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"But why?" Dawn asked. She had fully intended on going alone. One person getting in and out was hard enough, but two? That was impossible, especially if they were leaving with an extra person.
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"Hades won't be as quick to kill two demigods as one," Seth said with a shrug. "Besides, you may need some help. Who knows what you'll have to do to get her out. Jason and Aaron can stay here and fix her body in case it works; there's no point to having her come back to broken ribs and punctured lungs."
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"To be perfectly honest, I doubt one more demigod would make a difference in whether or not Hades decides to kill us," Dawn said. She kept walking back towards the gate to the Underworld. She was much more confident about it now that she had her powers back. Most of them, at least. She wasn't sure if she would still have visions, but she would find out in time.
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"Means he'd have two pissed-off gods on his ass," Seth said with a shrug. "Again, I may have some skills that'll come in handy. You never know."
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"My own dad threatened to kill me three times," Dawn said dryly. "Granted, I called his bluff on it twice, but still." She shook her head. "Obviously, I can't stop you, so I'm just going to keep walking and hope you come to your senses."
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Seth merely grinned. "I have no senses to come to," he said cheerfully. "Although one of us should probably warn them to fix Nika, and I don't really want to be the one to tell your brothers that you're going to the Underworld."
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Dawn sighed. She had hoped to avoid that one, too.
"Fine," she said, turning around. She walked back to where her brothers were talking. Obviously, their father had already left. Dawn was thankful for that, at least. She didn't want to have to deal with him. Her conversation with her brothers was short and rather heated. She had to resort to a bit of blackmail to get Aaron to agree, pointing out that she had just saved his sorry hide and that she'd kept his weapons safe for him back at camp. "You're not going alone," Jason said firmly. "No, I'm not," Dawn said. "Against my will, but I'm not going alone. You, however, are going to go back to camp." "What?" "That's an order, Jason. I'm still the head of the cabin, and you still have to listen to me. Go." |
Seth waited for her calmly, his hands stuck in his pockets. He wasn't going to argue with her right now, but he would follow her around until she was back safely, with or without Nika.
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Once Dawn had sufficiently bullied her brothers, she turned and went back towards Seth.
"Come on," she said. "Before Aaron remembers that he's older than I am and before Jason remembers that Aaron can countermand my orders." |
Seth chuckled quietly. "Sounds good to me. Lead the way." He glanced back at the two men briefly before following her towards the gate again.
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The walk to the gate wasn't that long, and it was much easier to sneak in now that they could manipulate the Mist again. Dawn walked right in, this time not as nervous. She was ready with the drachmas for Charon, once they got to the Styx.
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Seth kept following her, staying quiet until they got to Charon. He handed over a drachma and let Dawn do the talking.
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Dawn held up a drachma, too, and tucked the rest back into her pocket for later.
"Reporting back," she said simply. |
Charon eyed them for a few moments before he nodded and moved aside for them to board. Seth sat down on one of the bench-seats again, holding on tightly.
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Dawn sat down on one of the seats as well, making sure not to look over the sides. She didn't notice when her fingers started tapping out the rhythm of Seth's heart-song.
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Seth did notice and he couldn't help but chuckle, paying attention to that so he wouldn't be paying attention to the rapid currents buffeting them.
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Dawn finally noticed her fingers tapping, and she stopped with a slight blush.
"Sorry," she said. "Let me know if that bothers you. I guess I'm still kind of getting back into my groove, if you'll excuse the terrible joke." |
"It actually helped distract me," Seth admitted, gripping the seat tighter as they got to the worst part, close to the end.
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Dawn started humming softly. Now that she had her powers back, nobody would be able to tell she had issues carrying a tune on her own. She started tapping her fingers again, but shifted her weight so that she would be able to get off of the boat quickly once they reached the other shore.
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As soon as the boat stopped, Seth got off, motiong for Dawn to lead the way again. After all, she was the one who'd come up with the idea, so he'd let her lead the way. he was there in case she needed help.
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Dawn glanced around, and then headed back in the direction she remembered Nika going in before. Everything was a little different, since she could hear subtle undercurrents and broken tunes here and there this time, but it didn't take her long to find where she wanted to be.
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Hades was already in his sitting room, sitting staring into the fireplace, watching the flames lick the hearth at points. He barely glanced over at the two. "I take it you have completed your mission."
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"The one you set us on, at any rate," Dawn replied. "Impressive organ solo, by the way," she added, referring to the slow funeral dirge she heard from him. "I still think I'm a bit partial to Bach's Organ Fugue in G-minor, though."
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Hades chuckled quietly and waved them to sit. "Had you come a few hours ago it would have been a different song, I'm sure," he said quietly. "I'm sure you know Nika is here."
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Dawn obediently sat down. No sense in offending their 'host.'
"Yeah, I gathered that," she said, nodding. "That would be the other half of the reason I'm here." |
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