Bottled Up | PJO

⇝εννέα(IX)⇜

'You never know what you miss until you see a replica of it with someone else'

Nico reached into his aviator jacket pocket and produced a set of mythomagic cards in an attempt to thwart the twins and their ideology that poker was better than it. Some of the cards had a glossy sheen, Estelle noted that it was only of the 12 olympians along with some monsters she'd barely heard the names of. The cards were a stroke away from reality, specially when she caught sight of Mr. D's card portraying him back when wasn't so irritable and pot-bellied.

"I'll teach you," Connor angled closer to Nico his eyes carrying a hint of mischief, "But you gotta start with a bet"

Nico glanced down at his Mythomagic cards, clearly torn. "I don't really have any money unless I ask Bianca..." he said, his voice trailing off as his gaze shifted to the Artemis Cabin. table where the woman with the silver circlet, Estelle now knew her name was Zoe, sat at the head of the table acting as a maternal figure governing the table. "I guess I can't ask her now," Nico murmured, crestfallen.

Despite how the twins acted like imbeciles, they knew about the sensitive situation. The entire camp knew that Nico's sister had left to join the hunters. How? Well, if you divulge any information to anyone on the Hermes Cabin it's quite clear that sooner or later everyone else would know too. Estelle munched on her pizza slice and Nakoa tapped Nico on the shoulder and asked him for something. The boy nodded and soon Nakoa bounded over to show Estelle what he'd picked up, it was a few cards including the card of Hermes.

"Dude, look at this!" Nakoa insisted, pointing at the stats.

Estelle squinted at the numbers. "Is 1400 attack good or bad?"

"Who knows? But look at the skill!" Nakoa tapped the card, highlighting Hermes' ultimate move.

"Why does it say 'trade offer' when there's not much of an offer, more like 'give up your stats to me'?" Estelle asked.

Nakoa scratched his head, then smacked Nico lightly. "She says she wants to learn Mythomagic," he pointed to Estelle.

Estelle jabbed Nakoa. "He means we want to learn."

It wasn't a surprise when Nico spread the cards out on the table careful to avoid any form of food getting on them. He grouped the set of cards quickly taking the ones that Nakoa had borrowed to show to Estelle as well. He'd grouped the cards from normal gods, holographic gods, monsters, terrain and finally abilities.

Nico picked up the set of normal gods, " "The 12 Olympians. If you have the figurine—mine's with Bianca—then the attack power is this," he pointed to the 'ATK' stat. "If you don't," he flipped the card, showing a -900 penalty in the upper left corner.

"Oof, harsh," Travis commented, switching his attention from the discussion with Connor to be the responsible cabin leader for a moment.

"Yep," Nico agreed with a nod and picked up the holographic ones, "this is the ... ultimate. It's like the rare version of the previous gods and guess what, this has a cool gimmick. These come with a metal figurine," Nico stressed the word metal

"The last one comes with a figurine as well..?" Nakoa asked

"but I'm guesseing it's not metal," Estelle added on

Nico nodded again, his smile widening. It was clear ranting about mythomagic was just what he needed to get Bianca off his mind.

"What's cooler is that these gods have basically double the normal attack or defense power. They start from 2000 and can go to somewhere around 8000. Apollo's one does it when he has more than two allies. It doubles up to 4000 and if he's on the 'Island of Delos' then its doubled again to 8000," Nico kept rambling, "but if you have the Hades one he has a higher attack than Apollo but his defense is a bit lower. Hades works best if you attack him first because then his attack goes up by 1000"

"He's the type to be silent unless provoked I guess," Estelle shuffled through the holographic cards, "I'm assuming you not having the card means no figurine as well?"

"Yeah, only the holographic ones come with a figurine though. The normal ones you gotta get lucky with the set you buy," Nico explained. His tone softened as he added,, "The place where we used to stay there were a few of these and Bianca used to get them for me. She didn't like the game much but she knew I-"

Connor and Travis shared a glance and pointed out the emptying dining area. "Looks like dinner's done," they said, signaling the time to move on.

"Right," Estelle agreed, some part of her wanting to seem responsible to Connor the other because she felt bad for Nico, "we need to get your sleeping arrangements figured out. Maybe we can get you a bunk?"

Nakoa chimed in, "maybe not, but we do have a few interesting looking sleeping bags," he scooped up the rest of the cards and plopped them in Nico's hands

The twins made a gesture for the two of them to take care of Nico and the trio started towards the Hermes cabin

The Hermes cabin itself wasn't as deserted as the rest of the camp. The constant decoration of fairy lights, more accurately a few tiny balls of fire, and the smell of toasted marshmallows wafted out. Inside a few campers were toasting jumbo marshmallows with a tiny stove they'd gotten from who knows where. They paused in action when the trio entere before resuming their activity when they noticed who it was. Paulina offered Nico a marshmallow along with a stick, her stance dreamy as the light had long before faded. Nico hesitated before taking the stick, his mind probably still thinking about his sister.

The eight campers in the cabin crowded over the small stove toasting- or burning, their marshmallows. Nico's was taking on a browner sheen as he twirled it around absentmindedly. Estelle jerked his hand away softly snapping him out of the reverie. Realising it was done, the boy moved to perch on the bed next to Nakoa. Estelle and Nakoa shared a look.

"I like it crispy on the countside as well," Estelle offered showing her burnt mashmallow, failing to add that she burnt it so Nico wouldn't feel like the odd one out.

"The inside's the best part," Nakoa said pulling off the semi cooled toasted marshmallow membrane

Nico nodded, "Bi-.. I think so too"

Estelle caught the subtle reference to his sister but wondered if it was even her place to ask. Nico looked like how old Estelle imagine Hela to be and it tugged at her heartstrings unexpectedly. Sensing Nico's quiet retreat into his own thoughts again, she leaned forward. "Does Bianca roast marshmallows with you?"

Nico blinked, slightly surprised by the question. "Not really. She doesn't like sweets much," he said with a small shrug. "But sometimes she'd make them for me"

Estelle reached out, her hand hovering just above his shoulder before pulling back. She didn't want to push too much.

Nakoa, ever the one to bring humor to any situation, broke the silence with a grin. "Well, if you're sticking with us, we gotta teach you the true art of marshmallow roasting. That one's crunchy" He gestured at Nico's marshmallow with a laugh. "You need some meat on it. Trust me—it's the gooey center that make it."

Nico chuckled softly, the sound a bit hesitant but genuine. "I think I'll stick to my way, but thanks."

Estelle smiled, watching Nico as he sat a little straighter, his small smile growing just a bit more certain. There was still a lot for him to work through, a camp where he was the alien newbie, weird gods and myths and even the sense of separation from his sister because of the different cabins.

"Who knows," Estelle added lightly, "maybe you'll end up running this cabin one day."

Nico glanced around at the cozy, slightly chaotic Hermes cabin, a place that somehow felt a little less empty now. "Maybe," he said softly, his smile lingering. "I think... I could get used to this."

And for the first time since he'd arrived at camp, Estelle saw Nico relax.