Unspooling the threads

Tension

Distance caused by difference.

Needless to say, shadow travel is nothing like Nico expected it to be, he's dizzy and nauseous and disoriented, and there's this really weird feeling over the fact that he wasn't the one controlling the shadows.

"It'll be different when you do it yourself"

Nico whirls from where he'd been trying regain his balance, staring at the sand covered ground, to instead look at the fuzzy shape of Koráki; still unable to focus. That's weird too, Koráki doesn't feel like Nico's father did, or like Charon did, or like the spirits in the Underworld did; no, he feels sort of like Percy and his friends, like the people at Camp Half-blood, like-

"A demigod"

Koráki, if that's even the guy's name, simply huffs at him.

"You're not actually supposed to say that so carelessly, much less in English"

Nico blinks at him, and keeps blinking until the blurry yellow turns into desert dunes, and the figure at his side turns into copper skinned boy with short curly dark hair, and gleaming brown eyes; fae-like and human jarringly combined into a single being.

Dangerous, his instincts say.

The boy smiles like the pause between a prank and its execution, like trouble waiting to strike.

Pretty, Nico thinks unbidden.

"So, before we get to the whole shadow thing, I have to warn my charge that we're here"

Nico blinks.

"Your charge?"

Koráki makes a face.

"Long story"

He then hurries away and into a small house-like structure Nico had missed in his woozy state, which seemingly glistens under the sunlight; it's weird but Nico can't actually feel the sun, and he's not entirely convinced they're not still in the Underworld, just, a different part of it. A weirdly, empty and desert-like part of it; and it's the emptiness that really makes Nico think it actually, because the real world is full of danger, and this feels like a pocket of nothing.

His musing gets cut short when Koráki returns, this time with a younger looking boy in tow, one who does not look happy at all with the situation but remains in the doorway together with the Underworld crow as Koráki finishes approaching him. Koráki makes a much shorter reverence, smiling like trouble once more.

"Shall we my prince?"

Let it be known that Akira has no reason whatsoever to feel intimidated by a guy both shorter and younger than he is, even if the guy is a child of one of the three most known gods in Greek mythology; not that it matters, considering Di Angelo has little to no control over his powers, and needs to have Leo teach him how to use the shadows. Sure, Di Angelo is a natural with a sword, unlike Akira who's trying his best to learn how to defend himself and others but hasn't had much luck yet; Leo says it's literally in a demigod's nature to be good at fighting and running though, so it's to be expected, and therefore means nothing.

When it comes to more magical powers, they're both at the same level, and that's only because Akira doesn't know who their non-human parent was, or even what sort of Parthenon they fell under. He had a few weird puberty mishaps involving fangs, and night vision, and scents; so Leo told him it was probably an animal based deity of some sort, and then said something vague about destiny.

Leo was always vague when it came to destiny, it had taken their entire first year together for Akira to even get him to fess up about being able to see people's life-threads; because there really were weavers overseeing everything that was meant to be. Leo referred to them as 'the sisters', 'my ladies', and once, during a particularly amusing re-telling of a myth, 'my bosses'.

Anyway, the point was, Akira was not intimidated by Di Angelo, no matter how much of Leo's attention the demi got; it wouldn't matter in the long run, because Leo had said Di Angelo's presence was temporary. The fact that Leo insisted on treating Di Angelo like royalty stemmed from the fact that Leo considered himself part of the Underworld, it didn't mean a thing.

Except, Di Angelo was bothered by it, and eventually asked Leo to stop; and because Leo was great he did. Only, because names were still powerful, and Leo liked to drill this truth in their minds, he settled for calling the demigod 'ángel'; and that made something inside Akira sour.

"You're brooding chico"

Akira startles a little, and watches Leo huff in response.

"You need to work on those senses, I don't want you hurt because you were caught unguarded"

He is, however, very much intimidated by Leo, but he's probably crushing on the demigod as well, and Leo is terrifying in how much he knows and how well he uses that knowledge; so that's just to be expected.

"Sorry"

Leo shakes his head, letting out a sigh.

"Not the point, what's stuck on your head?"

Akira ponders on how to word it so it doesn't sound stupid, though it is.

"I thought you couldn't get involved"

Immediately he realizes he sounded angrier than he is. To his credit, Leo doesn't look particularly offended; though he could be.

"With this war, sure, but I'm gonna join them eventually"

He says it matter-of-factly, like it's something everyone knows; like it doesn't cause dread to choke Akira.

"And you will join your pride"

That gives him pause.

"My pride?"

Leo makes a face.

"Yeah... I don't really know, but you're like tied to lions? I'm sure it'll make sense one day"

He's not actually supposed to share what he sees of the lifelines, so the fact that he's willing to tell Akira this much helps something settle in his chest.