➴𝕿he 𝖙rouble 𝖎t 𝖒ight 𝖉rag чou 𝖉own ❥-- 𝚂tri & 𝓢ocks

The vampire hadn't seen this much water since he'd moved to Morganville. He'd crossed the ocean and then there had been the long journey inland, away from the natural predators for him and his friends.
But the Draug were gone now - or at least he assumed they were. If he was wrong, then he guessed he'd be eaten. His legs were dangling in the frankly dirty water. Humans had set up a path around it to walk. He hadn't been walking. He'd just wanted to be here, instead of Morganville.
It had taken a long time to convince Amelie to let him come here. There had been many things he'd had to promise Amelie and more. And he hadn't been aloud to come here alone, but for now, he was away from his 'guides'. There were a thousand things that he wanted to do. But the biggest one was to avoid the crowd and wait for the sun to completely set. It was almost there, just hanging at the horizon. He didn't watch it. It would just hurt his eyes. Instead, he tilted the hard-hat he was wearing further down over his ears. The hard-hat had feathers pasted to it in a plume. A red scarf around his neck, one end of it hanging into the water. Then there was the frock coat, the pajama pants, and the shoes. The latter of which he'd at least set on the ground beside him. They appeared to be snow boots.
He was humming a song by Owl City under his breath, feet splashing around in the water.
How did he plan on getting attention, anyway? Nico said he sometimes was in New York. There wouldn't be much chance that he'd just run into the demigod. Or was it?
He pulled something out of a pocket. It looked like a compass, but more was attached to it than it should have. It looked like there was a sparking wire dangling from it as well. He watched the needle on it spin, then point off in a direction. "If this is working," he muttered. "Then can it really find a nearby demigod?"

There were several puzzled seconds where Myrnin had looked at his sorry excuse of a compass and wondered if it was broken. The needle, which had been pointing West, had turned to face North. The vampire shook the compass, which sparked out of protest over this abuse. He looked around, in the direction of where it was now pointing him. One eyebrow slowly arched. Then the other.
Nico was older than he remember, but this wasn't really what surprised him. He looked just the same as always. Same hair, same spreading, manic grin. What could he say? Vampire. What surprised Myrnin was he hadn't turned at once to notice Nico. Shouldn't he have guessed it was the demigod? He didn't exactly know many others who could just appear (he knew no others at all. Not really. Seeing memories didn't count). The compass was dropped into the bay and his shoes were ignored on the beach as he stood. There was a small patch of sun between himself and Nico and he ran through it without seeming to notice. The feathers on his hard-hat flapped. "Nico!" he said excitedly. He didn't attempt to hug him. He already had the memo signed and delivered when it came to this. But he did dance a couple close circles around the demigod, bouncing on his heal.
"I found you!" he said excitedly. He hadn't. Not really. He'd probably been tracking him, but it was a bit of luck when this was the time Nico had shadow-traveled toward him. "Do you remember me? Hum? Hum? Myrnin?" He pulled off his hat, as if that would make him more recognizable.

"I could," said Myrnin happily. "But I doubt Long Island would listen. Humans usually don't." He seemed very chipper now. Still excited beyond logical measurements. And then Nico said he remembered Myrnin and Myrnin beamed. Both of his hands came together in an excited clap. He hadn't expected Nico to react in this way. He was a lot more pleased than he had been in a while.
"How ...?" He seemed to forget how he had found Nico and then he looked back toward the water. "Hold that thought!" he said, holding up an index finger and then running back toward the water. He waded in, fishing out the compass. It no longer sparked and the needle was still pointing North. Whether this meant it was still working or not, Myrnin didn't know. He shook it out before walking back toward the demigod, holding it out for him to see. "This thing. It's supposed to point to the nearest demigod. Not like I could actually test it or anything. But it pointed here, so I assumed it must at least be close." That was part of the 'how' anyway. He paused long enough to bang the compass against his hand, then shrugged one shoulder. He looked up at the second question. The one which inquired about his motives. There was some hesitation there as well. Truthfully, he would have liked to say the only reason he had come here was because he'd wanted to see Nico. But that wouldn't have flown with Amelie. 'I want to visit a friend' wasn't a good reason to let him out of Morganville when he was the one who ran all the equipment. He raised one hand and made a so-so gesture. "Nothing imperative. I was told detective work was mostly walking around. I did not assume it would be all the way to New York. I got here in one of those new things. Airplanes. Amazing inventions. Would have made crossing to America a lot easier when I first came. Amelie was convinced to let me come under some conditions. I am ... there's a word ... 'ditching' my guides and charge." He chuckled a little. "But that isn't a large detail. I haven't been here in several hundred years. I do not believe they had 'MacDonald's' ... whatever that is. And someone tried to sell me life insurance over my phone on the way here, which I found ridiculous. They didn't have all this when I was here before. Are there still any places which sell hats? This one slips over my eyes. Is everything alright with you? I did not mean to interrupt anything important."

