When Worlds Collide

[Fox of Spades]

The Panda Express:

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"Math? Oh, geez, Ash, you have my respect." Russell's expression turned sour. "Haha, I never understood calculus or the function of the quadratic equation, sorry about that." The young man picked up a menu and began passing it around. "Their lava cakes are pretty good and they've got some fantastic lasagna."

A waiter walked up to them and greeted them with a smile. "Oh, dude, Russell, it's you."

"Cameron?" The boy perked up. "I didn't know you were working here. Nice to see you, these are Ember, Ash, and Laura."

"Nice to meet you folks, what'll you be having?"

"Lasagna," Ember muttered, she looked horribly confused and Cameron tried not to chuckle.

"Hm, iced tea and a slice of mango pie," Russel stated.

"And you two?" He gave Laura and Ash a friendly smile and waited for them to make an order. After they finished, Cameron moved to another table with the same smile and a bounce in his steps.

"Oh, me?" Russell seemed a bit surprised. "There isn't much to say, but uh, sure, yeah." The young man gave his cheek a scratch. "Hm, I'm a lit major at Kingston, moved into an apartment with Steve two months ago. I think greek mythology is pretty fantastic..." there was an awkward chuckle. "I guess I'm kind of a nerd? But I don't mind too much."

Roland's House:

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"I get it, I'll be a good little boy." There was no mistaking the annoyance in Thanatos' voice, but he didn't say anything else. He was a rebel, but he wasn't an idiot. Grim and Balance could throw him into the box easily and that was something he didn't want. "A'ight, thanks, human." Thanatos followed the other Greek entities to the van, leaving the holidays by themselves.

Tyree winced. "Don't worry, Roland, we'll look after the place."

"Yeah," Alice grinned brightly and Tyree couldn't help but feel a little uncomfortable. "We'll take extra care of the place."

"Alice..." Tyree narrowed his eyes suspiciously. "You make me uncomfortable sometimes, y'know?"

Halloween laughed. "Good, good, that's my job! But anyways, I'm a good little holiday. Francis and Nina can testify to that."

Ferris burst into laughter and soon he was caught in one of Halloween's headlocks.

"Sorry, sorry," he apologized through fits of laughter.

"Whatever, so..." Halloween arched an eyebrow. "What are we going to do now?"

Balance's House:
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"Hades, Persephone..." The grim reaper looked beyond tired. "I've been here awhile, I don't know how long." If he were less busy and less respected, he would have fallen onto a sofa and slept, but he was death and death didn't have time to spare. "Harmony, I think you should go to the meeting alone. Balance doesn't look good," he spoke the truth. "The old man has only been getting worse, I'm sorry."

Balance twisted and groaned beneath his blanket. He was as pale as a sheet.

Persephone wished she could help, but only one thing could make Balance better, and none of them knew exactly what it was at this point.

"We think it's Chaos," Grim announced. "The holiday realm and Olympus have been completely cut off." He repeated what Harmony had said to the Greek God and his wife and Persephone clung to Hades' arm.

"This is quite the predicament, isn't it..."

Grim sighed. "It is...and no one is allowed to travel, because there's a chance they'll end up stuck. Unfortunately, I'm the exception, but I have work to do." His pager began beeping like crazy and Grim frowned. "I'm behind schedule too."
​

 

[Xyvian]

The Panda Express

"I want... A... Lava cake!" Ash grinned somewhat as he made his order. He wasn't a fan of anything remotely warm, but his natural curiosity had gotten the better of him this time. A cake with lava? A cake that tasted like lava? His interest had been piqued from the moment Russell mentioned it. Laura waited till everyone else had ordered something before she finally gave her own order.

"I'll have the Iced Peach and Lemonade," She answered before watching the waiter named Cameron walk away. She soon drifted out of the conversation as she pulled out an old and faded book from her messenger bag, at which point she started reading through it. She wasn't so interested, but she still listened to what Russell said as her eyes followed the written word on the dusty parchment pages. "Huh. You may be a geek, but at least you aren't a dork like Ash over there whose chosen to study Maths,"

"Hey! I'll have you know I know a lot about maths... Like, that Calculus thing you mentioned earlier, I am so good at it! I get good grades every time I get given a quiz, I'm just that good at... uhm... Maths! Yeah, that was it...I'm a top maths student, hah," He gave a nervous chuckle and Laura couldn't help but roll her eyes before they looked back down at her book.

"You see, Russell? You're not a nerd... He is," She murmured with a slight smirk playing on her lips.

