NICO

[foreverphantom]

Comments

[foreverphantom]

If there was a gun, we didn't see it.

...then again, there was a lot of fire and smoke in there, so. It's not implausible.

[resumed]

[ ...guess that's first. ]

Fire set? Did you guys find a source?

[foreverphantom]

I'm not sure. Jolyne was looking into the fire more than I was, but it looked like the fire was just on the furniture, not actually burning it or anything.

[resumed]

[ he's thinking this over. ]

We'll probably have to go back there and do a second sweep then. [ annoying... ] And once I check Lillium's body for burns that'll help determine a few things, too.

[foreverphantom]

Already committed to looking over his body, huh?

[resumed]

Probably against my better judgment, yeah. [ ... ] Jolyne looked at Sigrun last week. I can't make her do this twice, and I don't know if anybody else should.

[ i owe him that much. ]

Bad idea?

[foreverphantom]

...if you think you should, then I'm not going to stop you.

Just...be prepared for it to be gruesome, I guess.

[resumed]

You remember I pieced together a heart last weekend, right? [ terrible joke again. ] I can't shy away from stuff just because it's gruesome either. But then again I can already hear him bitching at me for doing it myself.

[foreverphantom]

[ i know, that's why i said it... ]

...so what's gonna win out, you think? Him scolding you from the grave, or team solidarity?

[resumed]

[ there's a thin smile. ]

He owes me a favor that I can't cash in anymore, so I'd say team solidarity. [ this isn't at all what he had in mind though. he doesn't think it's relevant, but. it's danny, and sometimes nico just feels like talking. ] He's the one who hit me with the rating curse. He told me.

[foreverphantom]

Oh, well, then he can't tell you anything. He really does owe you for that one.

[resumed]

See? [ haha. ] He told me why on Monday and I wasn't that mad about it. And he said that he figured he owed me for using it on me. [ but he also said to cash in soon, and i didn't listen to that. ]

[foreverphantom]

He had a reason for it?

...do you know why he thought he'd be targeted?

[resumed]

Yeah, his reason was dumb but it was a harmless wonderball so whatever. [ like. embarrassing, but for whatever reason he doesn't seem bothered about it right now. instead he chews his lip at that, thinking it over. ] Probably because he thought he was the least likable of the three of us left. And considering we're one of the bigger teams left...

[foreverphantom]

Oh.

[ Danny doesn't really know what to say to that; he never really got to know lillium well enough to like or dislike him. but maybe that's just it--maybe fewer people got to know him than they did nico or jolyne. ]

[resumed]

[ ...a hand scritches at shame's ears while he thinks. ]

...you know I don't expect you to actually know what to say about this kind of stuff, don't you? [ because he's thinking about how danny doesn't always know what to say and he's thinking about that aborted hand movement from earlier and he figures he should maybe make that clear, too. for no pressure. ]

[foreverphantom]

[ a huff and a small smile as he turns his gaze out to the ocean ]

I know, Nico.

[resumed]

And yet you still try. [ ...thanks. ]

...where did you actually go yesterday? Can I ask? [ maybe a distraction, but he'd been wondering anyway. ]

[foreverphantom]

...this weird city with a monster problem. There was this...barrier, keeping out monsters most of the day, but at night, it would go down and monsters would roam the streets. No one could touch them without getting poisoned, except for girls who had magic. It was normal to us--we all thought we'd lived there our whole lives with...our families, and everything. In that place, my parents were "monster researchers."

[resumed]

[ he lifts an eyebrow for a second. ]

What kind of monsters? I mean maybe that doesn't matter, but call me curious. [ magical girl cyoa??? ] Another one where you got the false memories though. I'm starting to hate those.

Did you guys have anything to help fight against the monsters? Magic or anything.

[foreverphantom]

They varied. Some were like small bugs, some were like weird fused rats, some were like giant flying worms with teeth.

...we did. Normally only girls got magic there for some reason, but we were the first boys in history to get it too. So it was like...a whole Big Thing. We had to train for like three months together before they would even let us go out at all.

[resumed]

Sounds pretty weird. But that...explains why you were talking about what happened to your hand as if it was something from a while ago. And it also sounds like a pretty big historical event if you were the first guys to have powers.

[ give him a second to stare out at the water as he thinks. ]

So what then? You were out fighting monsters after that to protect the city?

[foreverphantom]

For about six months, yes. It was...a lot like what I used to do back home, before everything was ruined.

That last night, though, monsters broke through the inner barriers--the last defense against them for most people--and started attacking our friends and families.

[resumed]

Was that good or bad for you? [ he's genuinely asking because sometimes it's nice to have something familiar, and sometimes it actually sucks when it's something you do not have any longer. ]

How'd the monsters get through? What'd you guys do? [ ... ] I'm going to take a guess that those people couldn't fight back either.

[foreverphantom]

At the time, I didn't remember having any other life. I was just happy to save people and help my parents with their work. In hindsight... [ he doesn't say anything, but he does hunch over in his sitting position a little with a weary sigh ]

...that inner barrier isn't very strong. Any monster can break through it if given enough time and opportunity, and these ones did, I guess. They could defend themselves a little--Tama was there, she was beating one with a lamp, I think, and my dad had a flamethrower--but only magic could kill them. So they could hold them off if they were lucky, but it's a waiting game unless someone with magic deals the final blow.