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[color=#8A2BE2][sup][b]______________________________________________________________________________________[/b][/sup][/color]
[color=#BA55D3][b]Location:[/b][/color] Deimos Cabin
[color=#BA55D3][b]Interactions:[/b][/color] Dany with her brother, Ezra; Each Other
A collab between myself and [@Zenritch].
[color=#8A2BE2][sup][b]______________________________________________________________________________________[/b][/sup][/color][/center]
With nothing else left to do, Spencer found himself walking with no destination in particular. He was absorbed in that one line of the quest... [i]'One soul shall be taken.'[/i] If this quest was a trap set by his father, then he knew exactly how to draw him out. The old bastard must have known that he wouldn't just sit idly by while Erin was in such a predicament. 

[color=#8A2BE2]"Still, I doubt he was the one solely behind this. For someone fiercely loyal to his boss, it's hard to imagine that he'd put his boss' kid in harm's way,"[/color] he thought with a pensive expression on his face. 

As he shook the thought of conspiracies against him, he found himself at the doorstep of the Hephaestus Cabin. It was perfect timing too since he figured it'd be rude not to at least say goodbye to the little firecracker before they left. Besides, if there really was a chance that the soul that would be taken in this quest belonged to him, then he really needed to say goodbye to her since he didn't want history repeating itself once more. 

After a series of unanswered knocks and waiting a decent amount of time for anyone to answer the door, though, he gave up on the idea altogether.

[color=#8A2BE2]"The little troublemaker must be down in her super-secret bunker. It's best not to disturb her."[/color] He mused. Despite how seemingly close the two were, not even Spencer was allowed entry to Bunker Nine. His best guess was that she was working on something very personal that she wouldn't even allow one of her best friends to see it. 

Wandering aimlessly again, he found himself drawn to the Deimos Cabin this time around. A smile crossed his face when he thought about Dany. The two practically arrived in camp at the same time so he was particularly close to the daughter of Deimos. He had taken it upon himself to help her get the hang of Shadow Travel and they'd hung out on multiple occasions in the past. Heck, she even got him hooked with Lord of the Rings and had been actively introducing him to pop culture he'd missed for the last 80 years.

With a well-placed knock, he patiently awaited for Dany to answer the door... although her half-brother could do so as well.

Having spent the previous night up playing games much later than she knew she should have and gotten very little sleep due to her annoying brother waking her up at the crack of dawn to train; she'd been on the verge of falling asleep all morning. A nice hot shower with a cold finish had fixed that right up, having woken her up enough that she felt the need to seek out one of her friends to pester and hang out with. She'd definitely had enough of her brother for one day. It was still a little weird.. calling Ezra her [i]brother[/i].

She was still getting to know him, but she knew without a doubt that they were related through their father. Ezra wouldn't let her forget it. She was the "favorite". He hadn't even known who Deimos was, and yet he'd been there through nearly her entire life in the shadows. Always watching over her. She was Daddy's Little Girl, and Ezra constantly went on about it. He'd said previously that it was just poking fun, but as much as he talked about it, Dany felt otherwise. She didn't really care to play into that game, though. She just left it alone and ignored him when he tried bringing it up.

[i]Speak of the devil.[/i] The daughter of Deimos could hear her half-brother yelling at her from the other side of the door and down the hall. Something about 'your boyfriend is here'. [i]'But.. why would Cameron be here? He's mortal.'[/i] Dany made a face and shook her head as she quickly pulled her pants on, zipping them up before walking to her door to yank it open. [color=#BA55D3]"What?"[/color]

[color=#6CBDE8]"Your boy toy, that McKnight kid? He's at the door."[/color]

Dany rolled her eyes as soon as Ezra even spoke his name, shaking her head as she took her hair down from the old cotton shirt she had it up in. She wouldn't give him the satisfaction of offering a rebuttal. Instead, she simply stayed quiet and made her way through the hallway and down the stairs till she reached the door. Gently, she pulled it open and met Spencer's eyes with a soft smile. [color=#BA55D3]"Hey you. What's up?"[/color] Her eyes left his momentarily to scan the surrounding area, not seeing Corona in tow with him. [color=#BA55D3]"No Rona, today?"[/color]

Spencer chuckled at Dany's greeting. The fact that Corona wasn't with him struck her as strange but if she only knew how much trouble the she had already caused earlier today... 

[color=#8A2BE2]"Nope... Just me. She's probably in the bunker as we speak since she wasn't at her cabin when I swung by."[/color] Spencer said in a sort of awkward tone. 

