Hey, other underworld-guy

Xavier was sitting on his bunk, rocking back and forth as he hugged himself, staring off into space. His mind was going a million miles an hour, all focused on differentiating the voices he was hearing. Some were easy, the ones that were yelling and screaming, the ones talking about Legion stuff down the end of the room. Those were easy enough. Some real, some not.

One voice kept whispering louder than the others. Clearer than the others. About murder. Killing. Fighting. This was the one Xavier was trying to figure out. Most of the voices were vague shouts in the background or the constant murmur of a dozen people talking. This voice was like the loud jerk in the crowded room who could be clearly heard saying all the wrong things.

He was so tired of the voices. He just wanted them to go away. He still wasn't sure if they were ghosts, or if he was crazy. He wasn't sure which was better. Maybe ghosts could be banished by another demigod who had underworld connections? He thought about it for a second. Wasn't there someone in the 2nd who could do that?

The nerdy legacy of Vulcan and Trivia stopped rocking and grabbed his probatio tablet, slinging it over his neck. He hated how it felt, but wore it as necessary. He also grabbed his hammer, more for comfort than protection, and hopped off his bed. He sulked along the row of bunks until he came across the one he was looking for. The veteran with the Mania symbol on his arm.

Xavier leaned down and shook the guy's shoulder. "Excuse me. Excuse me. Wake up, please."

Colton was in a typical deep sleep, dreaming about actually doing something productive but brushing the thought aside like he usually did. This was normal, really. Colton was very decisive, and the decision he made was final. That was how he succeeded in dropping his hardcore training lifestyle and became carefree. He wouldn't end up like his dad, and he was happy.

Besides, this camp wasn't all that great like his dad had said it would be. Training, training, training. That's all it was. No wonder his dad developed to be such a workaholic. It was sad, but after a year or two, he figured he had to stop grieving over his dead father or he'd wind up exactly like him. Sad and dead. Plus, he was the one who sent him to the high-maintenance hellhole anyways. He wasn't thanking him or anything.

Colton was just in the middle of him doing some epic sweep when he felt a shaking on his shoulder. It couldn't already be six o'clock, and he didn't want to get up (as usual), so he ignored it like he did with everything else and tried to recover the dream. For once, he couldn't. This caused him to be unable to go back to sleep, so he opened his eyes and looked at the kid who was bothering him.

"What do you want? Actually, unless there's some natural disaster happening or we're all in immediate danger, don't bother me," he said coldly and turned so that his back was facing the boy. He shut his eyes tightly, trying to forget that there was a presence standing next to him. What did that guy want, anyways? If he actually knew anything about anyone here, he should have known that Colton was the least likely person to help someone. Probably a new kid or something.

"Excuse me. Excuse me. Are you the son of Mania? I need your help. There might be danger." Xavier said, his tone as flat as always. He still shook the shoulder of the guy. He needed some help, and he didn't understand why the man wouldn't want to reply. Why only if there was a natural disaster? 95% of the danger to demigods were supernatural.

"Do you know anything about ghosts?" Xavier asked, still shaking the man's shoulder. It was a bad habit, where he wasn't going to stop until he got the answer. Most of the time he didn't realize he was being obnoxious, but at this point, he really wanted the advice and he was willing to be obnoxious. It was better than listening to the voices. He cocked his head a little as he listened to the voices. "I need help with ghosts."

Colton could hear the flat voice next to him, and the darkness of his mind was somehow shaking. Ugh. He was going to end up helping this kid, wasn't he? Yep. Colton opened his eyes, pushed the boy's hands away, sat up and looked at the boy emotionlessly. "Yeah, I am. And a legacy of Pluto, too, so I probably have to deal with more crap that you ever will need to." He got a lot of crap for being a lazy legacy of Pluto. Expectations and all. That was too much stress for him.

"Yeah, I know some stuff about ghosts. Do you need something? Talk to your dead parent or something? I can do that," Colton said, yawning. "Just...hurry up and tell me so I can get back to sleep before we gotta do more s*** in the morning."

"I hear ghosts in my head. All the time. Some are murderous. Can you make them quiet?" Xavier explained, the desperation he felt completely lacking from his voice. He paused for a second, cocking his head again. "We have to do a bowel movement in the morning? I didn't know bodily functions were scheduled like that."

Okay, slight distraction, but it was a legitimate question. He didn't think the legion was going to be that strict. Or was that one of those idioms he didn't understand? That might make more sense. Except idioms didn't make sense. He stiffly rubbed his face for a second, looking at the other demigod expecting a response, knowing that right now the only person who could help him was probably thinking he was insane.

"Yeah, yeah, cool. And no, they aren't going to murder you. They're ghosts. Their transparent weapons won't be able to stab you. Only scare you," Colton rolled his eyes apathetically. [color=#7EA7D8"So, in the future, if you see a figure in the night next to your bunk holding a knife next to your throat, don't scream. You'll seem like a maniac, and you'll disturb my sleep."[/color] Not like the kid didn't already seem like a maniac to him.

And then the kid made some stupid comment about bowel movement. He was bright, huh? "Mkay, man. Whatever you wanna assume." Colton motioned for the boy to shoo, and he collapsed back onto his bed. He closed his eyes and tried to sleep again, though he figured he'd be laying like this for the next three hours without any sleep. In the morning, he had to do something. Which was rare.

"No, they don't want to murder me. The voice wants me to murder, since he can't. He's really obnoxious. It's the only voice that's actually clear right now. I really want all the ghosts voices to go away, but can you at least make this one go away? I am not a lunatic." Xavier paused for a few moments. "I think."

Colton sighed and sat back up, facing the kid. "Ask for his name and birthdate. Write it on a piece of paper. I'll talk to Mr. Murder for you in the morning." Or he wouldn't. It depended on how he was feeling. "That is, of course, you leave me alone so I can sleep. Otherwise, good luck. Have some self-control and don't murder anyone."

Xavier stared at the other guy for several moments. "I don't plan on killing anyone. But how do you expect me to get his name and date of birth? He's a lunatic." He asked, cocking his head again. The voice didn't like being called a lunatic, but he was fairly certain he was. And then there were the other voices. The guy wanted to sleep, but how was Xavier suppose to sleep? He wanted a chance to sleep too.

"How do you get his name and date of birth? You ask him. It's not like he can kill you or anything, and you can talk to ghosts yourself, right?" Maybe if this guy actually mustered up the courage to yell at the ghosts to shut the hell up, he wouldn't be having this problem, and Colton would still be sleeping soundly. But no. Fate is so cruel. Colton sighed and said, "Now go do it, and let me sleep." He said that last part coldly and laid back down.