Fantasy Prophecy of Hades (Saracen_Rue & Partially-Stars)

[partially-stars]

sylvie woods. #896f99. outfit.​

Sylvie just raised an eyebrow as Viridian sat down directly across from her, and remarked upon how anxious she looked. Of course Viridian’s first comment would have to be something snarky and unpleasant, right before she stole one of Sylvie’s drinks. She would have been tempted to make a snarky comment right back, had the fact that Grey didn’t appear to be wearing gloves not caught her eye. Her attention was drawn right back to the woman across from her when she made a comment about Sylvie being killed by a monster. She apparently hadn’t been listening at all when Sylvie had explained her curse to her. Typical. Wonderful. Somebody who wouldn’t even listen to the few sincere things Sylvie had said to her. What a wonderful quest companion. At least she was safe from her curse on this quest.

It was that that hung over her as Grey continued talking and made reference to her not being able to kill Sylvie accidentally, only deliberately. She either hadn’t listened or had already forgotten. Sylvie was so used to people hearing about her curse from rumours that she hadn’t told anyone about it in years. Why would she? There was no point. Nobody stuck around long enough for them to potentially be impacted by it. She’d found solace in telling Grey, especially because their curses cancelled each other out. And then Grey just… forgot it. Grey may as well have slapped her in the face. Sylvie didn’t expect them to be friends. But knowing each other’s curses, talking about them… Sylvie had dared to hope things might be less unbearable as a result. And Grey had just dashed those hopes.

Muted by her anger and her frustration, Sylvie just shrugged and got to her feet, abandoning the rest of her iced coffee and digging her mother’s cloak out of her bag. As she pulled it on, she caught that familiar, achingly beautiful smell once again, just for a second, before it disappeared. “Let’s just get this over with,” she sighed, striding down the street towards the old abandoned library.

The Mist was a powerful thing. Sylvie could feel her eyes trying to scan right over it, forgetting its existence almost immediately. But with a snap of her fingers, the Mist cleared, and the building’s true appearance was revealed. An imposing, intact building stood where the crumbling library had stood seconds before. The dark stone almost reminded her of the marble of the underworld, and she had to stop herself from gritting her teeth. Instead, she turned her attention to the runes on the door, hovering her hand a few centimetres over it. There was that familiar hum of magic, the one her body seemed to crave so much. She scanned the runes for a few seconds, before her hand moved almost by itself, tracing the design of one of them in the air. The runes glowed for a second, before the door silently swung inwards. She wasn’t sure if it was enchanted to only recognise magic users or if her mother’s cloak had helped her, but either way, she wasn’t going to question it.

Her footsteps echoed on the parquet floor as she looked around. The room itself was large and imposing, every wall lined with artifacts and treasures from eras gone by. Out of place amongst them was a blue hairbrush, distinctively modern. Sylvie frowned and went over to take a look at it.

“We do not usually receive demigods here,” A voice said. Sylvie jumped and whirled around to face an old woman who had appeared apparently from nowhere. “Then again, you two are not normal demigods. Chosen by Hecate and chosen by Hades. An… odd pairing to say the least,” the old lady mused. Sylvie looked at Grey and raised her eyebrows. The old lady wasn’t wrong.

“We’re looking for something to help us on our quest, ma’am,” Sylvie said. “Something of… great power in both the mortal realm and the underworld. But we haven’t been given much information, and we were hoping there might be something here to help.” The woman nodded and looked thoughtful for a second. Then she appeared in front of Grey and jabbed a finger towards her.

“You! What’s your first thought when you think of something with power over both the overworld and the underworld! Quickly! Your first thought!”

 

[Saracen_Rue]

Viridian Grey - #575772 - Outfit

Viridian couldn't help but raise an eyebrow as her companion just as quickly rose to her feet, as Viridian sat down. It seemed just as instantly as she got there, they were already on the move. But even more surprising, was how Sylvie seemed to entirely ignore all the snark that was thrown her way. Usually Viridian would have continued to poke and prod, it wasn't any fun if she didn't get at least a reaction out of it all, of course. But something was different this time. She couldn't place a finger on exactly what it was, but there was still something evidently wrong. And she didn't like it, not at all. But that wasn't to say she was feeling entirely charitable enough to ask what was bothering the demigod. That wasn't any of her concern anyway, right? Right. Instead, she chose to silently tag along behind Sylvie, keeping a steady walking pace but keeping her eyes and ears open to their surroundings. Just because they were in the mortal world, didn't mean danger couldn't be around the corner. Not if past experiences said anything about it.