"If he'd taken it I would have just made another," Myrnin said dismissively. Though there was a couple seconds where he considered pressing his luck. It wasn't like he wanted to anger the gods. He'd just like to see if he could. Sort of like poking at a wasp's nest to find out what it did. Everyone had done that once, right?
Still, he knew not to press his luck. A lightning bolt from the heavens (that was Zeus, he corrected himself) would still probably kill him.
"Well," he said. "My aim was to just ask any demigod I found if they knew where you were. And I did end up in New York to begin with. You said you hung around here." He grinned. "If 'forget' names, but I do have a head for some things. So I just followed this around for a while." Luck, like Nico said; at least he hoped it was luck. Nico had just said it was god territory. He wasn't sure how he felt if his feet had been guided by one of them or something. But that probably wasn't how it worked.
"I doubt," he said after a second. "That the gods would pay very much attention to vampires. Do they even know we exist? Or care?" It wasn't like he knew. Truthfully, he hadn't even know Nico existed in his world. The House was funny in a way. Infuriating was another word. Myrnin had had all his fingers and toes crossed that somehow their worlds were the same. And then the compass had worked and ... well ... after a bit of roundaboutness, he'd ended up here.
Absentmindedly, he wiped his wet hands off in the feathers pasted to his hard hat. "Depends on how fast the food is. I can run very, very fast." His face was so serious it was impossible to tell he was joking. Until he winked at Nico and explained, "I can eat it. I have no idea if I like it. There is 'fast food' in Morganville. Of the kind that humans eat, at any rate. But it does not seem to have so many shops. I have seen three in my time here." He seemed to be eyeing Nico in such a way to both be a suggestion to go to one and not to actually ask. Because this was Nico and maybe Nico didn't want to. Which was fine, but now Myrnin had tracked him down he really didn't want to just spend it with getting informed Nico was caught up in something serious and didn't have time.
His shoulders relaxed as Nico said he hadn't been doing much of anything. "Good, good." The swift changing in subject and the continued skipping around just showed how excited he was. But he was slow answering about the hat. "They have one in Morganville. But many of my hats are my own. And very old. Not all of them fit in my suitcase, however. And I am stuck with this one that slips. Do you want it?" He took the hard hat off his head - it was a bit large for him - and held it out to Nico as if the demigod would possibly want his castoffs. He now asked the very awkward question, while looking around as if he wasn't sure how to ask: "Want to go do something? Please? If you're not doing anything? Didn't want to interrupt any saving the world or demigod things." His green eyes turned back to Nico and his eyebrows rose.

There were several long moments where Myrnin considered the thought of demigods attacking him. The biggest problem, he thought, was they might get hurt. He wasn't too worried about himself ... well ... unless one of them was able to do something with fire. That was possible, right? There was a Greek god of fire. Yeah, he might want to start making a list of gods he didn't want to meet if he was going to be in New York for any length of time.
1. God of Fire
2. God of Lightning
Now the mental list was completed, Myrnin tuned back into his surroundings in time to hear that maybe demigods wouldn't attack him. Maybe because he looked human. "Slightly more hopeful," he said. "But I agree with you." He supposed it would have been worse if he'd run into a demigod he 'knew'. Hazel, Annabeth, Percy. He might have said their names without thinking about it. It would have been ... awkward.
"They have toys?" said Myrnin sharply, looking at Nico. "That's great!" He seemed to mean it. "Lovely invention! Why do eateries in Morganville not have this? I might have to complain." He trailed off a little, considering. Then he waved the subject away, focusing instead on the hat Nico had just put on. Curiously, he eyed the demigod, looking him up and down as if analyzing him for a deeper understanding of the outfit. Reaching out, he unbent one of the feathers which was pasted to the hat and then he seemed satisfied. "Yes! Very good!" Again, he seemed very serious. "Though it might hinder your vision a little," he added, unsurprised when Nico took it off.
His face twisted a little, just a bit concerned, as Nico's smile dropped. "If you are sure," he said. He didn't want to impose. Carefully, he clapped his hands together. "What would you like to do? I am unfamiliar with the area, so I can not suggest anything. Is there any place you like to go?" He was fine with anywhere. Myrnin would have gotten excited over watching paint dry if Nico went along with it. He was a very good friend - Myrnin really loved hanging out with him.
He did, if fact, know one thing about New York. He knew how to get back to the hotel. This was all. He could pretend he was lost too ... well ... he said 'pretend'. He might actually be lost.

