(no subject)

[zombiedude]

Who: Nico di Angelo zombiedude and OPEN
When: Anytime after Will disappears (In-game the 22nd I think?) but before the ball
Where: Anywhere
What: Nico's completely on his own now and desperately needs some new friends. Come cheer a lonely kid up?
Rating/Warning: No warnings

---

[After Will disappeared, Nico's become a hermit again. His worst fear has come true and he's not taking it very well at all. It's just his luck that when he finally doesn't want to be on his own anymore, that when he finally wants to give staying at camp a try, it all goes disastrously wrong. Now not only are Camp Jupiter and Camp Half-Blood unreachable, but so is the Underworld. He's cut off from anywhere he could possibly go and his shadow traveling doesn't even work anymore outside of the ViVid game. (He wonders if it's because he pushed himself too much with his abilities trying to get the Athena Parthenos statue back to camp before things ended in an all out war between the Romans and the Greeks.)

He's from the 1940's and even though he's spent some time in the modern world, the technology here is still more advanced than what he's used to. It was more tolerable when Annabeth and Will were here, but both of them are gone now. He's never been good at making friends so it's no surprise that he doesn't have any he's made here, even if he's been in this place for over a month. He's 14 so he's supposed to go to the school here but he hasn't been going the last couple of days because what's the point? He doesn't know anyone, he hasn't been to a proper school for the past four years so he's behind anyway, and it's nothing but awkward with constant reminders he doesn't fit in anywhere.

The only thing that's keeping him going is the hope that his world isn't completely gone, that there's a way to either get back to or save his friends and family. He's missed Hazel's birthday. His half-sister would be 14 now, the same age as him. The anniversary of Bianca's death also has passed, and remembering the death of his sister and wondering if Hazel is still somehow alive just makes him even more lonely.

Right now, he's at the gardens again. It's the one place he visits when he gets a little restless being in his room for so long. It's not exactly like Persephone's garden, but it's the closest thing he can get to it than anything else in the city. It's the closest thing he can get to home.

Unfortunately for the caretakers of the garden, Nico still has some issues controlling his powers when he's upset and/or moody. While other areas have bright, vibrant flowers, the ones near Nico look more wilted and there's a patch of brown, dead grass around him in a circle. It's only in the area directly surrounding the teen as he sits on the ground, leaning against a bench instead of sitting on it as he hugs his legs to his chest and stares off into space. He's so lost in his thoughts that he doesn't realize he's accidentally killing the plant life around him.

Nico is dressed in his usual get up of black pants, black shirt with a skull on it, and aviator jacket, his black sword lying on the ground at his side. (While it was nice to have his jacket back, he'd trade it away in a second if it meant he could see someone from home again.) The toll of the wars he's fought in and his time spent in the Underworld are clear on his features with a thin body, bags under his eyes, and sickly colored skin instead of the natural olive tone it used to be years ago. He looks like he hasn't gotten a good night's sleep in forever and could stand to eat a solid meal or twenty. If you get close enough to get a good glance at his face, you can see his eyes look much older than the age he physically appears to be.

Approach the weird but gloomy looking teen?]

Comments

[gates_of_babylon]

[Soft foot-steps met Nico's loneliness head on. A man who radiated from his presence alone stood before him so suddenly that one should have wondered where he came from in the first place. Dressed in modern clothes that betrayed his era, he cast a somber look upon the young man who couldn't even tell that his powers were going unchecked.

Gilgamesh had never met errant demigods before, but he had already known about them from his exposure to the throne of heroes. He, himself, could have been classified as the worst among them and knew it. He tested the patience of the gods and cemented his own loneliness for the rest of his days.

Why he bothered to stop in front of Nico would be a mystery to himself, as well. Gilgamesh had no interest in anything broken or decrepit and Nico radiated an aura of death--one that he loathed.

Simply put--Gilgamesh knew exactly what Nico was. He didn't know who he was, but he was gaining information as time passed. Soon, he would simply ask for a name.]

Boy. Do not succumb to yourself. One of strong blood should not fall prey to their own mind.

[zombiedude]

[Nico looked up when he noticed someone standing next to him, taking a moment to inwardly scold himself for not being aware enough to realize someone had approached him. Not being aware of his surroundings could get him in trouble.

He guessed from the person's presence that he wasn't any ordinary person, but what he was doing here, Nico wasn't sure. He looked up at him defensively with a little frown, answering in a slight grumble.] What else am I supposed to do?

[gates_of_babylon]

[There was rarely purity in demigods. Gilgamesh knew for a fact that those who followed him by birth were besought by madness from their mixed blood. Nico didn't ring true as a demigod immediately, but his presence was beginning to give him a few notable impressions.]

Kill those things rattling within your mind--your grief and your despair.

[He lifted one hand, producing a golden jug of wine from thin air.]

Such things are beneath you. As I acknowledge your worth--so should you.

[zombiedude]

That's much easier said than done. [He still doesn't look very cheered up, but he does look a little intrigued at the sudden appear of the jug.] ... How did you do that?

[topscores]

[Nice doesn't always know how he ends up where he does. Sometimes he just keeps walking to see where he ends up...so when he ends up in front of a kid with dead plants around him, he just removes his headphones.]

