![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
aboveallthings[In your hand is a fidget cube, a rounded white cube accented with buttons, dials, and switches in the color of a certain Family on the ship.
Play with any of the fidget cube's six sides and you'll receive a vision. There are two problems with this:
1) some very important information seems to have been blocked out, and
2) you know, with a bone-deep certainty, that this vision isn't yours.
But if this vision isn't yours...then whose is it? Maybe the color of your cube is a clue.]
BACK TO THE EVENT POST
Play with any of the fidget cube's six sides and you'll receive a vision. There are two problems with this:
1) some very important information seems to have been blocked out, and
2) you know, with a bone-deep certainty, that this vision isn't yours.
But if this vision isn't yours...then whose is it? Maybe the color of your cube is a clue.]
BACK TO THE EVENT POST
ASTER
Date: 2025-11-14 10:08 pm (UTC)~
[luke] waits for you [outside hermes cabin] and says he'd like to talk to you with a smile. more ominously, he suggests you head to [tartarus]... because nobody can get in your way there. [grover] is shocked by the invitation, but agrees the two of you are strong enough that you should be fine.
he still warns you to be ready for anything and to be careful, before you leave. you both know what [luke] has planned.
you follow him into [tartarus] anyway, surrounded by its oppressive dark, and only ask him what he wants when he stops.
[luke] turns and points [backbiter] at you.
you're surprised, but you're not surprised. it's too soon -- but of course [luke] would have wanted this all along. maybe you did, too.
"remember what i told you? if you ever won against me [in capture the flag], i'd take you on with everything i've got." he wants to duel you without holding anything back. your insight, wit, and quick growth has left him dissatisfied with anything else; you've exceeded his expectations in every way.
fine, then. you accept.
"you won't be able to defeat me unless you actually fight with lethal intent. now, show me your true skills."
you fulfill half of that request; [luke] is strong and that's where the joy of it comes from, even if both of you really do go for each other's throats, [riptide] clashing with [backbiter].
you lose --you win --
[luke] is the one who concedes defeat, though not without a frustrated laugh. he understands: this is why you're the leader, isn't it? but he also acknowledges that if you go any further, you'll both go beyond the point of no return. he wistfully says he'd love to see just how far you can both go, but you have an important mission coming up. until that's finished, you're vital allies.
you leave [tartarus].
he flatters you for your strength, claiming it's reassuring and that he's ready to rely on you in a pinch. you concur and think you might even understand him better -- but he's still fixed on the results. if you'd kept going...
the friendly mask fractures.
"i'm going to be entirely honest with you: i hate you."
he rattles off all the ways he hates you, surprising you with the realization: a not insignificant part of this had been personal all along. haughtily, he says he'll let you have the win today -- but next time, he'll be victorious. he pulls a glove off one hand and flings it into your face. you catch it.
he tells you there's a tradition to throw one's glove at their opponent when demanding a duel. should the opponent accept the glove, the duel is also accepted. he wants a rematch -- in a future where you know he'll betray you, just as much as you know you'll shove him down in order to climb to the top. to win. to survive.
you both know how this ends.
he smiles at you, anyway, mask slotting neatly back into place. "ah, look at the time. let's call it a day for now."