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

(Well that means I'm doing something right aaa. Glad to hear the characterization is coming across)

“Either find or create a rainbow,” Nico replied with a small shrug. Toss it in and ask Iris if you can speak with me. She should listen, especially if she can hear me right now. You have my permission to reach out for me… so that should be enough to let it go through, even though you’re not a demigod. Also you have a drachma.” Nico wasn’t too worried about it. Myrnin was terribly clever. If they found something in Morganville they could use Nico’s help on, Myrnin would indubitably find a way to let Nico know even if the Iris messages completely failed. Well… as long as he was motivated to tell Nico. He had a feeling his friend had doubts about getting him involved, but… he wanted to be. That was all he thought should have mattered.
“See you soon,” Nico echoed, forcing a smile he didn’t quite feel. He glanced down at the ground, then slid so his feet were hanging over the edge of the Big House. He dropped, landing not entirely gracefully on the grass below. They had done the illicit thing. He just… hadn’t thought he’d need to say goodbye so quickly.

Nico wasn’t really looking for anything in particular. He was just spending time around the Underworld, doing what he could to spend time with the lives that otherwise might feel as though they had been left behind. He knew what it was like to feel forgotten. To not remember. He couldn’t change the way the souls on the outskirts of the Underworld felt, but he might be able to remember their names. He might be able to say hello and ask them how they were doing. He might be able to make them remember that they had made an impact, that someone alive remembered them.
Nico didn’t speak with them for the gossip, but that was what he got sometimes anyway. Usually he didn’t recognize any of the names, but that didn’t matter to him. What mattered was that the souls he spoke to had something to tell him, and he was happy to listen no matter how irrelevant the information.
What he hadn’t expected this time was a name he recognized. A name that mattered to him.
A soul had escaped the Underworld. Had started to phase in before being snatched right back out. A vampire, possibly. A vampire. Paxton Salinas.
Consequences be damned, Nico shadow travelled himself to Morganville.

Nico hadn’t considered what time it was when he shadow traveled. He probably should have – in general ghosts were more active at night, if only because that was when they were more visible, but he hadn’t managed to correlate that with the fact that vampires would be active in Morganville. If Nico had a little bit more energy, he may have tried to shadow travel a second time, this time to land him all the way in Myrnin’s lab. He glanced at his hand, wincing at the way the streetlight could almost be seen through it. No more shadow travel for today, it seemed.
There were other life forms around. Nothing human, of course, which made the life more difficult to detect. Vampires always felt like death, but in the gloom of the night it was difficult to notice. They seemed to blend in. For the first time, Nico wondered if the auras of dead things looked as they did partially to hide them from children of Hades who may decide to hunt them. The question now was who was the hunter and who was the hunted? Nico tried to remember the rules. Injuring a vampire was a bad idea. Nico had a blade that could hurt mortals and monsters alike, but he didn’t actually know if it would be enough to injure a vampire. He had never tried it on either Myrnin or Sam. Besides, the punishment for hurting a vampire was probably more than Nico wanted to go through. He needed to get out of here before he was found, and he needed to find Myrnin – quickly.

Nico looked up at the feeling of life near him. Well… not life, exactly. The weird not quite life that vampires seemed to have. He was familiar with it from spending so much time with Myrnin and Sam, and, for a while, even Rue. There were plenty of vampires in the House, and they had long ago learned not to see the other blinkers as prey. In Morganville, though, Nico knew that he seemed like the best target. He wasn’t under any vampire’s protection; he was a newcomer. He didn’t belong here. He bit his lip, doing his best to keep moving forward and ignore her. He had thought it would be easier to find Myrnin than it was. He couldn’t feel him. He could just feel all of the vampires around him…
“Nice to meet you, Bell,” Nico murmured, looking up to meet her eyes. He wasn’t afraid. He felt as though he probably should have been. She was dangerous, and he was just one boy in a town full of vampires. He was also an experienced fighter, and any weakness would be a reason for her to attack.
“I’m here on business, actually,” he said, trying to sound as official and commanding as he could. “I’m sure Myrnin would be indebted to you if you were to guide me to him.” Myrnin had power here, right? Hopefully he was right about that… he had to rely on the hope that mentioning him by name might make Bell at least think twice before she attacked. He wasn’t going to give her his own name – not yet. That seemed like the sort of weapon she could use against him, and he wanted to keep that close to his chest.