"It would rather depend," Myrnin mused. "How do Greek and Roman monsters respond to getting stabbed? I would be slightly concerned if the wound - if I were to gain one - does not heal. But otherwise I might not see the harm. It has happened to me before." He sighed. "You almost get used to it when you get to be my age." His age of a two-thousand and something. "Vampires existed in all or almost all cultures. I am unsure if I would be counted as a monster from your sense of one." But being his curious self ... well ... he was curious! "Though convincing someone to stab me might take some doing. Though I could go," his fangs snapped out and eyes turned red for a small second before his face returned to something which would pass for normal, "Around them. That would probably do it ..."
He pouted a bit when he found out about the Happy Meals. Nico was right. There was no chance Myrnin would pass for a kid - he wouldn't even pass for a teen. He was securely, physically twenty-five and there was no chance this would be faked. "Could always do somethin' different in Morganville. Offer it to me and such," he said out of the side of his mouth, though his voice no longer held up much hope. He perked up a bit at the offer of possibly getting him one, anyhow. "You," he added, just in case it was something which bugged Nico. "Do not look like a stunted ten year old to me. You look like Nico. Anyway ... there are several vampires within Morganville who are such at a younger age then ten. I have long ago stopped noticing." He had. Others hadn't.
He puzzled over the suggestion of McDonald's and liked it, so he nodded his head twice. Then he chuckled a little at the mention of Will and added, glancing skyward, "This sounds familiar when applied to myself. Wait ... Claire said something different. I don't believe it is proper English, but don't humans say 'same' when they wish to state something in their life relates to another. Ah ... never mind." He blinked and returned his attention to Nico. He seemed a bit surprised at the afterward suggestions. Surprised, but suddenly he looked about as excited as a child just offered a trip to Disneyland, Legoland, or a zoo of his choosing and now he was having a very hard time picking one. "You'd really show me one of those places?" he asked, like he wanted to see if the offer would be jerked away. "Am I allowed?" He riffled back through the choices in his head, because he loved those choices. "Isn't the Labyrinth a very large maze which housed the Minotaur? And it was built by a man who was very smart? I do not know much more than that." Mazes equaled puzzles. Myrnin liked puzzles.

There was not a single time that Myrnin remembered a vampire return from the dead. And he'd never died, so he couldn't say the same. Part of that made him feel a little sad. It might have been easier if he did just reform if he died. But Nico was right. This didn't mean he wasn't curious. He'd have to see.
"I would not threaten your friends," he reassured. "I have 'met' a few of them after all. I would rather make a good impression. But perhaps for another time." He rubbed his hands together, excited. Labyrinth. Sounded fun. And it was less likely to draw attention to himself. Whatever was down there probably wouldn't care if he was wearing what he was wearing.
"I'm used to danger," he admitted. "Practically daily. Though I suppose it's my own fault. I tend to attract it." Or search it out. It all had a use in the future! It protected Morganville or got him something he needed. Still ... it was always curiosity which got him to move.
"Not a match at all! I'm very good at being better than monsters." He said with a grin. "Do I get a sword too?" He wasn't serious about that. He didn't need one. He doubted anything down in this maze would have seen something like him before. And he liked disarming traps.
He considered Nico's question, thinking back. Then he shook his head. "No. I don't think it has ever come up." He bounded around on his heels, hands behind his back. "How do we do it? We're already in shadows." Which was very true, otherwise he would have had to take the hard hat back. Carefully, he slipped his shoes back on, since they'd still been lying around. He'd probably need them. Then he looked back at Nico, arms wide in a 'ta da' movement. "Ready as I'll ever be!"

