I long time lost. A new world to find

Days...Months..a year, the two friends don't truly know how long they were gone, the time slipped from them like sand in a hourglass. Last remembering being at the camp and then...nothing. The two knew each other well and knew there home by heart, but something deep in the ground, below the earth tugged on them to return, not sure what caused them to wake up near an entrance to the Underworld Ben and Nathan recollected there weapons and clothing quickly hitchhiking and walking, using any means necessary to make their way back to the safety of the camp. Along the way having stopped in Camp Jupiter for aid, the Romans sent Chiron a message and told him of their way home. The centaur sent for them a satyr to guide them back and after a week of travel the son of Melinoe and the son of Hades stood a top the hill that hid this camp. Looking down upon the wide area they called home.

"It's been so long it seems like. I thought we'd never see home again, aye Ben?" Nathan commented to his comrade

"We will find out why the underworld held us for so long Nathan. I'm sure my father will have some explaining to do once we have the ability to question him. But yes it is good to be home again. Safe from the trouble we faced outside." Ben retorted in thought of relief and quiet thought of their trials.

Pistols holstered at his side and sword and bow across his back and with Ben's cane sword in the Hades child's hand the two walked down the hill, the cowl of Nathan cloak down so as to not cause him to appear and a specter roaming in the sun. While Ben was in thought of the past, Nathan was worried of the soul he crossed and then disappeared on.

"Chiara is gonna kill me when she sees me..." Nathan muttered under his breath as the two boys walked back into camp

Chiara was in the gym, hitting the punching back over and over again. She hadn't bothered wrapping tape around her knuckles, and her toughened skin had finally split open, staining the bag with small splatters of red. She used everything: fists, knees, elbows, feet, into a flurry of rousehound kicks and uppercuts.

It had been a month and a half now. A whole, fcking, month and a half that Nathan Maxwell had disappeared. No note. No warning. Nothing. Iris Messages didn't go through. Texts had been ignored.
He and another dude had just gone missing: one of the two Hades kids, but Chiara honestly didn't really give a crap about him. She didn't know him. Well, she had spoken to him, and fought at his side, but she cared far more about Nathan even if she would never admit that.

Apart from Namir, he might well be the person she felt closest to here. He knew things, he had done things for her... she honestly wondered if she could ever repay that one day. They had saved each other's life, fought, argued, hung out. Fought again.

And now he was fcking gone.

Her fist slammed into the fabric, followed by a kick that made the bag spin a few times. Don't think about it.
F*ck it, she couldn't take it. Laurent had totally crushed her, what would she do now that the same had happened to Nathan? She'd pull through, no doubt, but at what cost. Namir was the only one who knew how much this absence, this absolute silence had affected Chiara. She hadn't told Namir that much about Nathan except that he was a d!ck and that she wanted to rip him a new one, but she somehow realized Chiara didn't hate him as much as she made it out to be.

Stop thinking about it.

She landed a series of punches and elbows into the bag, the pain of her split knuckles keeping her in the present.

"Chiara!"

She stopped, looking around. A girl had walked in, her brown hair a little messy. She was dressed in a blue shirt that read University of Athens and combat boots.

"Can't you read, Landry? I booked this room for myself today."

"They're back."

Chiara's eyes traveled back to the daughter of Hecate. There was a pause. "You mean...."

"Yeah." The dark-haired girl nodded. "Come on."

Leaving the gym, she didn't bother getting her bag as the two girls walked out and straight towards Half-Blood Hill. Salem had spotted the two, Morgan told her on their way, and had immediately contacted her.

"Chill out," she said, though she sounded nervous herself. Somewhere between relieved and nervous.

"Oh yeah, I'm gonna chill out." Chiara cracked her knuckles. "I'm gonna chill the f*ck out."

Ben and Nathan saw some familiar faces here and there, people that were obviously shocked at the return of the two boys whom vanished without a quest to drag them away for such time and no such family plans that would cause them to leave.

