"Toby." A sing song voice from above called down to Toby has he unharnessed Nico from the statue. Looking up he saw Seed Eater staring down at him with her big dark eyes. Reyna snapped to attention and drew her sword but Toby stopped her.
"Seed Eater! It is so good to see you, it's been ages!" He said doing his best to smile at her.
"So it has little two leg." She hummed leaping down from her tree, landing catlike on the forest floor and striding gracefully towards him. He lay Nico down on the ground carefully before going over and hugging Seed Eater, wrapping his arms as far as they would go around her heavily furred neck. She tucked him closer to her by putting her chin over his shoulder. He could hear the humming purr she made when she was pleased.
"I do not believe this is a social visit though is it?" Seed Eater asked stepping back from Toby and walking over to nose Nico curiously.
"No." Toby said following her. "Though in a way it's an introduction. This is our newest member, my boyfriend. The Ghost King."
"He has emptied himself." Seed Eater pointed out, sniffing Nico's chest curiously then she raised her head and nosed Toby too. "And he has nearly emptied you. My dear you have let him take too much."
"No, I have not let him take too much." Toby snapped scowling. "He hasn't taken enough!" Toby saw Reyna backing away to watch curiously from a distance. "He's coming apart, Seed Eater, look at him." She turned away from him and nosed Nico's hand. She tried to lick it gently, but her tongue went through it.
"This is for the war Slenderman mentioned to me isn't it." Seed Eater asked looking up at Toby without lifting her head, Toby nodded. "I will help him of course. There is a town west of here. Bring me a human I will take their life for your ghost." Toby nodded and sprinted away in the direction Seed Eater had mentioned.
Seed Eater and Reyna watched him go before Seed Eater lay down next to Nico. Carefully she wrapped her birdlike legs around him, pulling him closer to the warmth of her body. She could feel the cold of death on him.
"You are one of their allies in this war are you not?" Seed Eater asked Reyna in her soft sweet voice. Reyna nodded. "Then you believe that this cause of yours is worth the life of a few bystanders yes?" Reyna hesitated but she nodded again. "Good then do not try to stop what is about to happen. I assume you require The Ghost King for this war and at the moment he requires life. I will take it from a human and give it to him. If you wish to see how this is preformed then by all means stay and watch but if you do not desire to I suggest that you go for a walk before Toby returns and wipe this day from your mind."
"I'll stay." Reyna said through clenched teeth. She didn't really want to see this, but she was not going to leave Nico and the unconscious coach Hedge alone with this being. Even if Toby trusted this creature, she didn't.
"Very well." The creature said looking Reyna over for a second time. "You will protect what you see as your own. I understand. I would do the same but since the Ghost King is a member of the creeps he is my own as well. You can trust me with him." Reyna didn't move and Seed Eater inclined her head towards Reyna before laying it on Nico's chest, humming softly in a way that would keep Nico asleep and listened to his rasping breaths.
It wasn't long before Toby came back dragging a bound teenager who was squirming against the ropes that tied his arms and legs. Toby snarled as the teenager went limp falling to the forest floor. He was still conscious, just playing ragdoll to make it harder for Toby to move him. Seed Eater looked up as they approached, her dark eyes following the teenage human closely.
"Human." She called and now her voice was layered, hypnotic. "Human come here. Do not be afraid. Come to me love. Aren't I everything you've ever wanted? Don't you want to help me?" She crooned and the boy looked up at her, his pupils going wide. Toby cut the ties on his legs and he stumbled to his feet, stumbling towards Seed Eater.
"You are everything I've ever wanted." The boy repeated adoringly. "I would die for you."
"That's right come to me dearest. Your life is all I need from you and I will show you wonders you have never seen. Things even more beautiful than me." She sang as the boy reached her. She bent her head slightly and let him stroke her mane of soft black hair. He gasped for breath looking into her eyes. On the sideline Reyna looked away momentarily.
"Nothing could be more beautiful than you." The boy sighed dreamily and Seed Eater purred. Carefully, still humming softly, she lent down, tilting the boys head up with her nose. He didn't resist and when she sunk her needle sharp fangs into the skin of his throat he let out a gasp of pleasure, his eyes rolling back in his head. Slowly a gold white light started to flow out of the bites in his neck and congregate in Seed Eater's mouth. When her mouth was full she released the boys neck, he let out a weak whimper of protest.