As the two arrived, at what only could be surmised as an abandoned building, she couldn't help but be curious. Just how many places of old were there hidden in plain sight? Not only here, but all around the world? How many places that seemed ordinary, or even less than that, laid right before humans and even demigods, and they could have been none the wiser if they didn't pay enough attention to notice? Granted, Viridian had spent so many years among the gods and demigods. that the ordinary to her could have meant the exact opposite to someone else, and visa versa. How much of the mundane had she truly missed out on? Blinking back to the present, Viridian took in the appearence of the building that stood before them now. Taking a few moments, she examined it closely. The structure itself caused a shiver to roll down her spine and into her toes. She didn't exactly like it, per say. But who could have exactly blamed her? Stepping inside, her eyes examined the interior of the building, the artifacts that laid within. Viridian had found herself attracted to a small, leather bound book with a brass clamp lying on a pedastel, her hand out stretched until a voice suddenly broke the silence. Viridian instinctively went for one of the daggers on her belt, hidden beneath her jacket, but stopped. But kept her eyes focused on the strange old woman, she didn't like any of this. Where did she even come from, anyway? How did she know who they were? Grey managed to catch the look thrown her way by Sylvie, and silently returned a look of her own that easily read what the fuck is up with her, before returning to a more neutral expression.

Viridian's eyes trailed back over to the book that lied in front of her, as Sylvie spoke up, explaining their cause of being here. Whatever it was truly for was anyone's guess at this point, seeing as neither of them entirely knew for sure. That was until the same old woman appeared to manifest right before Viridian this time, a proper finger waggle this time. A bit too awkwardly close, she thought. Viridian glanced between the old woman and Syvlie, before looking back at the old woman, "Well my first thought would how awkwardly close you are-" she started, "-But also totally not a giant, arrogant prick that calls himself a father." she concluded. Letting out a sight, Viridian crossed her arms, "No..." she mumbled, "Death." her eyes hovered back over to the woman, "It doesn't matter if you're mortal human or of godhood...It's death, isn't it?" ​

 

[partially-stars]

sylvie woods. #896f99. outfit.​

Viridian's reaction made Sylvie smirk to herself, but also roll her eyes. Of course Grey would bring that huge ass chip on her shoulder into this whole ordeal. The old woman scoffed. "Well, it's clear which one of you is the child of Hades. Always thinks of death first." She said, before turning her piercing gaze back to Sylvie. "You. Child of magic. What is your first thought?" She asked. Sylvie paused, scanning the objects around her. At first, her mind had gone blank, but now, there were so many thoughts rushing through her head that it was hard to pick out what was first. She turned to face the woman, and felt the movement of her cloak behind her, no longer disguised by the Mist to look like a coat.

"Magic. It's more abundant in the Underworld but it's present here. But it's not that, is it?" She said. She turned back to look at the objects in front of her, having gotten an opportunity to look at some of the descriptors.
"It's... hope. Hope that your beloved will join you in Elysium, hope that you may one day escape Asphodel, hope that the next life will bring you something kinder. Hope that you'll buy your friends some time by throwing your... hairbrush at Kronos? I think that's a mistranslation." She looked back at Viridian.
"I think I know what we might be looking for."