Yes, Myrnin had stuck his foot in it before when it came to introductions. Being himself was one thing - trying to hard to be himself just wound up with him acting unusually manic or moody. Myrnin wasn't aware of this, however, so had no way to prepare. Come what may, he was likely to step on somebody's toes.
But that wasn't now. Now, he had something else in his future and he was looking forward to it. Which was a turn of events he hadn't been expecting.
Myrnin wasn't much more comfortable with Nico's contact than Nico was. But it was for different reasons. His had nothing to do with recovery and more to do with the fact it was how he had, for as far back as he could remember, always been. It took a mental acknowledgement before he could brush away the sensation of his palm itching.
His head tilted ever so slightly at the disclaimer shadow traveling received. Then his lips parted a little to add some more grin to his grin. "I'm sure I'll be fine."
In fact, he was not fine. The statement had only been bravado anyway.
The room swam in front of Myrnin's eyes for a second and he did feel nauseous. Not something he cared to continue feeling. He hadn't felt like that in years. Abruptly, he let go of Nico's hand and sat down until the walls settled into a non-spinning position.
"You ..." he hesitated as he made sure he was not going to loose his last meal or, as Nico had suggested, faint (something vampires weren't really capable of, but they didn't get motion sickness either, so this was a rare experience all around). "You were not joking," he finished, shaking his head as if it would make everything better. Surprisingly enough, it did settle things just a little. Carefully, Myrnin got to his feet, finally noticing the lack of the low-key pain from the sun. Underground. He looked around, noting the walls and ceiling and surroundings. "Not my favorite mode of transportation, but it's been ages since I've felt that bad after something." He rounded on Nico, bouncing. "Can we do it again?" He paused before bouncing again, turning around to look behind him at where the tunnel disappeared into the distance. "Anything living down here?" he questioned. "I mean ... there are these faint scents everywhere." His eyes were reflecting, ever so slightly, like chips of mirrors. Clearly, the underground area didn't have the best lighting. Which just meant Myrnin was all the more in his element.
He rubbed his hands together again. "So ... just looking around or is there some end or middle we get to reach? Because I wouldn't mind beating mazes." He arched an eyebrow in Nico's direction, clearly saying 'your territory, mate. you make the rules'. Though the day Myrnin followed those rules would be a very special day indeed.

"'Take a deep breath,'" repeated Myrnin, chuckling a little. "Whoops. Breathing at all might help, you're right." He started breathing between the breaths he took in to speak. It broke up the traditional stillness which seemed to center around him. It made him, if possibly, more human. But it was equally clear he was out of the habit, since he forgot to regulate the breaths. Some where too fast and others with lengthy pauses between them.
When Nico explained about getting used to shadow traveling, Myrnin nodded along. He related. He couldn't imagine not having blurring in his repertoire of skills. Though he knew he tended to do so when he wasn't paying attention, which meant he had to wait for people to catch up.
He tapped at a wall while Nico explained about the odd web of tunnels which was the Labyrinth. "I wonder if any of these connect up with Morganville's tunnel system," he said once the demigod was done. It was fascinating to think over such things. Pity it was the wall which was getting to see the light dance in his eyes. Still, it was pretty clear Myrnin would be enchanted with anything new Nico introduced him to.
"Daedalus," he murmured. Flickering memories and half remembered stories fitted into a puzzle within his head. He closed his eyes for a second, remembering the sad story. Yes. Yes, he knew the name. An inventor. One which might have only been a little less crazy than Myrnin was. "Sounds like a destination to try for," he stated to Nico as he turned and opened his eyes, finally revealing those 'I was just given a Christmas present' lights within them. "I'm not looking for anything really." Several things he was looking for kicked around in the back of his head, but he ignored them. "So lets see what we can find." With his arms, he made an X in front of his face, then pointed in both possible directions the tunnels were going. "Eeny, meeny, miny, moe," he said, ending up, from where he was standing, the path to his right. He twisted to face it. "This way work for you, Nico?" he asked over his shoulder, beginning to tip-toe walk along in that direction.

"Oooooh yes," Myrnin confirmed. "They stretch all over Morganville. It would hardly be surprised if someone has gotten lost. Though if they never turned up, we'd just assume they fell into a trap." He said it dismissively, then realized his flippant dismissal probably would be read wrongly. "We were not always so patient at keeping track of our own, much less the humans." At least the humans had really gone down there.
That wasn't particularly happy, however.
He skipped a bit along the tunnel, but kept Nico within his field of attention. It wouldn't be a good idea to loose the demigod in an unfamiliar place.
Staying out of the way of others was all well and good. But Myrnin already had a daunting feeling it wasn't likely. Monsters he couldn't sense was also ... oddly unnerving. Could he not smell them, like he would a human or even a vampire? Or perhaps hear them? Or was Nico just better at sensing them than he was? He didn't know and he didn't ask. He supposed he'd find out.
So far, there weren't any offshoots to this passage, though Myrnin was waiting for one. And traps. He was waiting for traps too. If you watched a tunnel for traps, would they ever turn up? Or was it like watching a pot of water on a stove and it would never boil?
"Has your camp been doing well?" he finally asked, prodding a bit of a wall in passing. Part of the brickwork crumbled a little at the pressure. Maybe he'd put a little too much strength behind it. Or maybe the wall was just made flimsy.
"And is this going to be like Indian Jones?" Claire would have been impressed he knew who that was, much less the style. "Rolling boulders from the tunnel ahead and a lot of running? I'm used to running."

