THE GHOST KING

The hum of his own ship's engines was more of a constant companion now, well that and the navigation droid JA-32 that largely set the course for where he might go next. Not that the navigation droid was pleased with how much Nico had been changing his mind on where they ought to go next, but even Nico couldn't really describe his impulses on where they should go.

It's just a feeling, he had tried before and most consistently. A feeling like I'm was going to be sick, but he didn't say it that time around. Not when he'd said it the last time and JA-32 tried to direct him to a medical clinic. Feeling like he was choking on the air didn't help either, especially when JA-32's planet specs showed the atmosphere to be more than breathable. And the feeling had gained a voice over the last few cycles, adding more reason but somehow less answers to where he ought to go next and why.

Nico obeyed the voice, though, hoping it wouldn't lead him deeper into the wrongness. "Trust me, Jay. Just trust me, okay? We can't stop here. Not yet."

Because this new feeling now was all different, and something he hadn't even dared to put into words, what with the hopeful thrum like a gentle river around him and a Voice pulling him onward. JA-32 grumbled in annoyance, but Nico ignored the sound, eyes closing again partially with fatigue and partially hoping to hear the voice again.

Even though it wasn't hearing. Not really.

Could he reply to the voice? He wondered, lips working as he kept his knees tucked up to his chin, keeping his eyes closed to force himself not to watch where they might he headed next, what planet was due to blip into their view screen. He'd only tried to sense the voices and the feelings before, never tried to communicate to anyone who might be listening--Nico didn't think anyone else could listen beside him. But someone else had spoken, right? So... they had to be able to hear too.

❝  who  i  am,  important,  it  is  not.  trust  the  force,  you  must  ❞ the  answer  did  not  arrive  as  words  alone.  it  unfurled  through  the  living  force  like  the  first  breath  of  spring  stirring  an  ancient  forest  long  surrendered  to  winter,  its  touch  impossibly  gentle  against  a  soul  worn  threadbare  by  endless  flight.  no  face  accompanied  it.  no  name.  only  quiet  certainty,  old  as  starlight  itself,  wrapped  within  a  voice  that  carried  neither  judgement  nor  expectation.  merely  kindness.  merely  hope.

for  the  briefest  heartbeat,  stillness  claimed  him

across  the  immeasurable  gulf  that  separated  worlds,  through  rivers  of  stars  &  currents  unseen  since  the  birth  of  the  galaxy,  another  presence  had  reached  back.  hesitant.  uncertain.  frightened.  yet  reaching  all  the  same.  after  years  spent  speaking  only  to  the  silence  of  forgotten  swamps,  to  ghosts  who  lingered  between  memory  &  eternity,  &  to  the  force  itself,  another  living  soul  had  answered.  so  small  a  thing,  perhaps.  yet  within  the  force,  even  the  smallest  ripple  possessed  the  power  to  awaken  oceans.

then  the  waters  darkened. a  wound  tore  through  the  force  with  all  the  subtlety  of  a  blade  drawn  across  silk,  sending  cold  ripples  racing  outward  until  they  brushed  against  ancient  senses.  beneath  the  fury  lay  fear.  beneath  the  hatred  lay  anguish.  beneath  the  crimson  stain  still  lingered  the  dying  embers  of  a  child  once  gathered  beneath  the  temple's  sunlit  spires.  another  of  his  own.  another  youngling  grown  into  something  they  had  never  been  meant  to  become.  grief  settled  upon  weathered  shoulders  with  familiar  weight,  heavy  as  stone  &  twice  as  old,  yet  no  bitterness  found  purchase  within  him.  only  mourning.  only  the  quiet  ache  reserved  for  those  whom  one  still  loved  despite  all  they  had  become.

the  sorrow  passed  as  all  things  eventually  must. in  its  place  remained  resolve ❝  hurry, you  must, young nico.  closer,  the  inquisitors  draws.  fear,  listen  to  it  not.  trust  what  the  force  has   whispered  to  you,  trust  what  it  has  shown.  abandoned  you,  it  has  not...  &  abandoned,  you  shall  never  be ❞

once  more  the  ancient  master  reached  across  the  endless  tapestry  of  creation,  unseen  hands  extended  through  luminous  currents  that  bound  every  living  thing  together.  there  was  no  promise  that  the  path  ahead  would  be  free  of  suffering.  no  certainty  that  dawn  would  greet  them  when  night  had  passed.  only  this  quiet  truth,  carried  upon  the  force  itself  like  a  prayer  older  than  language

JA-32 twittered in concern, a sound that Nico largely ignored, squeezing his eyes shut in hopes of touching that voice, that experience again.