"Mmmm, that's an interesting theory. Care to share with us?" The old woman asked. Sylvie frowned.
"Surely someone like you would know? Given you... work here..." Sylvie put the pieces together as the words came out of her mouth, but it was too late. The woman was shifting, growing into something much larger than them. Feathers sprouted from her arms and her face morphed into something grotesque. A harpy.
"Smart daughter of Hecate. But not smart enough." The harpy leapt into the air, talons out to maul Sylvie. Sylvie reached for her hairpins, but she was too slow. By the time she had them drawn and they'd morphed into her twin daggers, the monster had collided with her and sent her crashing into the display case behind her. She felt the glass break and felt the telltale sting of cuts, but broken glass was the least of her problems given the monster had managed to get its claws into her shirt, and possibly tear the skin below it. Too dazed to aim properly, she blindly slashed with her dagger, causing the harpy to momentarily pull back, but it just clawed at her again, claws raking deep into one arm as she instinctively held it up to defend herself. She cried out in pain, dropping one of her draggers, but still tried to swing with the other. Her swing was far too wide and missed the monster entirely. With a better grip on her now, the Harpy took off into the air, soaring up as high as it could, and letting out a cackle.

"Well, daughter of Hades, what will you do? Trust in your power over death? Try to help your... ally? Or flee for your life?" The harpy mocked as Sylvie dangled helplessly from its claws, the arm that was holding her dagger caught in its claws, and the other pumping blood from the wounds. She looked down at Grey, her mind already foggy with pain and blood loss, and just shook her head, praying that Grey would remember she'd be fine one way or another, and would just trust Sylvie to be able to find her way out. In attempt to further communicate that, she let go of the knife she was holding and let it clatter to the ground. Grey would take them and bring them back to her, right?

 

[Saracen_Rue]

Viridian Grey - #575772 - Outfit
​

Viridian couldn't help but slightly frown at the old woman's comment about her answer, already able to feel somewhat of a brewing grudge begin. But it was short lived as she began to scan the various objects in the apparent store. Even if that word was slowly begining to not exactly feel right to her. It wasn't exactly that, per say, but something kept prodding from the back of her mind that something wasn't right about this place, that they should leave while they still could. But they couldn't, at least not until they found what they were looking for, and this strange old woman seemed to be part of this quest. Begrudgingly so. Instead she chose to continue browsing through the various shelves and podiums, scanning over the objects that lied around. Keeping her ears open to the conversation that was happening between the two others that were in the room with her. At Slyvie's next answer, Viridian couldn't help but stop and listen, an eyebrow raised as she listened intently, her hand just hovering over one of the many ancient artifacts, what seemed to be an old leather bound tome, one that had a strangely intricate lock. It didn't seem like any normal lock though, at least not one that would be opened with any old average key. Viridian managed to catch the look that was thrown her way as Sylvie corrected the mistranslation, only giving a small shrug as a response. Why should I know, the look said.

Her attention was brought back to the old tome in front of her, something about it seemed to be pulling her attention back to it no matter how many times she tried to ignore it. That was until Viridian snapped out of it, looking over at the other two just as the old woman, no, at this point Viridian's first thought was indeed correct. Woman wasn't the right word, especially not anymore. Old Crone seemed to be more appropriate now, as she began to shift and turn into a Harpy. Viridian's jaw clenched, Why's it always gotta be Harpies, she cursed to herself.

Normally Viridian would have been faster to react to situations like this, but something was impacting her and she didn't like not knowing what it was. By the time she had managed to pull herself together it was already too late, the Harpy already had Sylvie hoisted into the air, leaving Viridan helpless to provide any proper aid until it was already too late. She despised this, she truly did. But not for the reasons one would think. Her jaw clenched once again momentarily before she managed to collect herself. Her eyes trailing away from the now bloodied and rather badly injured Sylvie, to the Harpy. Her eyes locking on the creature's as it spoke.

"That's the thing, though. Isn't it?" she started, "Children of Hades aren't exactly cowards. At least not most of us." she continued. The expression the Harpy had remained unreadable as ever. Except for the hate filled eyes like before. "Unlike the children of Hecate, then they're fair game." she momentarily gestured to Sylvie before continuing. "They're the real cowards." she said with a scoff.

"Is that so?" the Harpy scoffed, the voice as shrill and unpleasant as Viridian remembered.

"Yup!" she replied rather coldly. "You know this one is more of an escort around the camp than anything else? And even then she's a terrible guide, really. Why else do you think she made the mistake of coming here out of all places, huh?" her eyebrows raised. Hands anchored behind her back, out of sight out of mind. The Harpy cocked its head to the side, clearly indicating Viridian to further clarify. "I mean, if she was really all that, don't you think she would have at least had a clue that something wasn't right? Just blindly wandering in and answering questions from someone she doesn't know? You had her fooled until it was too late. I had my suspicions though. I'll give you that much." she gave a small nod, her eyes flickering around the room as she continued walking, making sure her back was always just out of eyesight of the creature above. Just a little bit longer...