Toby walked over to Nico's side, propping him up and tilting his head back so that Seed Eater could easily position her mouth over Nico's. Slowly she let the light drip into Nico's mouth as he breathed in. Reyna could see it flowing under his skin, chasing the blue tint from his lips. When all of the light was out of Seed Eaters mouth she turned back to the human, biting his neck again.
This time she let the light absorb into her tongue but it didn't seem to go any farther than that. This time when she let go of the boy, he only gave one final sigh and fell to the ground. Reyna watched for a minute to see if he would breath in again. He didn't.
Seed Eater licked Nico's face gently, grooming him like a mother cat. Reyna could almost hear the rasp of her tongue across Nico's skin as Toby held Nico up. As Seed Eater made her way across Nico's skin, Reyna could see the edges of his skin begin to firm again where she hadn't noticed it blurring into shadows. As Seed Eater moved down to Nico's neck, humming a soft lullaby that made Reyna feel drowsy and would keep Nico asleep, Toby stripped off Nico's jacket.
Toby held up Nico's arm one after the other while Seed Eater made her way over them with methodical soothing licks, letting a little bit of the light bleed out of her each time to chase the darkness from Nico's edges. When she was finished with his arms there was still light left in her mouth, so without hesitation Toby pulled Nico's shirt up over his head. It didn't matter in the least to Seed Eater.
She made her way over Nico's chest and back the same way she had over his arms. Soon there was no more light left in her mouth but Nico's skin was firm again. The grooming had gotten his blood flowing as well and chased some of the cold out, leaving his body looking alive again. His breathing had settled into a slow steady rhythm and he seemed to be sleeping more than unconscious now.
Seed Eater lay down, settling herself before Toby lay Nico down too. He rested Nico's head on one of Seed Eater's front legs. She wrapped the other one around Nico's body, tucking him up into her mane as much as she could without worrying about suffocating him.
"I'll take the body away." Toby murmured softly. "Where do you want it?"
"You know where my cave is." Seed Eater whispered back. "Take it there please." Toby nodded and picked up the body of the teenager, slinging it over his shoulders and then striding off.
Seed Eater hummed softly, lulling the sleeping Nico into sweet dreams. She began grooming his hair, she might as well, most of him was already clean by her tongue and his hair was tangled. Besides it seemed to relax him even further, so she continued lazily.
Reyna got coach Hedge down from where he had been tied to the statue and settled him. Seed Eater looked up for a moment sniffing curiously before returning to grooming Nico. Obviously the coach wasn't very interesting to her.
Toby came jogging back and immediately flopped down next to Seed Eater, leaning against her back. Immediately she twisted her head around and started grooming Toby's hair instead. He laughed and leaned his head to give her a better angle. She seemed satisfied after about ten minutes and turned away, laying her head down gently on Nico's, chest again her humming purr increasing in pitch slightly.
"I'm going to need to sleep soon." Toby said to Reyna as he got up from his place next to Seed Eater and walked over to where Reyna was sitting. "I didn't get any sleep in Pompeii and like Seed Eater said, Nico's been relying on my energy a bit too heavily."
"Right. What was that about?" She asked carefully.
"Nico can use other people's life energy as power if he wants to. A bit like Seed Eater does." Toby explained. "He doesn't usually do it though, because it has obvious… consequences for those who's life is fed on and Nico doesn't like that. But for reasons neither of us understand I have excess energy all the time so he can take mine with little trouble.
"I think that's why what you did over the volcano scared him so much. He's used to being in control of stuff like that."
"And Nico… needs that?" Reyna asked softly. Toby gave her a sidelong glance.
"It just hit you about what the creeps really are didn't it? I mean we told you but you didn't actually believe it 'till now?" Reyna sighed heavily and nodded. "Relax, Nico's a honorary member more than anything. As far as I know he's never killed anyone outside of battle and everyone does that, right? Everyone who finds themselves in a battle."
Reyna relaxed a little. It was true, you would be hard pressed to find a demigod who hadn't killed someone in battle. Nearly impossible to find one that wouldn't. "What about you?"