The Force? I don't understand. He pressed onward, trying to grasp at the impression as hard as he could, although it fluttered fitfully through his mind like fine silk his mother once wore, or trying to grasp at a wave. If he held on too tightly, he would only lose it. Forcing his breath out through his teeth, he tried to settle himself again, letting his body relax even as his hands tremored with a faint excitement. Is this... the Force?

But then something seemed to wrench the connection apart and Nico's eyes fluttered open finally, scowl darkening his lips as he lurched to his feet, clambering toward the cockpit on legs that had long grown numb from the position too long kept. What was that darkness? It felt different than what he'd felt from the Wrongness chasing after him before. It seemed tied to the Force somehow-- if the Force was really the sense Nico relied on to keep himself ahead of those that made the air unbreathable and twisted his stomach around. Was the Force sick somehow? Could the Force get sick?

Nico still wasn't sure what the Force was.

And a blank starfield greeted him when he finally got to the cockpit, frustration curling his lips as a fist pounded into the dashboard. He thought they were actually on to something, but from the scattering of asteroids around them and a few distant stars, Nico didn't sense anything exciting one way or another ahead of him, and certainly no blinking sign above one planet in particular declaring 'You Are Here!'. But maybe that was wishful thinking.

"I--sorry, Jay. I can't really explain it," Nico said, heading off the querying whistle from the droid. "I thought I had a lead but--"

Only for then another emotion to wrack though his chest, the nausea again accompanying the Voice he'd been trying to reach before. Inquisitors? Was that who was chasing after him? And how did the Voice know his name? Grabbing at his head, Nico's free hand reached out to stabilize himself on the copilot seat, trying to keep himself from rocking on his heels inside a ship that largely thrummed still in one place.

But yes, when the Voice gave a name to it, Nico could feel the Wrongness better now, now especially that it had a name. A prickling warmth tickled the back of his neck and his shoulder's hunched, recoiling from a breath that seemed to almost literally breathe down his back. They were close. How had he not sensed it before?

"We need to program some jumps, Jay," Nico snapped, settling himself firmly down into his seat to buckle himself in securely. "Evasive maneuvers, about 6 parasecs for each jump with four or five jumps, but--" He paused checking himself, eyes drawn towards the starchart on the screen at the far side of JA-32's body. "--there. Aim towards that planet."

       — With only the dead for company.

Babianca and babico playing aww aww the aw

@stygicniron asked: reverse + 🗡️ (if you're still taking these!) Send 🗡 to hold a blade to my muse's throat for their reaction! Alternatively, send 'reverse + 🗡' for my muse (receiver) to hold a blade to your muse's throat

Tarre is a Mandalorian, and a very Mandalorian one. And before that, he was a Jedi: it all means that threatening a youth is the last thing he likes to do.

It's also the best way to, right now, get them both out of prying eyes. So he moves, faster than a man in armor should, and the knife is small and beskar and clear, even though he lets reassurance bleed into the Force, between them: he can sense enough.

"We are being watched, and there are at least three other bounty hunters on your track." He warns him, his voice a whisper. "If you want to live, come with me, and you have my word you will be alright."

There's several bounty hunters following him now? How has he missed that? And, stars, how did he miss a man in armor moving so quickly near by him? He's come to rely more on the instinct, the prompting, that alerts him to danger, and maybe that's where he's gotten himself in trouble now. Or maybe the running is finally wearing down on him.

scott remembers the lacrosse game, during their last semester. how the field was charged with an aggression that felt too raw, too intense, influenced by the wild hunt. what if it's affecting everyone? he'd asked it, but he didn't realize the full scope of what it meant. that it wasn't just the hunt. it was a flood of energy from another world that landed wrong in this one, because it wasn't supposed to be here. they diverted the train, got everyone back, and the hunt moved on. that energy stayed behind. amplified. manifested into something that terrifies him in all of the ways that he's pretended nothing could for a long time.