"But there is one thing about us Children of Hades that you forgot though, you know?" she asked cooly. The Harpy tilting her head to the side once again, this time accompanied with what could only be described as more of a questionable squawk than anything else. "We don't exactly play fair either if our enemies don't-" without much hesitation, Viridian snapped her fingers, which were now visible. Darkness quickly enveloped the Harpy from above, it was only then that the Harpy looked at its surroundings, inky black tendrils stretched out from the ceiling and corner above, enveloping the creature like a caccoon of darkness itself. A feeling of endless cold and nothingness was the best way to describe the sensation that now shrouded the creature, rendering it helpless as its claws released Slyvie from its grasp.

Now though, before Syvlie could hit the floor, Viridian slid forward, catching her with one of her arms. The two crumbling to the floor momentarily, before Viridian pushed Sylvie up against one of the walls, a somewhat regretfull expression overcame her features for but a moment until Viridian managed to steel herself once again before she turned around. Her attention going back to the Harpy that was rendered imobile, Viridian moved her hand and the Harpy was brought down with it. "Cooperate and I may let you live somewhat unharmed, but refuse-" Viridian removed one of her gloves, the same ink like tendrils appeared to cover her own hands as well, "and I can make it so much worse for you." her eyes flickered between the normal blue, and that of a golden amber tone as dark tendrils spread out from underneath her eyes. "So what will it be? Tell us what we want to know, no tricks, no bullshit, or you die right here where you stand." to help further prove her point, Viridian held one of the blades that Sylvie had dropped to the floor, to the Harpy's throat. "Get the point?"

​

 

[partially-stars]

sylvie woods. #896f99. outfit.​

Through the cloud of pain, Sylvie found just enough energy to shoot Grey a dirty look. Taking this opportunity to get a dig in at Sylvie seemed like a low blow. But it also didn’t seem… right. Grey could be a dick, but she didn’t seem the type to go shit talking her fellow demigods to monsters. And then she spotted Grey’s hands, uncharacteristically held behind her back, and her back always directed towards the wall. She was up to something. And apparently taking the opportunity to drag Sylvie while she was at it. Typical, but Sylvie would reserve full judgement until she saw if it worked or not. And with the harpy distracted and not causing any new wounds, it gave Sylvie a chance to think as best she could.

She glanced upwards and saw the darkness curling above the harpy seconds before the monster herself did, enough time for her to manage a wry smile and brace herself for what was to come. But with the pain still throbbing through her head, she couldn’t quite get the words together to prepare the spell in time, and the harpy dropped her before she could cushion her own fall. She expected more pain. What she didn’t expect was to be caught, landing on a soft body instead of the cold floor. Grey had caught her. She couldn’t do anything to remove the bewildered expression from her face before Grey gently put her down on the ground and went to deal with the Harpy.

It was at least slightly easier to think on the ground. Her first instinct was to check the cloak, to make sure it hadn’t been damaged when the harpy attacked her. It now appeared to look like the cloak her mother had worn in the underworld, not a mortal coat, so it had survived the worst of the damage. But it gave her an idea. Closing her eyes and focusing as best she could, she pulled the cloak around herself and muttered a healing spell. The aching in her head eased, but the pain in her arms merely dulled, didn’t fade. A clearer head was enough, though. She opened her eyes just in time to see the harpy stuttering out an answer.

“We don’t know!” She shrieked. “Only that the item has been missing for many years!” Sylvie snickered, getting to her feet.
“C’mon, any idiot could tell us that. I’m not sure that’s worth keeping it alive for, Grey,” she mused as she bent down to retrieve the other knife she’d dropped. Now with two dangerous demigods to keep an eye on, the harpy was becoming panicked.
“Not lost! Not lost! It’s not lost!” She squawked. “All we know!”