"I nearly died from a trap like that," Myrnin admitted. "Very deep pit. Floor caved in. Ada was having a bit of trouble and wanted ..." He shook his head, realizing the whole explanation wasn't going to make any sense to Nico. Anyway ... he found he didn't want to explain either. Not the finer points, anyway. "Anyway," he said lightly. "That was the literal pitfall I knew of. There were a couple others of my own making. To keep saboteurs away from the computer which runs Morganville. Some of Klaus' might be around as well. A bomb here or there ..." He hadn't made many attempts to find them, since those would probably kill him.
He glanced back at Nico, eyebrow rising. The excitement about being in this new place, with someone who didn't mind the over-eager excitement which followed him around, was refreshing. Despite the fact it was unfamiliar and possibly had things which he'd never run into before, he felt confident.
"Apollo? That's the god of flip-flops, right?" The association of how he got to that went like this. Flip-flops were for the outdoors. And the sun. Therefor, the god of the sun equaled the god of flip-flops. "Becoming a human after being an immortal isn't exactly easy," he mused more to himself, eyes going distant for a second. Nico knew about Fallon, at least. About how some vampires had been forced back into humanity. So maybe he wouldn't judge Myrnin for being a bit sympathetic to Apollo.
The expression broke off as they came to a fork in the tunnel, finally. Well, a fork being three paths in varying directions. "You said you can travel a long way down here?" Myrnin asked. "So, like, I could end up in ... Kansas if I dug straight up?" He pointed skywards ... and looked like he actually wanted to try what he was suggesting. "Or is it magic and I wouldn't be able to?"

"He doesn't wear them already?" Myrnin asked, agape. "Isn't that ... some godly crime against fashion? T-shirt? Sunhat? Sunglasses? Flip-flops? It would fit my image of a god of the sun, anyway." He looked like he wanted to give Apollo ideas. The vampire was genuinely affronted.
The ideas of centuries within a single head. You either forgot good chunks of it or went mad. The memory capacity might be large - maybe even infinite - but it was still a lot to expect it to remember things seen as a god. Was it different? Myrnin wondered. He knew vampire to human and visa versa was. Different, but going one way was easier than another.
"At least he got some perspective," he murmured, eyes returning from the ceiling of the maze. He didn't want to doom some human to fall down here. It would not be good. Nope. Nope.
But could they dig down here? the vampire wondered.
So he looked at the routes laid out before them and then said ... of course it was complete luck, but this was a man who had fairly bad luck ... "This one looks nice."
And then he started to walk down the exact fork Nico hadn't wanted to walk down. "Maybe we can aim to hit Kansas too," he joked to Nico as he looked over his shoulder.

(I'll reply tomorrow. ^^ )

"It's entirely possible," Nico replied. "Apollo likes to think he gets along with everyone, but I wouldn't be surprised if you hit it off. But I would advise you against hitching a ride in his sun chariot. He... well, he wouldn't really be doing you any favors there, and I wouldn't want to lose you just because you decided to be friends with a god who embodies one of the few things that can actually kill you." Not that he thought Myrnin would actually do that, but sometimes it was better to be safe than sorry. Keeping talking was a good way to avoid the way his heart was beating in his chest. The familiar feeling of the passage they were in. He could hear Minos' voice pressing in at the back of his skull even though he knew the king was gone... he'd seen him in the Fields of Punishment. He wasn't here anymore... "Oh... Camp Half-Blood is fine. The coffins are still a thing, and they aren't exactly comfortable, but it's better than nothing. I've had a few guests in the cabin lately. Hazel stays there whenever she visits Camp, as does Reyna. It's... well, it's a lot less dreary when some of the Camp Jupiter kids are visiting. And Solace is trying to get someone to agree to change the coffins. He wants me to add a bit more light to the cabin, but... well..." a smile tugged at the corner of Nico's lips. "He only has me to convince. I like the dark." He didn't like the dark that seemed to be pressing around them, or the feelings flooding through him as he earth under their feet grew more familiar. Yet he wasn't going to ask Myrnin to turn back. They'd have to anyway, in a few hundred feet. There was a dead end there, though Nico wasn't aware of it yet. A dead end he'd created just over two and a half years before.