...You've got a really gloomy atmosphere going on right now.

[Thank you, Captain Obvious.]

[zombiedude]

[Nico blinks up at the guy with a 'why are you talking to me...?' expression before he glances around himself and sees what the guy means. His frown deepens as he swears softly in Ancient Greek under his breath.] I didn't mean to do that.

[topscores]

Eh? You did that?

[He didn't. Really expect for him to say something like that...

Which of course makes him even more curious.]

How'd you do that?

[zombiedude]

It's just something that happens. [When his emotions get a little out of control but he doesn't really want to explain that and his tone suggests he doesn't want to elaborate too much on it either. He does, however, add:] Because of... things I can do. Powers, I guess you could call them. [He doesn't really think of them as powers per say but it's probably the simplest way to explain.]

[topscores]

[Powers...? He'll just. Casually sit down in front of Nico now because his interest is definitely there now.]

Yeah? What kind of powers do you have?

[Well.]

Other than killing plants anyway. I don't think that's completely it.

[zombiedude]

[Nico's frown deepens ever so slightly and he looks a bit wary when the young man sits down next to him. He doesn't like talking about his powers too much with strangers because he's used to people rejecting him for them out of fear, so when he does explain, he speaks cautiously.] They're earth, shadow, and death related. [If he listed out every little thing he could do, they would be here for awhile.]

[topscores]

[Nice seems to think about it, and he looks around at the dead area again before he nods.]

Makes sense. It sounds pretty cool.

[He finds the weirdest things cool...]

But I'm a little curious on what you mean by death related.

[zombiedude]

[Nico looks fairly reluctant to discuss it further, but after a pause, he relents a little and ends up asking:] Do you know anything about Greek mythology?

[topscores]

[Sorry Nico, Nice is just really nosy.]

Yeah, I know the gods and all that. That's probably all I know, though.

[zombiedude]

Hades is my father. [Hopefully that's enough of an explanation for him to understand.]

[topscores]

...Huh. How does a god have a kid?

[He's just thinking out loud -- though it does make sense with the creepy death vibe and everything.]

It's pretty cool, though.

[He finds the weirdest things cool, seriously.]

[sjokolade]

[While Anna might be oblivious, it didn't take a genius for the princess to stop a lonely person somewhere in the corner of her eyes. After all, this wasn't an unfamiliar sight. However, what really made her raise an eyebrow was the surrounding plants nearby]

Hey...you all right over there? Because you sure picked an interesting spot to sit at!

[That and she couldn't stand to see someone by themselves]

[zombiedude]

[When Anna approached him, Nico's slightly defensive expression softened when he saw it was someone he recognized. Looking down, he finally noticed what he was doing to the ground around him and stood up, looking a little awkward.]

I didn't mean to. I'm fine. [Hahaha, Nico, you are the opposite of fine. He didn't want to talk about himself though, so he attempted to shift the focus onto her. He hadn't spoken to her since they were trapped in the ferris wheel together.] How have things been for you? [His mouth curled up into the hint of an amused smirk.] Hope you haven't gotten stuck anywhere else.

[sjokolade]

[Anna wasn't convinced one bit but she wasn't going to push him if he didn't want to talk about it. Instead, she smiled at him before making her way toward him]

That's not funny, you know we could have seriously died there! [Sorry, Nico, this is the look you're getting from Anna] But anyway! I don't think a whole lot happened though! There is this party coming up and thought about singing over there!

[zombiedude]

Sorry. [He didn't add that he'd been through far worse situations than that which was why he was making it out not to be as serious as it probably had seemed. When you'd been through your world's version of literal hell, trapped and held captive, getting stuck in a ferris wheel with some creepy illusions hardly seemed as bad.]

You like to sing? [A singing princess. He wasn't all that surprised.]

[sjokolade]

Eh, don't worry about it. [She gave a small shrug. Joking or not, at least he knew that she wasn't happy with it. Luckily, it didn't take long for the princess to go from a small frown to an even bigger smile]

Yeah, why not? It's a good way to take all your negative energy out and a good way to make everyone happy don't you think?

[zombiedude]

I'd say that depends on if someone is a good singer or not. Rocks falling probably sound better than some people's voices when they try. [He gives her an light but encouraging smile.] But I'm sure you sound nice. [He means it sincerely too.]

[sjokolade]

So you're trying to say that my singing is really bad aren't you?

[No, she didn't mean it but she was surprised by Nico's choice of words. However, if he was going to be that way? So was Anna! That and Anna never understood sarcasm anyway.]

[zombiedude]

What? No, no, not at all. I just meant that some people don't have good singing voices. I didn't mean you specifically, I promise.

....you saw no fail >_>

[sjokolade]

[Then there was a giggle from her]

Oh really? Well, I like to think that all people can sing well! It's just a matter of practice and lots of hard work! I bet even someone like you could sing too if you tried!

[Anna no!]

[zombiedude]

[Nico cringed a little at that.] Maybe. If I had to, I'd rather sing with people than in front of them. [That way he can pretend like he's singing and mouth along with the words at least. Sneaky.]