The pieces were fitting together in Sylvie’s head now as she recalled the brainwave she’d had seconds before the creature attacked. But she needed to know she was thinking along the right lines.
“It’s missing, but it’s not lost,” she clarified, and the harpy squawked in agreement.
“I think I know what it is, Grey,” she said quietly, before turning back to look at the harpy. “So what should we do with… this?” She asked.

 

[Saracen_Rue]

Viridian Grey - #575772 - Outfit ​

Grey kept her eyes locked on the Harpy that lied before the two of them, but she could hear the all too familiar sound of rustling, someone getting to their feet. Good, took her long enough, she mentally noted. However, with every passing moment she could feel the anger and annoyance build within as the Harpy demanded it didn't know where the artifact the two were sent to go retrieve was. Missing? Lost? Of course it would be. Her grip on the hilt of the knife only tightened as her patience was severely waining already. If this Harpy didn't fess up all that it knew sooner, rather than later...
"I've had my considerations already, Woods." she retorted on whether they should keep the Harpy alive or not. If they did, it only increased their chances of being followed and attacked later down the line, but they also needed answers. But keeping one Harpy alive only meant there would indeed be further trouble down the line anyway. It's not like she was entirely against murder anyway, in a way. Was it really murder? Or in this case would it technically be mercy? If Harpies were in line with whatever or whoever was behind this, only meant that this creature would meet an even worse fate than what these two could possibly give them. In a way, Viridian felt bad for it, but it wasn't enough to completely rule out killing it.

At the declaration that it was only missing and not lost, Viridian's eyebrow twitched. What kind of messed up game were they playing? Raising an eyebrow in Sylvie's direction. "What? Do you mean someone might haven stolen it?" she mused, a mixed laugh or amusement but also annoyance accompanied it. The Harpy squaked again, as if to signal they were possibly on the right path. "Why can't anything be original anymore." she sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose. Looking back at the Harpy, "Well...Looks like you've served your purpose after all-" she started, handing the knife in her hand back to Sylvie.

Raising her ungloved hand in front of the Harpy, "It'll be quick-" Grey reached out, placing her hand on the Harpy's head, a seemingly pain filled squak was all that sounded, before mere moments the creature now was nothing more than smoldering ash and cinders on the floor. "Said it was going to be quick, not painless.." she muttered. Grey put the glove back on, ensuring no one else would be unceremoniously turned into ash, "Well that was fun." she sighed, "One Harpy down...and who knows what else down the road."

 

[partially-stars]

sylvie woods. #896f99. outfit.​

Seeing Grey take out the Harpy probably would have terrified some people, but Sylvie had become so numb to potentially deadly things that she just watched as the monster turned to Ash. It wasn’t like she had anything to fear from it, as much as Grey probably would have liked otherwise. She took a moment to survey her wounds. It’d take her a while, probably a few days, to patch herself up fully, but she wasn’t in immediate danger any more at least. And given they weren’t in immediate danger, Sylvie decided she wanted to spend as little time as possible around Grey.

“Well, the good news is that the thing we’re looking for is almost definitely not here. The harpy was looking for it too, she would have found it if it was here. The bad news is, the last time I heard about it was at the Battle of Manhattan, and gods only know where it’s gone since,” she said as her daggers morphed back into hair pins, and she tucked them back into her hair. She knew that she probably should have just told Grey her theory, but she was annoyed at her and sore, so she didn’t want to. Grey would have to ask, and nicely, before Sylvie would tell her anything.

“And on that note, I’m going home. My head is starting to hurt again, and I really don’t want these cuts to start bleeding on the subway,” she declared, pulling the cloak around her and starting to head out. But something in her hesitated as she got to the door, and she sighed. “My apartment is nearer here than camp is. If you want to like… recharge or whatever before you head onwards,” she said. Grey had saved her life, even if it had taken an unnecessary amount of shit talking to do so. She owed her at least an offer to recharge somewhere that wasn’t camp.