"I'm a creep through and through." Toby stated bluntly watching Reyna closely. "Not to say that I always wanted to be, or had a choice in becoming one. But I wouldn't back out now even if I could."
"Can I ask how it happened or is that a taboo question?" Reyna was very curious but she didn't want to create any enemies where she didn't already have them.
"It's not a safe question with most of the creeps." Toby admitted. "Laughing Jack might kill anyone who asked that. He doesn't like to even think about how he was made but I'm less opposed to talking about my origins, especially since Nico.…". Toby trailed off staring into space.
"How you were made?" Reyna prompted after a couple of minutes. "You weren't just… born?"
"Well I was of course but I wasn't born like this." Toby said waving at one of the axes he had set down in front of him when he sat. "I was born with tourette's, paranoid schizophrenia , and a rare disorder that makes me incapable of feeling pain but no homicidal tendencies.
"My father was disgusted with me, as I grew up I couldn't remember a time he didn't beat my mother. He would tell me it was my fault. That she needed to be punished for giving birth to something like me. My sister would try to defend me and he would beat her too. When I was about fourteen my sister tried to take me and run... but she was too scared and stressed and she wasn't driving carefully enough so we crashed.
"I should have been the one to die but I wasn't. She died in the hospital and my father wasn't there, the unreal was right after I got out of the hospital. My father should have been there but he wasn't. When we got home things went right back to the way they had been... except now my sister wasn't there to defend me and my father didn't even seem to miss her.
"At first I just meant to run away but I couldn't leave my mother alone with my father. The voices in my head had been telling me to kill him for months anyway so I let them take over and did what they wanted me too. The police report says I stabbed him nearly forty times. After that I ran. I grabbed gasoline and matches from my father's garage and when I got into the woods I tried to burn myself to death. I couldn't feel the pain after all, so I wouldn't be tempted to leave the fire.
"Slenderman saved me, or damned me depending on the way you look at it but either way he took me out of the fire. It was a while after that until I was fully sentient again and by then I was so deep in this life there was no getting out. I didn't want to die anymore, it was like having a family again. I still only kill when Slenderman tells me to though, or on the rare occasion when I have to for Nico."
Reyna didn't say anything. When Toby looked over at her he saw that she was deep in thought. She glanced up at him when she felt his eyes on her and gave a tight smile.
"I understand that better than I'd like to." She explained shortly. Toby didn't ask for an explanation. She would give it whenever she was ready to, to him or someone else, it wasn't his place to pry. "Now go to sleep." Reyna said flapping a hand at him. "You're right, I didn't take a watch in Pompeii and you should rest. We'll need to get going again as soon as Nico wakes up, if he's taking energy from you, you need to replenish yours."
Toby nodded and curled up, pulling his hood over his head and using his arm as a pillow. Reyna looked up and noticed Seed Eater watching the two of them closely. Reyna met her eyes, slightly hypnotized by the how dark they were in comparison to her bone white face. Seed Eater looked away and Reyna was glad she had, Reyna wasn't sure she would have been able to look away herself. Seed Eater closed her eyes relaxing completely, Reyna watched Seed Eater's breathing, even and slow. The purring hum falling quiet as Seed Eater slipped into sleep as well, leaving Reyna the only one awake.
(POV change: Seed Eater (I know this is highly irregular but I want to do a thing))
When Seed Eater slipped into sleep she slipped out of her mind and into the one of the young man beneath her head. It was not a thing she did very often, but once she had perfected both her telepathic abilities and her tendency to lucid dreams she had learned how do this. Mostly she used it to relay instructions to the humans who served her without having to endanger herself by going to close to the human world. Now however, she could use it to get to know the newest member of the group she could no longer remember joining. It seemed it had just always been so.
Once asleep she found herself in a hellish landscape of red mist and fire. The ground looked like blistered skin and shadows moved everywhere. Everything but their outlines hidden by the strange fog. As she stood she could feel the air blistering her skin and the heat pressing into her lungs. Looking around she spotted the only human looking figure standing by a true river of fire. She trotted towards the human until she was close enough to see that it was indeed the Ghost King, kneeling down to dip is hand into the fire.
"Ghost King?" She called curiously. He looked up at her, drawing his hand out of the fire and reaching for the sword at his belt before he hesitated and stood.
