#dextercosta

he was dead.

and then he wasn’t.

it’s strange how time works when you’ve departed. even stranger to admit to himself that he fell in combat, that his own hubris (ironic since his mother punished such things) lead to his downfall. 

maybe it’s a lesson he was supposed to learn. 

he looks over at dexter, son of hades, and wonders what it took for him to bring him back, what he had to do to get them to agree to it. he rolls his shoulders—everything aches—and then places a hand on dexter’s shoulder. “you didn’t have to bring me back.” his voice is low, just loud enough for dexter to hear. “but thank you. i owe you.” 

could contacting the dead really work? upon hearing more and more about the children of hecate, genaro found himself outside again with his legs crossed as he sat down on a bench. he tried to focus on any of the knowledge he picked up prior to his arrival. 

if there weren’t any lingering souls then he didn’t really know who he was going to summon, but it never hurt to try. as he was about to prick his finger and try to summon his own relatives, he was glad that the sight of someone living caught his eyes.

it unnerves him, but he knows that it won’t last. he’ll adjust. 

eventually.

he stands in the mageia house, at the room he’d picked as his own and had barely thrown his things in before they were getting whisked to the underworld and then looks down the hall and sees dexter. 

“how’s it feel to be back? you miss hell already?” he questions, cocking an eyebrow and giving the king of hell a genuine smile. 

agathys lifts a brow as the demigods file into her apothecary, one by one, filling it enough to bump into the shelves and tables. “well,” she snaps her fingers and each of the crows that follow the coffin are suspended in the air and trapped in a hovering bubble. they look curled and peaceful within it, like babies slumbering in a rocking womb. “bringing the nosoi into my shop must have been your stupidest idea yet.” agathys isn’t one to forget payment, and counts her coins before she clears her counter for the box to be placed upon.

as she hovers a hand over the ancient wood, the purple runes glow alive again on the cover: ‘he who opens pandora’s box, beware.’ she smiles. agathys chants something in an unfamiliar language and the words fade, the spell unbinding from the coffin. 

Meanwhile in PVP #1.....

this, a birthright taken for freedom.

this, something, too, that will leave in the end. 

he closes his eyes to inhale the new scents of incense—deep lavenders, fresh citrus, sage—and he almost sways on his feet. it lulls him into a false sense of security, as if this place, hidden away from the world, could be home. 

that thought terrifies him, sends pin pricks along his skin as if he’s just waking up from a too-deep slumber. and maybe that’s his new birthright. the irony of it doesn’t escape him. 

he climbs the spiraled staircase until he reaches the top floor and slips into his dormitory. it feels strange having a room to himself, large and spacious, and the feeling it brings almost makes him feel claustrophobic. he inhales deeply before he throws open his window and climbs out and onto the roof. this, he thinks, feels more like home.

atop the roof, he already sees a figure. maybe he’s not the only one who can’t sleep, maybe he’s not the only one who all of this feels undeserved. 

he says nothing as he takes a seat above his window, legs dangling off the side as he looks out over the grounds of the camp, of his new home. he’ll wait for the other to speak, first, in case silence is something they need, too. 

strangely enough, this time agathys doesn’t seem bothered by the demigod’s presence, perhaps because she understands he’s asking an important question. she takes his hand and inspects it, awakening the rune with a few, muttered words. the magical symbol begins to swirl on his skin. “it is the mark of mageia,” she says. now that he examines it further, he notices that the symbol on his hand is the same that he’s seen in the stone engravings and signs all around his own house. “there will be many fights, but the seal requires just one demigod from each house to stand with you. i hope you have friends in mind.”