handful of people ended up in a place like this, but generally speaking, she's opposed to the idea. they're not likely to disagree on this - that's why they're here, after all.
he pauses, and then asks his question, and something in the way he asks it gets her to look over. carefully, she says:]
...Percy-san. Ah, his full name was Percy Jackson.
[okay but mood? mood. some people just deserve things to happen to them and you can't help that. but overall it isn't right and so they're here cleaning up a graveyard.
he's not looking at her because he's moving along a path, little patches of grass and weeds dying under his feet without notice as slopes in the cemetery start to even out a little.]
I see. [...yeah that tracks. the worst, maybe, is that this isn't so surprising.] I suppose you're right. Good people like that are rare.
[a skeletal hand starts to crawl its way out of the dirt, but nico gently paps it back down with his shovel. no. stay there. you're not invited yet.]
[ah. well, the way he's not looking at her is pretty telling. she'll do him the courtesy of returning her attention to the gravestone she's cleaning up (which spares her from noticing the skeletal hand popping out of the dirt like a daisy, which is probably the better option for the both of them; this isn't the time for her to freak out about skeletons).]
He... killed himself. So that he could get onto the train.
[that also isn't surprising. demigods die young all the time and often in self-sacrificing ways to save other people. so he debates what to say even if it's pretty obvious he's angry about it, but in the end he nods.]
But because of that, everyone was revived and you were able to go home. [...] Where I'm from it's a little more complicated to bring people back from the dead.
[there's something of an off-kilter sort of smile.]
Special circumstances, usually. Not everyone can do something like that, but if you can find the soul of the deceased and they haven't chosen to go to Elysium and try for rebirth, you can bring them back if you can bring them through the Doors of Death.
But usually they can't leave, or they've already moved on. It's possible to summon their souls though, as long as they're in the Underworld.
sei doesn't say that out loud, but she's thinking it. she has the good grace to not falter in her cleanup, though she's now pulling weeds that are growing near the gravestone. this section of the cemetery is looking much more tidy, at least!]
That... sort of sounds like what happened in the games you all were stuck in? Or at least, from the little I heard, people in your things died and came back instead of all of you dying to find the way out... [...] That's going to have to be how things are here, too, right? There's not a way back, but we have to buy enough time for them to find one.
[very glad that percy never told sei about his canonpoint, this is funnier. but at least they're making good work cleaning up! sei is doing a great job with cleaning up the blood and weeds.]
Right. In our war, we had to make sure a certain amount of people were still left alive in order to fulfill the conditions for the Crafters to bring everyone back. [war? game? same thing in this case.] Though I think Shess also said he came from a situation where everyone but one person had to die, including their overseers. It may become an option for us if it means buying time on our end.
[give him a second to start pulling some weeds around his feet.]
Either way, we probably only have a little while before our time's up.
[i mean maybe he would have if i wasn't such a huge fuckin flake back in 2017]
It's an option, but I'd prefer it if we didn't have to use it... it seems riskier.
[given that the nightman wants to keep as many people as possible. sure, it might work, but it's a lot to lose if the tpk gambit goes poorly.]
...we'll figure something out for sure, though. We might not have a lot of time before all of this starts in earnest, but despite all of our eccentricities, I'm sure we'll all use it well. We all know what's at stake, after all.
[he doesn't quite readily agree with her. he hopes that everyone knows what's at stake and that they may all get along for the sake of getting the job done, but...well. it's hard to say just yet.]
It's a last resort is all. Most of our plans aren't put into action until right at the end anyway and they're not always guaranteed to work out. It's also going to depend on the kind of people that arrive in the first place and if they'll be willing to listen to us in the end.
It would be nice if we could break into the Nightman's office and look at his stuff to see who he's planning to bring here, but even I can tell that would end really badly.
[imagine if they got caught as impostors before the game even started.]
If we can distract the Nightman long enough for one of us to take a look and make copies of what he has, it should give us an idea of what to prepare for. Right? He can't be in his office all the time.
[she's not entirely wrong. she's just also not entirely right.]
...we may need to ask Shinnosuke-san that, or Junpei-san or Vax'ildan-san [oh i hate how honorifics look with his name] if we can still get in touch with them. They're the ones who've had contact with him.
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employeelounge2021-12-08 11:24 am
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also, other things he hates! that! he's kind of hoping sei is far enough away that he doesn't feel the slight drop in temperature as nico hears that and immediately frowns at the gravestone in front of him. there's...no. just because it's a name he's familiar with doesn't mean it's the same person. of course, it's not impossible either and that's the worst part of it.]
...sounds like he was a good choice to win. He must have been someone people trusted.
[he's going to go home, go to california, and bury percy jackson in the dirt where he belongs. but it's also a baiting question to see if sei explains. maybe it's a totally different percy.]
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this also means she doesn't clue in that this is a sensitive topic. she'd get it if she was looking at him, but right now, her attention is on the job at hand.]
He was. And he was actually worthy of that trust, too, which is rare. We were lucky to have him there, but I always felt badly that it had to be him... he had a really hard time.