He knew that Corona and Dany were best friends and she must have known just how much the daughter of Hephaestus liked to involve him in her experiments ... Still, he found it strange that she was surprised to see him, given that she is Erin's cousin and... oh. Suddenly the thought had occurred to him - given how notoriously into gaming Dany was... she must have stayed up all night playing games and wasn't aware of the situation.

[color=#8A2BE2]"So... in case you weren't aware of the situation, Erin is being blamed by Ares for stealing Aphrodite's dove. She only has a week to find it and return it to Olympus in order to prove her innocence. Otherwise, Ares is going to take her."[/color] He felt himself shaking at the thought of the God of War taking the person that meant the most to him. He could feel his anger rising, but he took a deep breath to calm himself down and regain his composure. It would be unbecoming of him to lose himself to his rage in front of Dany after all.

Dany smile quickly faded at the news Spencer had brought her. She didn't in fact know of the news. Part of her wondered if Ezra had already heard of it and hadn't told her. [i]No.[/i] He would have told her if he'd known. With both of the Deimos siblings being close to Erin in their own ways, something that wouldn't be information they'd keep from one another. She made a mental note to go up and tell him when she had the chance.

Ares was... more or less her grandfather, in a sense. I mean, by the godly bloodlines, [i]he was[/i]. Dany was still trying to learn more and more about the Greek gods and goddesses, but the most she knew about Ares was that he was the god of war and he was pretty much always pissed off. Why Aphrodite was so concerned about a dove still wasn't clear to Dany but she wasn't really in the mood to have a history lesson right then, instead she chose to place her attention back on Spencer. He seemed to be going over a conflict within himself. It had been clear since day one that Spencer had a thing for her cousin. How couldn't he? She, for lack of a better term, saved him from Tarth... Tart.. Pop Tarts R Us. [i]Wherever the fuck.[/i] [b]You get it.[/b]

[color=#BA55D3]"I... I hadn't been told about it."[/color] Her eyes moved past the boy before her and turned to stare down the walkway where the Hades cabin sat. Part of her wanted to go and see her cousin, but the other half knew better. She'd probably been bombarded by everyone, and talking about it would probably only make it all worse. Dany folded her arms over her chest as her eyes came back to meet Spencer's. It suddenly hit her why he was here. As much as she knew he would have delivered the news to her regardless, something in her gut told her there was more he had to tell her.

[color=#BA55D3]"Something tells me you've not yet told the full story, Spence.. what is it?..."[/color]

Spencer sighed exasperatedly when Dany confronted him. How was he supposed to tell her what he came here for? That a particular line from the prophecy given to her cousin gave him a bad feeling? He knew his fair share of prophecies back in the day, most, if not all of them, had one or two ominous lines in them. Still she wanted answers and he did actively seek her out... 

[color=#8A2BE2]"As with all quests, the Oracle issued a prophecy to Erin...[/color] [color=918ABB][i]'..six figures, tall, stand strong in the East... a land of Pisa, pasta, and much art none the least... while two might find love, one soul shall be taken... the Ladies dove shall be found, but what vengeance will it awaken..?'[/i][/color] [color=#8A2BE2]That's what she told us."[/color]

Letting Dany process what he had just said, Spencer remained silent for a few moments. 

[color=#8A2BE2]"As far as prophecies go, it's not that bad. Heck, it basically says we're gonna succeed. However, the third line has really got me bothered. The ones going besides Erin, of course, are Tyler, Carlos, Brandon, Zeru, and of course, me."[/color] He shakily takes out a cigarette from his pocket and lights it with his precious lighter.

[color=#8A2BE2]"The thing is, Carlos, Bran, and Zeru... the people they love aren't in this quest so it's probably going to come down to me and Tyler... and I know just how much chemistry he has with your cousin. The way he makes her laugh, comforts her, and just the way he's there for her..."[/color] He pauses, as if reluctant to say the words stuck to his throat. But after puffing another whiff of his cigarette, he sighs and decides to face the truth head-on. 

[color=#8A2BE2]"I'm pretty sure they're the ones who are going to find love in each other... and for the most part, despite how much I want to be that guy for her... I'm willing to face the music and accept that I'm not going to be that person... If she's happy, then how could I not be happy for her?"[/color]

With his cigarette halfway done, he took a quick series of puffs before promptly disposing of it.