 

[Saracen_Rue]

Viridian Grey - #575772 - Outfit ​

If Viridian was to be honest, which she tried not to dwell on for too long, was the fact of the small amount of surprise she felt at the response she had gotten out of Sylvie from the rather grim action taken. Or well, more so appropriately a lack there of, of a reaction. Instead it was a rather casual response and quickly shaken off, as if a creature hadn't been turned into ash right before them. Normally people would have looked at Viridian in disgust and disapointment in the casual use of her darker powers, but apparently Sylvie didn't seem to share those same emotions or morals that others had. Which, honestly Viridian didn't know if that ever so slightly impressed her, or worried her. It definately wasn't the response she had expected, but what she could appreciate, was for once not being looked at as a monster, for something she could never control, not to the degree she had otherwise wished, anyway. It was something new, and unexpected, and Grey didn't know how to feel about it. So she chose to do what she always did, ignore it and move on. So she did.

Viridian had gone back to looking through the various artifacts that littered the apparently not to innocent shop they had stumbled into, after all. If there was no one to tend to it, then maybe a few things going missing wouldn't be noticed to be gone from the inventory, and if they ever did, they'd hopefully be long gone from here. She was too busy shoveling a few different objects into the backpack she had, that Grey had nearly missed what Sylvie had said. Taking a moment to take it in before giving an answer. "Good, gives us a reason to get out of dodge before more show up." she said coldly, her hand still grasped on an old grimoire before continuing, "Or worse. Knowing our luck it will be worse, it always is." she finished, before turning over her shoulder to look at Sylvie, eyebrows furrowing at the offer being given to her. Her jaw clenched for a moment before going back to neutral. There were a few moments of pause before she spoke once more, "Well, much to both of our chagrin, I don't have a place outside of CampHalfblood-" she started, before pausing, shoving the old tome she had been holding into the backpack, "And if I have any family, they're mortal...and far, far from here. So unless you want me walking the streets in the open to be attacked by another monster-" she walked up to the other demigod, seeming to consider something before pushing something into Slyvie's hands. "Staying at yours seems like the only option we have, other than returning to camp empty handed." turning to face the door, "Those might help though." she stated, tilting her head to what she had given Sylvie, small objects in various forms, a minotaur, fury, saytr, and a few others. "Shall we go?"

 

[partially-stars]

sylvie woods. #896f99. outfit.​

The thought of Grey staying anything longer than just a few hours wasn't exactly a particularly pleasant one, but Sylvie did owe that much to her. As annoying as she was, she didn't deserve to be jumped by monsters on the streets. So she nodded, glancing down at what Grey had pushed into her hand. There was something vaguely familiar about them besides their shapes, but she didn't dwell too much on it, instead tucking them into her pockets. "Yeah. Let's get moving."

The journey back to her apartment was quiet. She stared out the window of the subway, mulling over her hypothesis as to what they were looking for. She couldn't be sure that she was right. But, well, whoever had it in their hands had the potential to use it to win battles, turn people to their side, and even change the course of history. In every other battle, its potential had been overlooked. But it seemed, finally, that wasn't the case. And that made it more dangerous than ever. If Sylvie was right, and she almost hoped she wasn't, then they needed to find it, and sooner rather than later.

She let them both into her apartment. For the first time, she felt vaguely self conscious about it. It was the first time she'd had somebody who wasn't Ty over, and he didn't count given he'd helped her pick it out and then decorate it. It was small, just big enough for one person, and decorated in a way that made it clear that the one person didn't expect many visitors. Runes were painted in silver paint on every wall, and as she closed the door behind them, she traced a few of them by the door frame. They glowed for a few seconds, before fading away softly. "Make yourself comfortable," she said. "You'll be sleeping on that couch for the foreseeable, after all," she added with a smirk.

She filled her small kettle with water, and set it on the stove to boil. "If you want coffee, you're gonna have to go get it yourself, this is a tea house. Bathroom is through there. You eat my food, you replace it. Don't mess with any of my runes, they're designed to cloak this place from monsters and other unwanted visitors. Any questions?" She asked, folding her arms and leaning against the counter.