Roland's House

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"Well... I don't think Roland will appreciate it if we redesign his house like last time," Nina answered with a slight giggle. Oh how she remembered it well. When she baked and Ferris helped, the flour went everywhere. Meanwhile Alice hung up Halloween decorations everywhere on the ground floor whilst Ferris painted the upper floor rooms in lots of colourful colours. What a pleasant memory. Nina couldn't help but smile. "I think we're better off just looking on his TV thing and seeing if there's anything good on it,"
"Please. Everytime I go to a birthday, if the humans turn the TV on, they whine about nothing good is ever on," Layla answered with a soft sigh. She chose to sit on the floor, perched on one of the cushions as she watched Francis shrug and go to turn the TV on.

"Well we can still try to find something at least relatively entertaining. How about a thriller?" Francis suggested with a slight smirk. "Or a horror movie?"

"Myeh, I'll pass. How about a Romantic Comedy?" Lillia finally spoke up, leaning back in her chair with boredom glazing her red eyes over. Nina shook her head before smiling.

"We could just watch a normal comedy... Without all the romance," The brunette gave her suggestion, looking at the channel guide with Francis. "See, we all can enjoy a good laugh!"

"And you and Ferris can fill in as the romance," Francis added, sticking his tongue out at Nina as her cheeks went cherry red and she fell silent, embarrassed from the comment.

"Seriously, just...put anything on for sound," Layla shrugged. "Roland shouldn't be too long if he's only driving the Greeks there and coming straight back,"

Outside the Town of Maplestead - In Roland's Van
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​

As Roland drove out of the town he lived in, Maplestead, he made a turn onto a bumpy road that caused the van to shudder and shake along the muddy dirt path. Unable to keep herself from being curious, Celeste stood up out of her seat and peered out through the tiny window separating them from the human to get a good glimpse at the place they were staying. Hypnos gave a slight glance to the brunette and rolled his eyes, before his curiosity got the better of him and he tilted his head.

"What do you see?" He asked, waiting patiently for a response.

"A...Huge house...But it's out in the country..." She murmured. "It seems we're not too far from the town we were just in, but we're no where near the city..."

"Technically there's a bus that runs between the town, Maplestead and the City. There's a bus stop near the house too, so if you ever need to get to the City, you can," Roland explained before he parked up outside the huge house. He turned the engine off and climbed out, opening the van doors for the Greek Gods. "Here we are - Time for you to meet my brother and sister,"

Balance's House
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"Oh..." Hades' gaze darkened from the usual carefree attitude he held to one of guilt. He glanced to his wife, knowing they had sent three of their group to the Human Realm - And now they couldn't get back. He coughed somewhat as he looked to the Reaper and scratched the back of his head with his free hand. "So... Supposing I may or may not have sent Ash and Ember to the Human World to keep an eye on the Holidays and Greek Gods... They'll not be able to get back,"

Harmony shook her head in disbelief. "Hades!" She growled. "How could you be so irresponsible to send them when we're in the middle of a crisis?!"

"Hey, do you want Chaos caught or not? Besides, if they keep an eye on the holidays, they can make sure they don't upset Balance anymore than he already has been by all this!" Hades glared down at Harmony who continued glare right back.

"What if they get lost? Ash is like an innocent little child and Ember's got the worst social skills!" Harmony was slowly losing her temper as the blonde God of the Underworld gave a little minor shrug and a smirk back in response. "This is not a laughing matter, Hades! Balance is dying!"

"Awh, don't get cha panties in a knot, Harmony, Laura volunteered to go with Ash and Ember...!" He then grinned at the white haired girl who looked like she was about to explode from rage. "See? They have a guide with them. So everything is all fine~"​

 

[Fox of Spades]

The Panda Express:

Russell laughed at Ash's energetic response. "You must really love numbers," he was still smiling, "hey, maybe you can help me out sometime." The boy clasped his hands together and feigned a frown. "Steve doesn't like it when I ask him for help." He put on a stern face and did his best Steve impression. "Russell, a high school student could solve these equations. Man, hit the books and come join me when you're worthy."

Ember looked even more confused. "This Steve person...he's your friend, right?"

"Of course." The blonde raised his hands in surrender. "He's a good guy, uptight, but one of my best friends. He always helps me in the end, anyways, can't stand to see me suffer, I suppose." Cameron came back with their orders and Russell thanked his friend before he started to dig in.

Ember speared her Lasagna with her fork and took in a bite, she practically melted in her seat. "Ash," she yanked on the boy's sleeve. The usually stoic girl had stars in her eyes. "Try it." She pushed the plate towards her friend.

"Pasta fans?" Russell laughed awkwardly then turned to face Laura. "Do you guys need someone to show you around campus? I live in an apartment not far from it, so I guess I'd make an ideal tour guide." He shrugged. "Are you living in the dorms?"

Balance's House:

That idiot. That unbelievable idiot!