The oldest son of Thanatos felt a pang of jealousy and pain in his chest as he reflected on what he had just said. In the end, words are just... well, words. [i]Was he really for that inevitable outcome? How would he take it when he was proven true all along?[/i] For a long time, while he was down there, he swore himself off of love... vowing never to repeat the same mistake he did with Madeline. He was certain that he had closed off his heart to people so much that he had given up on the idea of love altogether... but [i]Erin Maree Chase[/i] shattered the walls he had put up as if they were made of fragile glass. That's why trying to accept that his love would remain unrequited hurt was worse than any wound inflicted on him by any monster he encountered in Tartarus... And no amount of fire water would make that pain go away, at least instantly.  After taking another deep breath, he faced Dany's eyes once more. 


[color=#8A2BE2]"So if I'm not going to be the one that finds love, there's a really high chance that it's my soul who's going to be taken... I'm not going to pretend that I know exactly what that means since prophecies leave a lot of room for interpretation... but if there's a chance that I'm not going to make it back from this quest, then I want to say goodbye to the people who would care if I suddenly disappeared off the face of the earth. I don't have any family... not anymore... My mom is long gone... as far as I'm concerned, dear old dad still wants me dead... so that leaves you, Rona, Addie, and Arthur the only ones left.."[/color]

Gingerly, Spencer took Dany's hand and placed his most prized possession - the lighter, his old best friend - right in the palm of her hand, enclosing her fingers over it. 

[color=#8A2BE2]"In case I really don't make it back, can you give this to Corona? It belonged to a dear friend which she really reminds me of. But if I do return alive, I'd like you to hold on to this for me... [i]please[/i]. It may not look much but it's actually my most prized possession."[/color]

The daughter of Deimos stood absentmindedly staring off at the ground, really at nothing in particular, as she thought about what Spencer was saying. It wasn't till she heard the all-familiar sound of the lighter flicking to life. She quickly stepped out from the cabin and shut the door behind her so the smell of the smoke wouldn't get into the cabin. Normally, she'd complain about the smell, but the boy standing before her looked unhinged. Instead, she kept her opinion of the terrible scent to herself, chewing on her lip as she listened to Spencer talk more.

Dany was about to reply in regards to Bran being bunched up in with Carlos and Zeru in being people who have no one they love on the quest, but Spencer continued on without so much as giving her time to respond. She'd grown used to it in the months she'd gotten to know him, and didn't mind it much. Dany knew he always had a lot on his mind, and she let him get it out without interruption. Something that came with trial and error the first few months of their blossoming friendship. Soon she learned to just stay quiet till there was an extensive amount of silence in the air, or he gave her a certain look that told her it was her turn to talk.

She knew that what Spence said was a lie, not that Spencer would be aware of that, but she surely was. Dany knew Bran loved Erin, the depth of that love she wasn't one-hundred percent on, but it was potentially more than he ever let on. That was for sure. Erin could deny it all she wanted, but after having known him for so long and having seen their friendship from an outsider's point of view, it was hard to overlook. The Brandon that Dany had come to see the last months she'd been around him was definitely a different person than she knew back then, but one thing still remained the same. He'd drop anything to help Erin and was always at her side to defend her.

Then there was the subject of Tyler Rumancek that Spencer brought up that had Dany rubbing the back of her neck nervously. She knew more than she would care to admit, at least to Spencer. He seemed to really care for Erin, and as much as she wanted to root for him, she knew he'd already lost that race long before he'd even arrived at camp. Tyler was good for her in more ways than even he or she knew, and as much as she was happy for the two and their hush-hush relationship, she couldn't help for feel bad for Spencer.

At the mention of his soul being taken, Dany frowned slightly at him, crossing her arms over her chest as she searched his eyes. She continued to let him talk freely to get everything off of his chest, furrowing her brows slightly when he took her hand and placed his lighter in it. The girl closed her fingers around it and looked back up from it to his eyes. [i]He was really being serious about this not coming back nonsense.[/i] Dany responded to his asked favor with a simple nod, waiting for him to finish before speaking up softly.

[color=#BA55D3]"You know... if you don't return, we're going to hunt your ass down and drag you back.. right? There's no way in hell we're letting you just [i]disappear off the face of the earth.[/i]"[/color]

Dany hesitated a moment before closing the distance between them, wrapping her arms around her friend's neck to pull him into a firm hug. She sighed heavily, looking over him as she spoke a bit muffled into it his shoulder.