Nico didn’t trust Bell. He didn’t know what her goal was, and, as a vampire, she could hurt him. Badly. He didn’t want to risk that, but he didn’t really see that he had any other option. She didn’t know where Myrnin was (he doubted that, actually, he just didn’t think she was willing to tell him where Myrnin was.
“Personally, I think standing in the only light sources around is a great way to get myself noticed by people who aren’t nearly as kind as you,” Nico replied, a bit of wariness in his tone. He hadn’t decided yet whether Bell was actually kind, but he figured it was best to give her the benefit of the doubt at least when addressing her. If he followed her into the streetlight, what would happen? It seemed unlikely that she wanted to invite the attention of other vampires, but he couldn’t be certain how the hierarchy worked. If she wanted to attack him… why hadn’t she done it yet.
“You said Texas Prairie University is that way?” Nico asked, pointing ahead, past the streetlight. It seemed like his best option, for now. If he could get into the University, he would be able to wait out the night and hopefully ask some less bloodthirsty members of town where to find Myrnin in the morning.

It was clear that Bell thought Nico was an ordinary human. It was an easy mistake to make, of course. There was very little to mark him as anything other than human. It meant, however, that she thought him much more defenseless than he actually was. He had to admit, though, that it would be helpful to make vampires step into the light if they wanted to attack him. Especially if he had been a normal human. Nico made a mental note to mention Bell to Myrnin – he had no idea if she had any ulterior motives, but she was nice. He wasn’t convinced that she didn’t want to eat him, especially since he wasn’t under any vampire’s protection, but… still.
“Thanks,” he said after a moment, dipping his head. “I’ll keep that in mind the more time I spend around here. Although… I’d prefer to avoid dying in general.” His hand rested on the hilt of his sword, betraying the fact that he wasn’t as unprepared as he might have seemed.
“Good luck to you, too. In whatever you’re out doing tonight,” he said, quietly enough that Bell wouldn’t have been able to hear were she not a vampire.

Nico was surprised to watch Bell actually retreat. He had, perhaps incorrectly, assumed that most of the vampires in Morganville were willing to take the free meal that came in the form of a person who didn’t have a patron. He knew enough about Morganville to know that even Myrnin was dangerous to be around – or at least, he had been. There was no more sickness for these vampires to fall victim to, but it was possible that there were several who just… weren’t nice anyway. They were predators. Nico seemed like a perfectly good piece of prey. Who was in charge of Morganville at the moment? Amelie? Oliver? Nico wished he had come a little bit more prepared. Myrnin was an important name to be able to throw around, but it wouldn’t mean anything if the person in charge didn’t know who he was.
Uncertain, Nico moved towards the streetlight, hoping he might be able to find the University.

Nico glanced at the university, stunned by its complete lack of nightlife. He knew, of course, that parties and the like were risky in a town full of vampires, but it still surprised him. As far as he was aware, there were plenty University students who weren’t aware that the town was full of vampires. Unless things had changed since Myrnin had first told him about Morganville… he shook the thought off, then crossed the street to make it safely onto university grounds. He noticed the sheriff, and though he wasn’t aware they might be a threat, he figured it was better to avoid notice by anyone. The sooner he could find Myrnin, the better. He was, however, beginning to wonder if waiting until morning was truly the best course of action. It wasn’t as though the humans would either know or be willing to tell him where one of the most important vampires in town lived. Maybe he needed to draw the attention of another vampire. Preferably an important one. Decision made, Nico sat down at the very edge of campus. It was shrouded in darkness and perfectly secluded – ideal for a vampire to sneak up on him.

