PC: Nico di Angelo

[rizomata]

Comments

[resumed]

Yeah. You do what you have to do to protect yourself. [ when you're on your own...who else is going to look after you? ] There's nothing wrong with that.

[rizomata]

I guess...

It wasn't until about a year ago that I started actually... talking to people again. Spending time with them. Or whatever.

[resumed]

[ he does not say "me too" because this is about rita at the moment. so instead, he's listening. ]

The people you were traveling with, I assume. [ hm... ] What changed your mind about it? Letting people in a little more, I mean.

[rizomata]

I didn't really choose to. It's just that one day, a bunch of idiots broke into my house and started accusing me of a crime I didn't commit. I was going to blast them to bits and hand whatever was left to the guards, but I had an ongoing project I needed a hand with, so instead I brought them along to make use of them.

... and I started to realize that there were certain things in the world that couldn't be learned from books.

[resumed]

[ he also would not blame her for that, but that's murder so never mind. ]

Sounds like they owed you at least that much for barging in unannounced. What'd they even think you did to begin with? [ maybe that doesn't matter much. rather, he's just...humming in agreement. ]

Guess it doesn't hurt that books can't really talk back. For better or worse.

[rizomata]

They thought I was a blastia thief, of all things.

I made a name for myself with my research, but since I never showed my face, some asshole got the idea that he could go around calling himself "Mordio" to scam people. After I cleared my name, I made sure he got what was coming to him.

[resumed]

You. Who's been studying blastia since you were a kid. [ okay like that's fair, they didn't know, but come on. ] What is with people going around and stealing your stuff?

[ but there's an approving nod. ]

Hopefully "what was coming to him" means you absolutely kicked his ass.

[rizomata]

Of course.

[ ty gimme a mem. ]

[resumed]

Then that's what matters. [ i was gonna give you a matching tone one because sometimes your mentors really do just manipulate the shit out of you, but the story's disjointed so instead, panels appear. ]

[rizomata]

[ oh... man.

rita's never known that kind of grief, that kind of loss. and she really doesn't know any of the right words to say to someone who has. so it takes a while before she says anything. ]

... Was that when some of your powers awakened?

[resumed]

[ well. this was a choice, and he's a little frozen as he looks at the panels before there's a quiet, resigned sigh. ]

Yeah. It was the first time that happened, and I had no idea what to do. So I ran away from camp and didn't go back.

[rizomata]

[ well. that's kind of relatable. ]

Where did you go?

[resumed]

For a while, I was living in the forest outside of camp. And then the Underworld for a while...that's where Minos found me and started teaching me how to use my powers. He said that if I learned how to control them and could trade a soul for a soul, I could bring Bianca back. So he taught me a lot of what I know now.

[rizomata]

You can't... do that, can you? Trade a soul for a soul?

[ is that a thing??? ]

[resumed]

You're not supposed to, really. [ which doesn't quite answer her question. ] And in the end I didn't. I released Daedalus's soul and sent him to the Underworld, and I banished Minos to go back to my father's court.

[rizomata]

That's...


... You really are capable of some incredible stuff, aren't you?

[ it's starting to sink in a little. what it means to be a demigod. ]

[resumed]

[ there's an awkward smile. ]

Yeah, you could say that. [ it's not even a brag, it's just "yeah i guess that would be a correct assumption." ] Children of the Big Three tend to be more powerful than others, but...I'm still learning everything else I can actually do. Sort of feels like I find new ways to use my powers all the time.

[rizomata]

The Big Three?

[resumed]

Zeus, Poseidon, and Hades. They're the gods of the sky, the sea, and the dead. They're also the most powerful of the Olympians.

[rizomata]

[ her eyes widen. ]

I've heard those names before... but... huh?

[ not from will, evidently. ]

[resumed]

[ help. he's also just staring at her with wide eyes for a second. ]

Huh what? [ oceanside has been a test in finding out who does and doesn't know about these things, evidently. ]

[rizomata]

I've seen them come up in texts I've read from ancient civilizations... It seems too specific to be a coincidence, but I don't know what else it would be.

[resumed]

Oh. No, those are the same gods. They've just been moving with Western civilization for years. They're real and they're very much present where Will and I are from. Everything you've read about them is probably true, too.

[rizomata]

But these were books from Terca Lumireis! From the Geraios civilization!

[resumed]

[ okay cool those are now words he doesn't know. ]

Okay, I have no idea where that is and maybe it's not the same? But. Probably close enough if you recognized it.