[color=#BA55D3]"Just... come back, okay? Like you said,"[/color] she pulled away from the hug slowly, stepping back a bit before looking up at him as she twisted the lighter around absentmindedly in her hand. [color=#BA55D3]"It [i]basically[/i] states you guys will succeed with the quest. Even if.. it doesn't go your way with [i]that[/i], you still have us..yeah? Or..or are you saying we aren't good enough, hm?"[/color] She raised a playful brow at the eldest son of Thanatos, smirking.

The sudden sensation of Dany hugging him caught Spencer completely off guard. It brought back memories that he thought he had long buried or forgotten. The hugs he used to receive from his mom were one of them. Not a single night passes by that Regina McNight hasn't given her son the most heartfelt hug she could give, specially when she didn't know when it would be her last. 

The next memory that was brought up was that of his ex. Despite the betrayal that he suffered under Madeline Fisher, there was no denying that what love he felt with her was genuine and he truly loved the daughter of Venus. He would get a certain sense of comfort, safety, and relief whenever she embraced him in the past and truth be told, it was one of the few memories he didn't regret after what happened. 

Ever since then, he hasn't let anyone do that to him . The two people that did left him and hurt him in entirely different ways after all. Letting somebody embrace him like that made him look and feel vulnerable... more than he would like to admit. Thus, even the ever impulsive Corona learned not to push it when it came to the subject and hasn't made any attempts of hugging him since. 

When Dany hugged him, however, he didn't seem to dislike it. He had thought that he wouldn't feel the same way he did when his mom and Madeline hugged him but the daughter of Deimos, for some unexplainable reason, managed to illicit those same feelings within him as well. 

As a result, the eldest son of Thanatos felt his cheeks burning red as he felt himself awkwardly wrapping his own arms around Dany's body. Fortunately, her playful attempts of threatening him managed to crawl its way back into his thoughts and snapped him out of the euphoric trance that he found himself in. 

[color=8A2BE2]"I'd like to see how you'd hunt me down when there's a possibility that I don't make it out alive of this quest... but I do prefer being alive than dead despite how shitty the Fates have been to me so far."[/color]
After Dany separated herself from him, he sighed in relief internally. With physical touch being his love language, it doesn't do wonders for his heart when someone as attractive as the brunette in front of him suddenly hugs him without any prior warning. 

[color=8A2BE2]"Oh you guys are plenty good enough. Seriously, I would have been long gone if it weren't for you lot. "[/color]

Smiling at Dany, an idea suddenly pops in his head, prompting said smile to turn into a more mischievous grin. 

[color=8A2BE2]"Although you could sweeten the deal for me and make me a nice homemade meal when I come back. Gives me a little more motivation to come back... you know... without my soul being taken?"[/color]  Spencer told Dany playfully followed by an equally playful wink.

Dany rolled her eyes at Spencer, smiling genuinely at the boy. [color=#BA55D3]"I promise you, I'll make you whatever your little heart desires, Spence. Just promise [i]me[/i] that you'll come back so that I can keep [i]my[/i] promise."[/color] She suddenly remembered the lighter in her hand that she'd still been fidgeting with, holding it up between them. [color=#BA55D3]"I'll be sure to hold onto this for you till then."[/color]

The girl crossed her arms back over her chest, holding on tightly to the item in her hand. Her eyes turned towards the direction she knew the Thanatos kids' cabin was, lost in thought only a moment before turning her eyes back to Spencer. [color=#BA55D3]"You should probably get packing if you haven't done so already. I imagine my cousin's already done, herself. I'm sure she wants to get this over with as soon as possible."[/color]

With a contented sigh, Spencer looked at Dany in the eye and smirked at her. Ever since he heard Erin talk about Dany's cooking, he had always wanted to sample her dishes for himself. At least now, he had something to look forward to when he came back, even if it meant suffering heartache in the process.

[color=8A2BE2]"Deal. No take-backs, okay? And just so you have a clear idea of what I'd like to try, all I can say is... [i]surprise me[/i]."[/color]

His expression softened a bit more upon realizing that Dany would really take care of his old keepsake. Honestly, it couldn't be in safer hands while he's away for an entire week looking for that damn bird.

As he started towards the direction of his cabin, Spencer held out his hand in the air and casually waved at the brown-haired girl. [color=8A2BE2]"See you in 7 days, Dany..."[/color]

As he drew farther and farther from the Deimos cabin, he suddenly remembered that he was watching The Ring with the daughter of Deimos the other night. Hopefully, his parting words didn't sound so ominous to her.