Grim fought off a migraine and gritted his teeth. "No offense, Hades, but Ash and Ember? What were you thinking? I understand those two mean well, but now of all times. You of all people should no better!" His voice rose and he struggled to keep calm and stoic.

Persephone let out a soft 'tsk'. "Don't underestimate those two, Grim. They've got heart." What the reaper was saying was true, but she and her husband thought of the two as their children and she didn't like it when they were insulted or hurt.

"Fine—wait, Laura?" The reaper's expression turned unreadable. "Hades, you idiot! Are you telling me she's stuck there right now?" He was yelling now. Grim walked up to the God of the underworld and looked him in the eyes. "I can't just pick them up and bring them back...they're going to be stuck there. Ash, Ember, and Laura. Do you understand?" He ran his fingers through his hair. "They are going to be stuck there for some time and neither of us can pick them up. Balance is sick. Chaos is on the loose. This is a disaster! You. Are. A. Moron."

"Panicking won't help us, Grim." Persephone tried to be the voice of reason.

The reaper backed down a little. "I can't believe you Hades." His pager started beeping again and Grim threw it to the ground. "Balance is dying." He repeated what Harmony had said and the reality of everything, it calmed him down. "We have to stop Chaos, soon, there's no time for this. You and I, we can skill leap between the worlds. We need to find Chaos and his crew." It didn't sound like it, but the reaper was asking for help the only way he knew how, subtly.

 

[Xyvian]

The Panda Express

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"Ah. N-No, you see, where as I'm really great at Maths, I am the worst teacher. I d-don't think you'd learn anything from me," Ash shook his head desperately, and gave a nervous laugh as he scratched the back of his head. He diverted his attention to his order, which was placed before him, but before he could even try the mystery that was the lava cake, a distraction took place.

He glanced to Ember, and couldn't help but smile - It was rare to see her so enthusiastic about something. All he could do was oblige and indulge in trying some of this human meal... Lasagna, was it? He took the fork she had used and tried just tiny morsel, blowing on it gently before he brought the pasta into his mouth.

"Mmm~" He swallowed the food with a satisfied smile. "You're right~ This food is delicious," He then brought his attention back to his own dish, and he picked up his cutlery, stabbing into the lava cake and bringing the chocolate sponge to his lips to taste the strangely named food. It only took a moment after devouring his first bite did he glance down at the cake.

"This cake is neither hot like lava, nor tastes like it..." He muttered, before taking another scoop. "However, it is delicious! You should try some, Ember..."

"We... Uhm... We don't live in the dorms. In fact we don't have anywhere to go. I mean, we only just got transferred here, and all the rooms are full - We're basically stranded in this city. The campus staff did talk to us about temporary arrangements but if we can't find our friends... We aren't going to be able to take classes," The lies that Laura begin to weave flowed into words so easily. As Ember and Ash were distracted by the delicacy of human food, she was able to finally turn this around into a believable story.

"But... They aren't here. It's a big city, so it could take ages for us to find them. I wouldn't want to burden you with walking us around the place to find them," She gave a slight shrug as she took a sip of her iced drink before she looked back down to her book. "We'll think of something,"

Balance's House
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"Oh, but--... Fine," Hades grumbled as he saw Harmony also throw a glare at him. It was enough for him to finally smarten up and act serious. He leaned over to his wife, giving Persephone a quick kiss on the cheek as he ran his fingers through her hair.

"I guess I'll be going to help Coffyn look for Chaos... You look after Tartarus for me, okay? Be careful," With a soft smile and quick embrace, the blonde then walked towards the Reaper. He picked up the pager on his way, and held it out with the hope his friend would take it back.

"C'mon then, Coffyn. We should get going," He cut open a portal and then glanced to Harmony. "You'll keep an eye on Balance, yeah? Wouldn't want him to get worst..." With that, Hades walked into the portal as the white haired girl turned away to go back to her master. Like the God of the Underworld had said, she had to keep an eye on him, and make sure that he made a full recovery. She shuddered to think of what would happen if Balance succumbed to the illness plaguing him...​

 

[Fox of Spades]

Panda Express:

Ember practically had stars in her eyes. The lasagna and the lava cake, they were beyond perfect! Why couldn't they get any of this back at Tartarus? "We should tell Hades about this place, he and Persephone would love it—" In her excitement, Ember had forgotten all about keeping everything top secret. She clamped her hands over her mouth and hoped that Russell didn't hear a thing.

"Hades?" The boy was staring at them with raised eyebrows and a small smile. "Persephone?"

"Codenames," Ember blurted out. "We're having a play."

The lies were piling up and each one was starting to sound more unbelievable than the last.

"A play? Um, I thought you just moved into town? Anyways, Greek mythology is grand, I'd love to see it."

