Post-redacted threads + other nonsense

[lionson]

This post is mostly for threads with Shiro involving Redacted stuff. So either other time loops, post-game, stuff like that.

But I'm also throwing my other shit in here too because yes.

If you want to make a top-level just drop the name of the character you want in the header of your comment, I'm cool with whatever. Muselist is over here.

Comments

For Nico, there's heavy spoilers for both Riordan books and SSSS in here btw

[silentscout]

[In a world somewhere between 'kind of ok but with monsters' and 'full on zombie apocalypse', where two canons got thrown together into some haphazard end times that weren't actually end times, Nico is going to get sent halfway around the world on a quest. Because that's how it goes with these things, send the demigod children in to clean up the messes the gods make.

But hey, at least Nico is immune to the zombie virus? It's one of the perks of being the son of the god of the underworld, dead shit don't affect you.

Dead shit also doesn't affect another demigod in the area, one who got much more of his grandfather's blood than his two non-immune cousins did. Which is handy in a country that is half taken over by 'trolls', as the locals call them. The island bits in the southern part of Finland are safe, as are some of the coastal regions. The country had survived the years of troll attacks by spreading out the population into small, easily-defensible towns and villages, so that even if one fell to the trolls the majority of the Finnish population would be safe. And indeed, they had thrived in the area despite the hardships associated with being right at the center of the temper tantrum thrown by the Norse gods and goddesses.

But deep into the northern woods, past the checkpoints and miles of defensive perimeters around what remains of the Finnish population? That's troll territory, and that means to be careful. Even if you're immune, a troll can still rip you apart if you're not careful. And immunity doesn't protect you from the nastiest of trolls, which live deep in those forests and look for unsuspecting demigods to gobble up.

The first time these two unlikely traveling companions meet up isn't in person, though. Unlike his stubborn cousin, who insists that he can do this task alone, Lalli understands the value of help. Even if he dislikes working with people in general, he likes being alive, and if help is needed to stay alive then he will ask for it.

Discreetly. Because Onni said no and Lalli is still one who quietly follows directions from people he respects most of the time, so his rebellion to look for help is going to be without Onni noticing.

So that means dreamwalking. He can travel hundreds of miles in one night, so even though he's in a safety shelter deep in the woods of Finland, he can dreamwalk his way all the way down to the port towns and look for any demigods who might also be dreaming. There's a handful of demigods around- he recognizes Onni and Reynir's dreams immediately, but passes them by for the time being since they're already in the group. Instead, he wanders past the dream bubbles of a demigod of Frejya (beauty won't help here) and a demigod of Thor (too flashy, there's normal humans in the group they need to not draw too much attention) and stops in front of a darker dream bubble.

Lalli frowns as he lets his hand skim over the surface of the bubble, feeling the magic within while also not breaking the surface. He definitely feels the weight of death here, but this isn't a demigod of Hel. That goddess doesn't have many demigod children to begin with, and this doesn't feel like the right brand of 'afterlife' to be her magic. Bu this 'death' also isn't the remnant of a troll dream, he had come across those before and knew how they felt. So what is it? Someone else?

It's worth the risk to travel into the unknown, he decides, and he pushes forward and steps right into Nico's dream. What wonders wait for him there?]

[resumed]

[The dream bubble is new. He'll be the first to admit it, because he doesn't really quite know how he'll meet up with this demigod he's meant to help and as per usual, Hades had been his infuriatingly vague self when he sent his son out on a quest to control things across the globe.

So when Lalli actually steps into Nico's dream, what he'll actually see is a lot of darkness. For someone used to traveling by shadows, it seems as though his own dreams are equally dark and private. Nevertheless, entering the dream will find a younger teenager who seems to be walking through the woods. In the far distance behind him there's the remnants of a summercamp, as if Nico's just left to begin his journey.

He's quick to notice he's not alone though and he pauses, looking up and staring straight in Lalli's direction.

Perhaps it's a little bit unfair that he has an advantage here knowing a little more than he'll let on, but it comes with a price of its own. Instead, he stays still with a stygian iron sword at his side and equally silent until he speaks up.]

This is different. [It's not really entirely conversational, but it's a fact. Demigods are prone to having prophetic dreams, sure, but this sort of meeting is new. It's a way to test the grounds, too, to see what Lalli has to say.]

[silentscout]

It's your dream, I just walked in.

[For Norse demigods, dream bubbles are normal. It's a common way to protect the mind from attacks that might come during their sleep. And indeed, the space between dream bubbles can be dangerous. Lalli has just been traveling the bubbles for years and knows how to avoid the dangerous space between them.

But he doesn't realize that dream bubbles aren't a constant across the world, so he is a bit perplexed when he hears Nico's reaction to one. Is the dream different, or is it being conscious during one that's different.

Also, dream bubbles have the handy feature of built-in translation, so they can understand each other just fine here. No extra magic needed!]

Do demigods not go into each other's dreams where you are from?

[resumed]

[No extra magic needed!! Which is nice because Nico already has three languages under his belt, nobody needs a fourth.

Still, he seems almost perplexed when Lalli explains and he even looks over his shoulder as if his dream would explain what, precisely, happened. But he frowns after that and he shakes his head.]

Our dreams don't work that way. Sometimes we can receive messages, but normally they show things that are happening or will happen in our future. Like a prophecy.

[Perturbed as he is, he can't help but be curious.] This is something you do often?