poly_chromatic | video ][ action ][ desert city

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percy jackson and the olympians - percy

video ][ action ][ desert city

[ Crash landings in random cities that don't exist on any map — all in all, it's not something Percy's entirely unfamiliar with. It really could've been a lot worse. He's still not exactly happy about it, not least because he's wearing a ridiculous bed sheet-turned-toga and purple cape. This would've looked weird, if there were any people out here to appreciate it. At least his brain seems mostly in check this time.

So, City, say hello to a peeved-off son of Poseidon. He's been walking the desert, trying to find signs of A.) donut shops B.) suspicious bag ladies or C.) water. The network device isn't on that list, but he'll take what he can get: ]

Let me guess. Arizona? New Mexico?

[ He doesn't sound like he believes either. ]

Yeah... If this is another test, I'm pretty sure I'm bombing it.

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[She smiles, a quick flicker of amusement that is certainly telling of how used to it—the general madness of the City—she's become. After all, they're talking about monsters like one might speak of the weather. But she knows a little about the sort of world Percy comes from and she figures that doesn't really lend itself to being phased by the surprises in this one. Not entirely, anyway.]

You hang around the City long enough, you'll get used to it too. If home isn't like this already, I mean.

[Ginny looks out to the desert, squinting against the sand and sun, considering.]

It's not normally like this, though. It tends to look like an actual city and less like the Sahara. You've got excellent timing, Percy, landing in the middle of a... well, I reckon this is a curse. I'm not entirely sure. It's lasting a lot longer than usual.

[ Excellent timing as in so bad he deserves some kind of stupid superlative award for it. Getting landed here just after it's been turned into a wasteland is exactly the backwards sort of thing he can see happening back at home, too. ]

You know, you're not the first person to tell me that. How long are they supposed to last? [ Wrapping his head around the part where they turn people into other things here too makes Thalia's stint as a tree suddenly seem like one of the lesser possible evils. ]

A day. Sometimes three, though that's rare. I've seen this place do some odd things before, but this...

[She trails away, shrugging. Ginny's been to what she's heard called the Shadow City, some eerie and misty mirror of the actual one. She's been here when it's gone world-hopping, from pirates to outer space. And now it's been split into two, one all crumbling sand and the other—she's heard—bright glass. How to get to that one, though?

She looks back at Percy, bottom lip caught between her teeth.]

What've you heard, then? I can try to answer any questions you've got. I've been here a bit.

[ Percy considers asking her what her home dimension is like for a second there — she hasn't made fun of the cape yet, so maybe it's normal where she's from — but he stops himself. Having been here for a bit sounds like an understatement.

Wherever she's from, it takes guts not to give up. And maybe because something about her expression reminds him of how exhausted he's felt while on quests, his battle-ready stance relaxes completely for the first time since arriving.

As for questions... he's been asking them nonstop all day. Percy looks away from Ginny briefly, thinking as he tries to make out which direction the safe zone is in. Odd things a city can do, besides turning into a desert? If it's anything like New York, there's probably a long, long list. And that brings him to blurt out the exact question he's halfway avoiding the answer to: ]

This pocket dimension thing. I heard that time doesn't move back home, but how is anyone sure of that? How do people from the future show up if it hasn't happened yet?

[Ginny's since learned to keep her opinions of other people's clothes to herself, especially when newly arrived. When she first turned up in the City, she'd been in full Hogwarts uniform, down to the robes and cloak. And being in the desert changes things about clothes, too, she's come to understand. She'd appreciate it, though, if she knew just how perceptive Percy was being, and perhaps she's letting her guard slip a little in the face of someone familiar—because she is tired, tired of the City's games, of worrying after everyone, of hurling jinxes at things erupting from sand dunes when all she wants is to get home and drink some water.

She watches him, wondering what he'll ask, wondering if she should offer to lead him back to the safe zone to wait this thing out. And when he does ask his question, her brows raise in surprise, and she takes a moment to consider how to best phrase her answer.]

I suppose we're sure of it because we get home at the exact moment we left off. I mean, that's what happened for me when I went back once.

[She pauses on the second half. How do people show up from the future? There's no sure answer, is there? Tom Riddle had tried to work the idea into her head once, that their doubles lead their lives back home without them. But she'd been so against it then and she still is. How dare he imply—? No.]

And I reckon... the future thing, that's tricky, but—I don't know, I've always assumed that if people from the future turn up, it means we must've gone home eventually, right? Bit of silver lining there.

[ He listens closely to her answer and is pretty sure he gets what she's saying. No one would even realize he'd been gone. Weird. But also kind of lucky, if he takes Nico, Thalia, and Hazel's entire crazy life stories into account. The thought doesn't make Percy a happy camper, but if he'd had a choice between this twilight zone thing and a six-month nap before, no contest — it might just be his ADHD talking, but he'd rather be doing anything than nothing at all. Shifting his attention back to Ginny, he nods and shrugs. ]

...Yeah, that seems like solid proof.

[ Enough for him at the moment, at least. Even if going home really is beyond his own control like Archive and Charlie said, it doesn't mean he's going to stay still. The gods here could forget about him, and so could the gods back home — but Percy remembers holding Hope and giving it to Hestia for safe-keeping, remembers the resolve that came with that decision. Even when he'd forgotten, it'd been there ever since and all along. ]

Especially if you're around for the future happening, once you go back. Fate works in funky ways so I'll take that sort of silver lining to none any day of the week.

[ And because he's not so immune to nosy questions: ] How long have you been here overall?

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