"WE NEED TO FIND OUR FRIENDS." Ember was horribly confused and it was all she could think of doing, she had to distract Russell and stop him from asking even more questions. If he found out anything, she and Ash would be failing their mission and letting everyone down.

Russell backed up a little and several heads turned to look at them. "Wha? Oh, sure...can you give me their names? If you guys don't have anywhere to go, you could rest up at the apartment Steve and I live in. He won't be back till like nine, poor guy has night classes." He gave Laura a look that was a mixture of confusion and awkwardness. Russell thought they were quite a weird bunch, but if they were into Greek Mythology, then they couldn't be that bad. Plus, Laura was normal, well, so far she wasn't screaming weird things though they were kind of suspicious.

"What do you guys say?" He laughed a little. "I promise I'm not an axe murderer. You know, what? Scratch that...it sounded suspicious."

Balance's House:

"I will," Persephone said with a smile. "Stay safe as well you two." She tried to smile for them, but her eyes landed on Balance and staring at the old man, she couldn't help but worry. Chaos had never tried anything like this before, this was something big.

"I'll make sure Hades doesn't do anything too stupid." Grim scowled, and while he was horribly annoyed, he did care about Hades' well-being. Coffyn followed his friend into the portal before they disappeared from the underworld.

 

[Xyvian]

The Panda Express

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Ash blinked as Ember made quite the scene, first with her blunder, second with her raised voice which brought the eyes of others to their table. He grinned and gave a firm, revenge pinch to her cheek. "Ember, Ember... That play was months ago. We don't have to call them Hades and Persephone anymore, remember?" He gave a nervous chuckle as he glanced to Russell, hoping that would be enough to deter him.

"See, b-back when we first started that play, we all wanted to be in character. So we kept calling each other by our character names. It was really good. You missed an amazing show," The black haired man laughed once more as he gave another light pinch on the blonde's cheek. "Isn't that right, Ember?" He questioned, giving her a knowing look. He just hoped that would be enough to keep Russell from getting too involved in their business.

However, then he asked if they wanted to stay the night at his place. Then Ash found himself falling quiet, his heart pounding. What were they to say? What could they do? The red eyed servant threw his gaze towards Laura, silently begging for the Reaper's assistant to come up with yet another lie for them.

"Well..." Laura seemed hesitant. If they refused, they would just seem all the more suspicious, but could they really afford to make the quick detour? The blonde looked away as she went to put her book in her bag, struggling with the decision. "It's... hard to say really. We would love to, but this roommate of you seems like he'd really dislike us staying..." She looked towards Russell.

"We'd feel really uncomfortable if he were to be annoyed at the presence of strangers... And if he got angry at you, we'd feel a little guilty if we got you in trouble," Laura gave her kindest smile as she placed her hand on Russell's shoulder. "We...We would love to. We want to, but... Are you really sure you want to run the risk of your roommate's wrath?" She tilted her head as she questioned him, hoping that her explanation would put him off the idea.

Ash, meanwhile, simply watched quietly with Ember as he finished off his lava cake. He was scared - If Laura wasn't able to make Russell reconsider, then they had to go back with him, and meet this... Steve, person. Who, from the descriptions the other human had given, was not as welcoming and not as nice. He sounded terrifying. Ash shuddered at the thought of trying to befriend such a person - He could only hope it wouldn't come to that.​

 

[Fox of Spades]

The Panda Express:

"Oh, yeah." Ember swatted at Ash's hands and nodded numbly, she was still visibly nervous, but the calm expression had once again returned to her face. "Ash played one of Hades' servants, it was a lot of..." Ember forced an awkward chuckle. "Hard work and fun."

Russel lit up like a kid of about to go trick'r treating. "Golly, you guys sound really dedicated, I bet you had a standing applause at the end." He clapped his hands for emphasis. He was trying to be a chipper host to the new students, but he wasn't exactly a social butterfly and Ember's intense staring made the literature major feel like he was underneath a spotlight. "Steve...yeah, he's, he's alright."

Steve and Russell were good friends but the former was a bit of a shut in. He imagined Steve would stare at everyone with an unamused expression and a slight scowl, maybe he'd even arch his eyebrows in disapproval and mutter grumpily. Steve wasn't a jerk, but he thought most people were a pain and thought that maintaining relationships was somewhat of a hassle. The only reason he didn't mind Russell too much was because of their shared love for old board games and badly soppy Sci-Fi films. "He's not a morning person, or an afternoon person, but he says I'm his favorite person so I'm sure, well, I think he won't mind too much as long as we stay out of his way and leave his taste in movies alone." He put on a smile. "Besides, I can't leave lost people on their own. If you don't manage to find your friends, where will you stay?"