"Seed Eater?" He asked, his eyes were dark and hollow.
"Yes." She confirmed dipping her head. "I'm sorry to interrupt your dreams but it didn't sound like we would get a chance to meet properly while you were awake. Besides it doesn't look like a good dream anyway." She pointed out looking around them.
"It isn't a dream." The Ghost King said staring across the river of fire unseeing. "It's a memory." Then he looked back at her and smiled half-heartedly. "I'm sorry you had to see it. I wouldn't wish most of my memories on my worst enemy. Come on, now that I know this is a dream I should be able to find a nicer place for us." He lead the way a little ways down the river bank and soon the fire faded. Instead they were by the shore of a small lake Seed Eater recognized as the one by Slenderman's mansion.
"Much better." The Ghost King said smiling at the water more fervently now. "By the way, most of the creeps have been calling me Ghost. It's quicker than my full title, less formal too. I've never been one for formalities."
"Very well Ghost." Seed Eater said sitting down on the soft grass. "It is a pleasure to meet you."
"And you." Ghost replied warmly.
"Will you tell me a bit about yourself?" Seed Eater asked laying down and crossing one scaled claw over the other. "For instance where did you get your name? I am called Seed Eater because I consume the seed of life in humans to keep myself alive and young."
"I'm called the Ghost King because it's what I am." Ghost said with a shrug. "There are many gods in this world, I happen to be the son of the god of the underworld, the world of the dead. I am the prince of the underworld as well. But my father doesn't have time to deal with the spirits that choose to stay on Earth so I command them. I took the title when I was twelve and destroyed Minos, the one who wrongfully held the title before me."
"That is a very interesting story." Seed Eater agreed nodding. "The dead obey you?"
"Yes. Though that is a broad statement, there are some who won't. A few who were loyal to Minos, more who are Roman and will not obey me because I'm a Greek." Ghost explained shrugging. "But no ability is perfect right?"
"That is true." Seed Eater conceded. "I have the ability to control humans telepathically but there will always be those strong willed ones who will slip out of my control." Ghost nodded smiling at her slightly.
"Control is hard to maintain all the time." He agreed, glaring at a crack in the dream that had just opened revealing the red landscape underneath as if to prove the point. Ghost clapped his hands and the crack closed.
"You said that was a memory?" Seed Eater remembered curiously.
"Indeed. It is Tartarus, the only thing worse than the fields of punishment in the underworld. Tartarus is the dreams of the original god of chaos and depravity, possibly the root of the Christian idea of Satan. I don't know. I spent nearly a month there attempting to find the doors of death after they were forced open months ago."
"Ah yes I heard that story too." Seed Eater said recalling when Slenderman had come to inform her that the veil between life and death was thin and they might have some trouble making the humans they killed stay dead. "Toby tells me you and he are a couple now?"
"We are. We have been for almost ten months now. He means the world to me." Ghost admitted. Seed Eater nodded approvingly.
"Time moves strangely in dreams. You should wake up soon."
"I know." Ghost agreed sighing deeply. "There are duties I must fulfill as always. You know after saving the world this time I really hope it stays saved for a while. If not I may just leave it to someone else to save it. I'm tired of swooping in at the last minute to save a bunch of idiot demigods who usually forget to be grateful about two days after I save them."
Without a word Seed Eater rested her head on Ghost's shoulder, humming softly until he calmed and relaxed. Once he was fully relaxed he woke up and Seed Eater followed him into the waking world. Once they were both awake neither of them moved for another few minutes, both getting to know the others energy now that they were awake.
It was Seed Eater who moved first. Lifting her head up off ghost's chest and letting him sit up. She saw that the small goat man that had been unconscious when they fell asleep was awake again, and appeared to be cooking something. Toby was awake too and eating something, Reyna was leaning against a tree dozing.
"How are you feeling Nico?" Toby asked. Seed Eater guessed that Nico was Ghost's human name.
"Much better." Nico or Ghost said grinning at Toby. "Thank you. I don't want to hear about how this was achieved though, I have a feeling I know and I don't want it confirmed." Toby grinned at Nico sheepishly. Seed Eater took note that Ghost seemed to be against killing on his account. Well she supposed maybe if she could see and communicate with those she killed she might be too, that must be uncomfortable.