PC: ACE 💀

[resumed]

Comments

[selfimmolation]

It was a little bit closer to hell no. I don't care for that whole system at all. [ which probably isn't surprising, all things considered. ] In theory a warlord can choose to quit, but then you get the bounty reinstated and any protection to yourself and your crew nullified. And considering the government turns a blind eye to all pirate activities warlords do-- there's not much of a point to renouncing it if you've decided to take it in the first place. Unless you really disagree with what they want from you, I guess.

[ that last bit is added as an afterthought, like he thought of a particular scenario ]

[resumed]

[ there's a soft laugh to that. yeah, that sounds more accurate. ]

A rock and a hard place then. Either follow their rules and keep yourself safe even if what they ask of you may go against any morals you might have, or leave them and risk your own survival to anyone who finds you.

[ he just. makes a face. ]

Your government sounds like a pain. No wonder everybody's fine with taking their own risks.

[selfimmolation]

I wouldn't say everybody. Most people are fine just living their lives, and most pirates went off for reasons that had nothing to do with how the world is run.

[ he shrugs ]

There's a revolutionary group around, though.

[resumed]

[ there's a noise like "okay, fair enough." ]

Is that a good thing or a bad thing? The revolutionaries, not people living their lives.

[selfimmolation]

They're probably not a bad group, but... I've got no interest in joining them.

[resumed]

You have the group you like and the group you want. No sense meddling with that and changing it.

[selfimmolation]

That, and Pops had to work pretty hard to get me to agree to join up under him. The Revolutionaries are more of a you join because you really want to kind of deal.

[ ace needs to be courted to listen to people :/ ]

[resumed]

So really there's no sense in even entertaining the idea because it's not worth the effort. [ that's not what ace is saying but he does think it's kind of funny ace played hard to get in this case. ]

[selfimmolation]

If I'm gonna work under someone, I need to know who they are and respect them. That's why I could never sail under Luffy.

[ it's a joke

but the joke is he has no respect for his brother ]

[resumed]

[ he hears that loud and clear, thanks. ]

Ouch. Remind me to tell your brother that if I ever meet him.

[selfimmolation]

Oh, he knows.

[ older sibling rules he is allowed to talk shit to luffy ]

[resumed]

[ oh my god. ]

I feel like I should be surprised but never mind. [ ...can't entirely relate to sibling talk now, but. ] I feel like if I ever tried to be this mean to Hazel, it wouldn't go that well and she'd just make me feel bad about it.

[ he does not entirely explain who hazel is because, actually, never mind he can kind of relate. ]

[selfimmolation]

Yeah? [ he doesn't ask who hazel is, despite clearly not knowing. nico will say it if he wants ] Luffy doesn't expect too much from me, I guess.

[resumed]

We're still both trying to get to know each other and also know each other too well. [ wry. ] It's been a little while since I've seen her but I don't know if she expects too much from me either.

[ but this is sort of positive for him because hazel really does not put a lot of pressure on him which is great. ]

[selfimmolation]

So you get along, then. [ teasing. sometimes people who don't expect things are nice!! ace pressures himself all on his own though he doesn't need help with that ] Did you meet her at camp...?

[resumed]

Mm...it's a little more complicated than that. [ chews his licorice. ] She's my half-sister, but our father was his Roman self when she was born. So she's a daughter of Pluto instead of Hades.

[ ...he pauses, like he's debating if he wants to elaborate too much. but he figures ace will ask if he needs more to understand. ]

I actually brought her to Camp Jupiter after we met. She's one of the praetors now. [ a pause. ] They're like the camp's leaders. There's only two of them at a time.

[selfimmolation]

... I'm going to be honest, I don't know enough about gods to fully get all of that. [ if a guy fucks and has a kid he is the dad whatever name he goes by?????? sure ] But that means you can't see her that much, if she's in the other camp, then?

[resumed]

And I'm going to be honest, too. I have no idea how it works half the time myself. [ haha. ] It's a whole...visualization aspect thing, as far as I know. Our two camps didn't even know about each other for decades because it always ended in bloodshed.

But...my father sent me to pose as an ambassador for his Roman self and infiltrate the camp to try and help bring the two together. We needed both camps to join forces in order to stop Gaea. [ he nods though. ] That's right though. She's pretty far away right now. I could visit if I wanted, but we've all been really busy.

[selfimmolation]

So you guys are working together now?

[ hmm ]

Even if you don't see each other, she's still your sister. You don't need to see her all the time for that. [ bonds and what have you ]

[resumed]

Were. Are? [ ... ] We're in a period of peace. The war ended last summer, and we just defeated the Nero and Python not that long ago. Or Apollo did, specifically, but it's always been on us to help the gods with things like this.

And so because it's a period of peace, Hazel's busy at her camp and Will and I just got back from something else. So we're hoping for a little bit of a break, too. [ there's a smile though. ] But you're right. Even though we only met recently, she's still family. I couldn't leave her behind even if I wanted to. I can still be in touch when I need to be.

[selfimmolation]

Yeah, Will mentioned you guys were planning a vacation before ending up...

[ gestures. this is the worst vacation location. but the family talk makes him smile ]

That's family. Even if you're far apart, you're always linked. [ ace is saying that about his chosen family even though for nico it's blood family it's fine ]

[resumed]

Something like that. We were supposed to have the whole camp to ourselves because summer session's over. I'm still kind of mad we ended up here instead, but I know this place needs some help.

[ to be fair, hazel is also partially chosen family. as in nico found her in the underworld and chose to bring her back to the surface because he recognized her as a child of pluto. it's fine. ]

I can't say I disagree. I do worry less, at least, knowing she has people around here that will look out for her and know everything there is to know in case she's in trouble. It'd just be nice if she were less responsible. [ then they could both slack off. ]

[selfimmolation]

Let's be honest, this place needs a lot of help.

[ and then, teasing; ]

Oh, so you're the slacker between both of you. I get it.

[resumed]

It's almost impressively bad here. [ almost serenely. also, yeah, he laughs at that. ]

That's not a wrong take, seeing how often I take off on my own to do other things besides my counselor duties. I'm sure she'd be very unhappy to hear it.

[selfimmolation]

Doesn't that mean you leave the kids at camp behind?