and nico isn't fazed. scott wasn't expecting him to be, but there's a shaky sense of reassurance in that. he isn't pushing back or running for the hills. he wants to know what he can do to help. scott's breath drops in a steady exhale, shoulders hitching as he rubs a palm over the nape of his neck. " we need to figure out who it is, " he starts, and that almost makes it sound easy. " we've got a pretty good idea who the human half might be — his name's aaron, he's on the lacrosse team. or ... he was, i guess. when it takes someone's face, it takes their DNA too. it — becomes them, somehow. which probably means that aaron's been dead for a while. "

he doesn't like thinking about it any more than he likes voicing it out loud, but he can't focus on it. on another kid that they couldn't save. he swallows, drags his teeth briefly across his lip, keeps going like there'd been no break in between.

Shaking his head slightly, something almost like a smile quirks at the corner of his mouth before he speaks. "No, I want to help. It's nice to be able to get to choose to be able to help rather than getting dragged into it." Besides, at the end of the day, that's what demigods do-- go wherever they want, challenge whoever they want, generally meddle. It's nice not to have to do it at the beck and call of the gods this time. And Scott is Nico's friend. He has precious few of those, and he's not about to lose another good friend either.

So, he's going to help. A taste of the fear coils in the air for a minute, hoping it might catch him up too. That's the thing about fear. It's contagious.

"I can also be very distracting," Nico says, pushing the thought away, turning over another possible thought as his smile grows slightly, although the mirth isn't there. It's been awhile since he's summoned a few zombies, and if Scott needs attention taken away from him, Nico's more than happy to provide. He doesn't think this creature will be distracted by the zombies, but at least some trigger happy mortals will be less likely to attack Scott, or anyone else that could actually die.

Any one more that could actually die.

@stygicniron sent: you sound exhausted. ✉

MEETING NICO HAD BEEN PRETTY WEIRD, AND THAT WAS SAYING SOMETHING CONSIDERING THE KINDS OF THINGS JAKE THOUGHT OF AS NORMAL THESE DAYS. between the train, the monsters, and the obligatory conversation that had followed after ( what are you? what am i? do we live in the same strange, dangerous world? ) there hadn't been a lot of time to decompress.

the way you got to know someone in a fight was a lot different then this quiet part now ── and really, nico's question kind of took him off-guard in a way that it honestly shouldn't have. for a moment he had this look on his face like ' did you seriously just ask me that? ' , and another where his back straightened up reflexively as though it were some kind of accusation.

then he remembered who nico was, and where they were. he remembered that he was probably just trying to be nice, and god ── it felt like forever since there had been a quiet part for him to screw up.

          " YEAH ... I MEAN, I PROBABLY AM? " it came out like a weak admission on jake's part, but at least he could pull off a half-hearted smile to nico over the fire. the mountains were weirdly peaceful ── or, maybe he just felt that way because he'd been a wolf before. god, that had been stressful. " i ended up shifting a lot ... i'm kinda hungry too, but i've had a lot worse. like, try getting-crushed-under-someone's-foot worse, " jake paused; then he felt a sinking feeling in his gut. he realized he was waiting for marco to laugh. " ... i'll be fine in the morning. one of us should probably take first watch ── how are you feeling? "

Quiet brown eyes regard the other for a moment before he nods slightly, almost like confirming something for himself, although even he isn't quite sure what. "Or holding up the sky," he adds in way of agreement. Not that he personally had to do that himself, but he's gone through enough things that only the gods had done before to have a guess what it's like. And Percy's told the story enough times that Nico's familiar with the gist.

"Using your powers makes you hungry," Nico continues, speaking much more from experience this time around. "You should eat. I--I think I have some rations to share." Shifting around slightly to swing his backpack off his shoulders, he begins to rustle around the contents, frowning. He's not the best at traveling prepared. Of course, Nico has nectar and ambrosia, but he doesn't think that will be any help to Jake. Not that Jake is a regular mortal, but Nico'd still rather not risk the guy burning up. But he finds one of the individually packaged rice krispie treats, so that's fine. "Here," he says, offering it to Jake.