[a beat.]
...he asked for a lot of things at the end, actually. That we'd all go home and that none of us would be subjected to this sort of game ever again. We definitely made it home thanks to him, but I guess keeping us out of the clutches of other games wasn't something the Sheriff could guarantee.
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Different pantheons have different rules. It's possible to change some rules, but it depends what they are. [he's busy thinking about how things ended during the titan war and the things that were changed after that.]
...most people would have a hard time in situations like ours, wouldn't they? [he could outright just ask what happened, but...admittedly, he's also just curious what happened in that town with or without percy's involvement.]
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[a beat. she frowns, finishing up with her current gravestone and moving on to the next.]
He seemed used to it. ...here's to hoping he doesn't wind up stuck here, though, because he shouldn't have to be.
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I get the feeling a lot of people shouldn't have to be here. [lightly, because it's true. it's not like people deserve these things. he's busy thinking of people like reyna, like magnus, kyouka...people who deserved better. percy was in that same category, too, and it's why after a moment he says:]
What did you say his name was?
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[well
maybe she wouldn't shed too many tears if a certain handful of people ended up in a place like this, but generally speaking, she's opposed to the idea. they're not likely to disagree on this - that's why they're here, after all.
he pauses, and then asks his question, and something in the way he asks it gets her to look over. carefully, she says:]
...Percy-san. Ah, his full name was Percy Jackson.
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he's not looking at her because he's moving along a path, little patches of grass and weeds dying under his feet without notice as slopes in the cemetery start to even out a little.]
I see. [...yeah that tracks. the worst, maybe, is that this isn't so surprising.] I suppose you're right. Good people like that are rare.
[a skeletal hand starts to crawl its way out of the dirt, but nico gently paps it back down with his shovel. no. stay there. you're not invited yet.]
If he was the last person alive, how did he die?
cw: suicide mention
[ah. well, the way he's not looking at her is pretty telling. she'll do him the courtesy of returning her attention to the gravestone she's cleaning up (which spares her from noticing the skeletal hand popping out of the dirt like a daisy, which is probably the better option for the both of them; this isn't the time for her to freak out about skeletons).]
He... killed himself. So that he could get onto the train.
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But because of that, everyone was revived and you were able to go home. [...] Where I'm from it's a little more complicated to bring people back from the dead.
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[nico probably already knew that, though, given that he's figured out she came from a world without magic.]
How do you bring people back where you're from?
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Special circumstances, usually. Not everyone can do something like that, but if you can find the soul of the deceased and they haven't chosen to go to Elysium and try for rebirth, you can bring them back if you can bring them through the Doors of Death.
But usually they can't leave, or they've already moved on. It's possible to summon their souls though, as long as they're in the Underworld.
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sei doesn't say that out loud, but she's thinking it. she has the good grace to not falter in her cleanup, though she's now pulling weeds that are growing near the gravestone. this section of the cemetery is looking much more tidy, at least!]
That... sort of sounds like what happened in the games you all were stuck in? Or at least, from the little I heard, people in your things died and came back instead of all of you dying to find the way out... [...] That's going to have to be how things are here, too, right? There's not a way back, but we have to buy enough time for them to find one.
no subject
Right. In our war, we had to make sure a certain amount of people were still left alive in order to fulfill the conditions for the Crafters to bring everyone back. [war? game? same thing in this case.] Though I think Shess also said he came from a situation where everyone but one person had to die, including their overseers. It may become an option for us if it means buying time on our end.
[give him a second to start pulling some weeds around his feet.]
Either way, we probably only have a little while before our time's up.
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It's an option, but I'd prefer it if we didn't have to use it... it seems riskier.
[given that the nightman wants to keep as many people as possible. sure, it might work, but it's a lot to lose if the tpk gambit goes poorly.]
...we'll figure something out for sure, though. We might not have a lot of time before all of this starts in earnest, but despite all of our eccentricities, I'm sure we'll all use it well. We all know what's at stake, after all.
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It's a last resort is all. Most of our plans aren't put into action until right at the end anyway and they're not always guaranteed to work out. It's also going to depend on the kind of people that arrive in the first place and if they'll be willing to listen to us in the end.
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[imagine if they got caught as impostors before the game even started.]
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Wouldn't it only end badly if we were caught? [says mister "sneaks around in shadows so often people don't realize he's there."]
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[oh n]
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If we can distract the Nightman long enough for one of us to take a look and make copies of what he has, it should give us an idea of what to prepare for. Right? He can't be in his office all the time.
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Exactly! He has to step out sometime! There's no way anyone or anything can be everywhere at once.
[lol]
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It depends on what he is...do we even really know?
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[she makes a face and shrugs.]
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Okay, besides that. We know he's not human, but do we know what kind of monster he is? Or if he's something else?
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...we may need to ask Shinnosuke-san that, or Junpei-san or Vax'ildan-san [oh i hate how honorifics look with his name] if we can still get in touch with them. They're the ones who've had contact with him.
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[shinnosuke seems rude but maybe he can still be useful.]
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