Right. Vampires were fast. Nico had a sense of the vampire before they were upon him, but he barely had time to react before there was a pressure against him, pressing him to the ground. And, because the vampire seemed to be quite the showman, just enough of a pause for Nico to draw his sword and press the tip lightly against the vampire’s sternum.
“This isn’t silver,” he murmured, eyes dark and glittering as he met the vampire’s in the dark. This was a gamble, and it could easily end in Nico’s death. It was a risk he had to be willing to take. “This isn’t a wooden stake, either. But I promise this sword will kill you if I push it up with any force at all. Do you understand? I am not the easy prey you think I am. But if you lead me to Myrnin, I bet he has some spare blood lying around for you. Or maybe I’ll let you have a couple sips of mine.”

Nico wasn’t sure he wanted this vampire to have any of his blood, but it was the only thing he had to bargain with. He also didn’t know for sure if Myrnin had any blood laying around. He doubted it, but the vampire was clearly hungry. Even if Myrnin wasn’t likely to have any blood, wasn’t the possibility worth more than the injury that would definitely occur if the vampire continued to try to attack?
Slowly, Nico sheathed his sword as well, taking a small step back from the vampire. He didn’t like to be too near to people, and the vampire had crossed a boundary. He had to remind himself that it was okay. He had to remind himself that this was to get to Myrnin. It was important.
“Thanks,” Nico said smoothly, giving a smile he didn’t really feel. “What’s your name? I’ll be sure to let Myrnin know how helpful you’ve been.” He was telling the truth. If the vampire actually helped, Nico would be more than willing to commend him. He didn’t trust that he would actually help, though.

Once again, Nico was completely on his own. It was frustrating that he couldn’t get the help he needed here, but… he didn’t want to have to threaten any more vampires. He had been lucky to avoid a bite from that one. It seemed likely that some college student likely wouldn’t end up quite so lucky. Hopefully there were no wild parties going on. Hopefully all of the students had been intelligent and decided to stay inside for the evening. It was late enough that any parties should have been winding down, at least. Hopefully that wouldn’t mean more targets wandering the street.
Nico didn’t know where to begin looking, but he hoped Bell’s directions had been accurate. If Myrnin really was near the school, Nico might be able to find it by looking around the nearest streets. Or… Nico glanced back at the school. It might be worth it to see if the administration building was open and potentially helpful.

Nico wasn’t sure he liked being in Morganville all alone. He knew it was a dangerous town, and though he wasn’t used to towns that weren’t dangerous, this felt dangerous in a different way altogether. Morganville was dangerous in a way Nico couldn’t just kill. Monsters would just respawn later, possibly with a thirst for vengeance. Vampires weren’t monsters. They were people, in a strange way. They would die, and Nico didn’t want that on his conscience, even if they were actively trying to kill him. He glanced back at campus, deciding to try his luck.
He avoided the dorm buildings. There were students in those, staying up and trying to study. It was darker than most colleges he had seen, but… there were still students awake. He decided to move towards the buildings with lights on that displayed significantly less evidence of the sort of life that had heartbeats.

Finally, Nico seemed to luck out. Or at the very least he seemed to have found some responsible people in the direction he'd been heading.
The first person in the building looked up, noticed Nico's attire, his general disheveled, and not only marked him as a person from outside of Morganville, but also one that needed help.
"Oh dear," she said. She didn't look like a vampire, exactly, but there was hints that this was what she probably was. She was also a lot older than one who who'd attacked Nico. "I take it you've had a rough run-around? Did you need something? You don't look like 'an explanation' is at the top of the list either."
Her eyes were narrowed just a bit, but she seemed willing to hear Nico out.

Adjusting her posture, the woman seemed very inclined to laugh at Nico. For a while, she almost did. Then she just asked, "If you have a death wish, I assure you that there are a lot of better ways than going to the spider's den."
She was still looking Nico over through, eyeing him up and down as she seemed to consider his overall attitude. It was hard to think about the fact that he wasn't just a snack. He looked like one.
But eventually she leaned back in her chair, humming under her breath.
"You're serious. Does he know you? Because that's probably the only way that you're mostly safe to go near him. If you aren't, then you'd do better luck checking in at the Bureau if you're looking for a fancy patron. Though if you're an out-of-towner than you'll probably need a good amount of money for that."