becomemod | Audience: Will

[he waves back]

Yeah, I figured, might as well. What about you?

I was thinking about getting some new earbuds, but I haven't decided for sure yet.

Old ones aren't working well? Or do you just feel like a change?

My left one doesn't work anymore, and you have to buy them in pairs.

Oh, definitely time for a replacement, then.

Yeah.

[They pause there for a moment, considering something. But after a bit they speak again.]

Nico told me about your dad.

[ ? ]

He did?

[well. he supposes that's fair. his profile does kind of out him as a demigod.]

Yeah. He was telling me about oracles and I asked if that stuff was real in his world, and it went from there.

Are oracles and gods something you're interested in, then?

Sort of. My power involves 'fate'. I told Nico to guess what that meant, and he said he thought I was an oracle.

He was wrong, but that's how we got around to talking about who your dad is.

[ o:

he looks curious]

Well, now I just wanna know - what does that mean? Are we talking like, something along the lines of the three Fates, or...?

I guess with my power being called 'Fate Detection' it might be mistaken for the three Fates. But no, it's nothing like that.

[They pause there. Normally they never confirm anything and just let people guess endlessly. But Will isn't an ordinary person, he's the son of Apollo, so maybe...]

Try guessing again: If it's not for an Oracle, and it's not for the three Fates, what else could my power be for?

[he thinks about it...]

Honestly, it kind of makes me think you're able to look at someone and see what their fate is. Not like, telling a prophecy in abstract, or being the one to weave their fates, but like...

[his phone dings with a text and something clicks for him.]

I guess kind of like getting a notification on these phones? But about a person, and probably not literally on your phone or something like that. But when something comes up, you'd know about it.

[They smile.]

That's the closest anyone has ever gotten! But I guess I shouldn't be surprised. You or Nico would have been the ones to get it out of anyone here.

I mean, I guess my dad being who he is definitely puts me at an advantage...

It gives you more knowledge to draw on.

[They go quiet for a moment, considering some things. They also end up looking towards the stores rather than at Will directly, and their arms are tucked loosely behind their back.

Cobalt Ox doesn't really talk about their power. Nobody would understand. But...Will might.]

"Cassandra".

[...

ah. yeah.

it's impossible for a child of apollo not to recognize that name. his brow furrows a little, and his expression becomes sympathetic.]

...do people not believe the things you say? I'm really sorry about that.

[They don't give a direct answer at first, but rather they talk indirectly about it.]

"You're going to see visions of future calamities, but anyone you tell about it won't believe you. Ever."

Wen I was little I tried to warn people away from their deaths, but it never worked out. Then I just pretended I didn't have this power at all and ignored all the visions I got. But a couple years back, I met someone who changed how I think.

[They're smiling, despite everything.]

I may not be able to warn people, but I can intervene and prevent their deaths.

[idly, will wonders how many deaths they've managed to intervene in here, and how badly it must break them up for all of the ones they can't prevent. he isn't quite insensitive enough to ask, even if i, britt, am curious.]

...that's a good mindset to have. I'm sorry it was like that when you were younger, but - meeting someone ike that can really make a huge difference, can't it?

Yeah. It was kind of isolating, not meeting anybody else like me until I was already in high school.

Hopefully it wasn't that bad for you.

[Fun fact: Nico didn't tell Ox that he's also a demigod.]

Edited 2023-10-08 04:04 (UTC)

I was okay. As far as childhoods go, mine wasn't... it wasn't bad.

[like. yes, there were monster attacks? that was not great. but.]

I've been pretty lucky.

[will has kind of figured that, since ox has only mentioned nico talking about will's dad, so he isn't going to doxx his boyfriend.]

[They are both valid.]

I think it's okay to both feel lucky and also recognize the bad things that have happened. Life comes with both good and bad.

[They look back to Will now, smiling.]

But I do feel lucky to have found someone that understands.

[It's not like they can tell most people about this. The nature of their powers means most people won't believe them if they try.]

[he smiles]

Well... I'm glad I could hear you out.

[...]

And, uh, for what it's worth? If my dad were here I bet he'd apologize about that whole Cassandra thing. He kind of got punted down into the mortal world to learn a lesson recently, so he's... a little better about that than he used to be?

It's hard to assign blame. In my world, it's a curse made by Cassandra herself. Her anger and sorrow over the loss of Troy and her fate afterwards made a curse so powerful that it's existed for thousands of years, jumping from person to person until it ended up with me. Like, Apollo started it all by cursing Cassandra, but Cassandra made the curse persist as long as it has.

I can't say I blame her. I was mad about it for a very long time too.

...that's not surprising. Strong feelings like that - grudges, especially... the curses that are born from them definitely persist over centuries.

Still, it sucks that it was so hard for you and everyone who was affected by it.

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