bondsofsuffering | limelight

I guess, the way I see it...

Either you'll have a chance to go find them again and try to make up for it, or you won't. But either way - right now, all you can do is try to make sure you don't make the same mistakes again. Right?

...the thing is, there's something else. That wasn't a normal memory. We weren't — Annabeth and I — that wasn't earth. That wasn't Olympus, or the Sea of Monsters, or any of the usual mortal or mythological haunts.

That was...Tartarus.

[ sounds disbelieving, even to himself. but there was no doubt about it ]

The domain of one of the oldest, most terrible immortals. The place where monsters come from, and where monsters go when they're killed. Where Kronos was imprisoned by Zeus and my father and their siblings, after they overthrew him. The place deeper than the Underworld, where even Hades wouldn't dare go. No god ever would. No hero ever could. And any mortals would probably be incinerated before they made it there.

You'd probably call it hell. And if no half-blood would ever go there, I've never heard of one getting out.

Edited 2025-04-01 11:35 (UTC)

[The hug tightens, just a little.]

...Do you know why you were there to begin with?

[ shakes his head ]

I know my luck's pretty terrible, but this is bad even for me.

Then...

What are your best guesses? For why you might be there, or how it'll resolve.

I had some...

[ wistful ]

...memories I thought were from after that. But I don't know anymore. As for why, that's probably easy. Gonna be a prophecy, or a war, or both. There's one I heard that I've been wondering about...but I'll need more memories to be sure.

You've been through a lot. If you have memories that seem to come afterwards, doesn't it seem possible you may have made it out after all...?

Maybe? It's a place that's...hard to describe.

[ struggles with that for a moment ]

Like it feels so overpowering, even in the memories, that nothing else feels real next to it. That's the only reality. Everything else is the dream.

[Shifting a little to press a kiss to his cheek.]

Is that feeling sticking with you right now, too?

[ a tiny smile at the kiss, but doesn't move much; easier to admit this without having to look snow in the face ]

...some. Not, like, entirely or anything.

Mm...

I have some arguments against it.

[ huffs out a breath, endeared ]

I'm listening.

No offense, but I don't think you have the imagination to create all the different members of Acidia alone, much less an entire, populated world with a history that's apparently got a ton of hidden twists and turns.

[

buries his face in snow's shoulder to start weakly laughing. gods. ]

Inventing not one, but two boyfriends just so you can get into emotionally fraught arguments? Mmm, I dunno about that one.

[Kissing his cheek again.]

[ muffled, ]

There's no way I could ever make you up.

Exactly.

Somehow or another, you got out of there and now you're here with me instead. Aren't you lucky?

[ lifting his head to kiss on the lips ]

...super lucky.

[Leaning into that kiss.]

You gotta admit, it's a pretty good argument, right?

It's pretty convincing.

But is it enough to actually convince you?

...not totally. [ admitted ] But not because of you. I think it's just gonna take a minute to wear off.

It was worth a try.

...Though... if it lingers longer than a day or so, tell me?

[ kisses his cheek ]

Yeah, I will. This helped, promise. You help.

[The kiss brings a smile to his face, soothed.]

Just let me keep helping you if you need it, alright?

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