 

[Saracen_Rue]

Viridian Grey - #575772 - Outfit
​

The ride towards their next destination couldn't have been any less awkward, if Viridian had tried. Having to be as close in proximity, and as surrounded by people like this, had made her increasingly anxious the entire leg of their journey. As much as she would have liked to have just walked and avoided people, she understood why that wasn't an option. Too out in the open, too easy of targets to be seen by monsters, or worse. All Viridian could have thought about was staying as far away from others as she physically could, keeping herself alone on one of the seats in the back, her eyes anchored mainly out of the window she was sitting next to, but would occasionally find her attention slipping across the subway cars. Scanning over the people that were there, ensuring they weren't being followed and stalked by unwanted people, let alone creatures following them from outside of the subway system. Granted, she hadn't been on many railway systems anyway, having spent so much time in CampHalfblood for half of her life, and they didn't exactly have the same kinds of travel systems back home in New Orleans, either. Small tourist tram cars, yes, but nothing like this. And that was where Viridian had found her mind going to. Home. Her actual home outside of Camp, anyway.

But could it really be considered home by now? All these years later, and no one from her mortal mother's side had come to claim here, even after everything that had caused her to be found as a Demi-god. It wasn't even Hades that came to retrieve her either. It was Hermes. He had somehow been more of a father to Viridian than Hades had been, and even then it was questionable. It seemed to be the way that the Gods were. All the same. Completely estranged from their own children, until they had wanted something from them, that was anyway. She had heard stories of the Gods having their children go on quests in the past, and it was still common place enough now, but not of the big three, anyway. Outside of all of this, all of the magic and wonder than the world had to offer, and all she wanted was to go back home. The familiar streets of New Orleans, the people there felt more like familiarity than any of the halfbloods at camp. Even if she was as enstranged to her mortal aunt and that side of the family, Viridian would have been lying if she ever tried to say she never thought back on them from time to time. Were they still alive? If they were, were they still back there? If they were, why did they leave her alone for so long? Why never even try to contact her? They knew about everything. They had known what Viridian did. Why didn't they try harder? Why didn't they fight for her? Did they not care enough to try and help her back then? Was she not worth it? Was she ever? It was thoughts like those that plagued her for so long. They didn't make her sad like people would have expected. It made her angry. So very damn angry. And now she was here...All alone. Again.

It had only been the physical lurch forward of the subway car coming to a hault that made Viridian snap out of her thoughts, and come back to earth. It's where she was needed, after all. Maybe. Not like the company she had really wanted her around, anyway, that much was obvious. But they both had a damn mission to accomplish, and that was the only thing keeping them together right now. And after it was said and done, they would part ways again. The way it was supposed to be. Alone.

Viridian had followed Sylvie all the way home, studying her surroundings all the way there. Could never been too careful, after all. It was only once the two were inside the small apartment, that Viridian felt like she could properly breathe since leaving camphalfblood, even though she would never admit it aloud. And to be honest, it was more or less what she had been expecting to see. Sylvie seemed to be just as alone and off to herself as she had suspected. The two seemed to be having more and more in common than Viridian would have liked to admit. Great. Viridian had taken note of the runes almost immediately, no matter how well they may have been hidden, or attempted to be, she could sense their magic with every ounce of her being. It all vibrated around her, she could feel the slight pulsations of the very magic itself around her. It was comforting, oddly enough. At the sound of Sylvie speaking, she found herself snapping to attention.

Viridian couldn't help but smirk slightly after she took her shoes off and placed them to the side, more out of habit and instinct than anything else, a habit she had formed early on in chidhood, "Oh I wouldn't have it any other way. Not exactly the cuddling type, sorry to say." sarcasm ever evident in her voice. Nodding alone at apparently all these house rules, she finally raised a hand when asked, "Yeah, just one." she started, "Do you always have such a major stick up your ass? Or is that just part of your ever present, godly-parent given charm?" she snarked back, rolling her eyes. Viridian sat back on the couch, tucking her feet under her body as she sat, "But don't worry, I won't take up any space, hells, you'd barely notice I was even here. Cabin 13 isn't exactly the most lively of cabins, after all. Pretty dead in there, actually.." she finished, giving a small sigh, "Tea is fine though." she added softly, before looking down, "Anywhoo, You clearly have some ideas of what we're looking for, I can tell cuz that look on your face that you get whenever you start thinking a little too hard on something. It makes you look more constipated and annoyed with everything, more so than usual, actually. Rather impressive, all things considered."