And then Nathan felt the chill of his life being threatened and Ben felt a breath of magic in the air.

"And now I'm f*cked." Nathan as he saw Chiara barreling towards him and he braced himself for the impromptu fight that he was about to be in.

Meanwhile Ben just smiled lightly as he saw Morgan coming knowing that she would be upset with his disappearance but also knowing that she should be able to feel the heightened air of death that even Nathan had floating around him. A defying symbol of regardless of time away from the having been in the Underworld for an extended period of time.

"Hello girls." Ben stated calmly

"Ben!" I hugged him hard. Gods was it good to feel he was alive. One month of nothing, I had actually freaked out so much. Only Salem knew. I had tried some magic to locate the two but it hadn't worked, and --

"NATHAN FCKING MAXWELL."

Her fist came out of nowhere and slammed right into his jaw. She spat at the ground, punched him again, kneed him in the groin. Only then did she grab his shirt and pull him to her level, her hand at the back of his head and her elbow digging into his throat. If her eyes could shoot bullets, his head would've been blown clean off his shoulders. "You better start talking, tw@tfungus, cause I'm this close to ripping your bowels out, through your neck, and choking you with them."

Ben gave Morgan and relieving hug before watching Chiara beat Nathan and then snap at him. However Nathan couldn't really speak given then fact that his windpipe was being cut off in the way he was held so the son of Hades manipulated the earth to separate the two and allow Nathan to breathe.

"Look love, I know you're pissed at Nathan's disappearance but it wasn't by his or my choice." Ben stated to them.

"Chiara, Ben and I woke up a week ago outside one of the enterance's to the underworld. I don't know how long we were there or why we were there at all." Nathan said to the girls adding to Ben's earlier statement.

Chiara was shoved back by the wave of earth and landed on her back. It had happened so quickly she hadn't even had the time to do a breakfall. Getting back on her feet, she spat out some dirt before turning her glare at the son of Hades.

"Ben. No offense. But go eat a bag of flaccid d!cks." She walked around the wall of earth, back to Nathan, spat out some more dirt, and readied her fists. "You couldn't have sent something, could you?! When you fcking woke up. An Iris Message. Something on Skype, Facebook, Kik, anyfreakingwhere!" She clenched her teeth, ready to rip his ribs out.

Ben shrugged his shoulders and turned to Morgan wondering if she had anything to bring up as far as concern was left.

Nathan looked at the red head that he had spent so much time with and had grown fond of as a comrade and friend. "Once Ben and I had gotten to Camp Jupiter I sent out a message to the camp hoping it would reach you. For one reason or another I got nowhere and then I messaged Chiron and he sent a satyr to find us and lead us back..there were..complications that I dont want to remember right now but the fact of me not calling you is because Chiron apparently felt no need to tell y'all we were alive."

"What Nathan said is true because I did the same to my siblings in the Hades cabin and attempted with the other underworld cabin as well. I got nowhere with my attempts" Ben added

Chiara curled her fists so tightly her bloodied knuckles turned white. She was trying very hard to find reasons to keep being mad at Nathan and kick the sh!t out of him but she couldn't pick at his logic in any possible way.

"Just. Go fck yourself," she finally said, and stomped away. She was raging. All the worry and pain and fear she had experienced for the last month had just turned into a stomachful of anger. She needed to go and do something to calm her down, and staying around Nathan wouldn't help.


"She'll get over it," I said, watching the short daughter of Ares becoming smaller as she walked down the hill. "So, what the hell happened? Why were you in the Underworld?" I asked, turning back to them, my eyes going from Nathan to Ben.

Nathan shrugged and Ben frowned sharing the sentiment of not knowing what happened.

"Hades has told me nothing and given that Nico and my other siblings are not coming around to try to talk to me I doubt either of us will know. Ben stated to Morgan a look in his eye that showed he wanted to be away from this open area and somewhere private.

Nathan looked to the direction that Chiara left down and started towards it heading after the daughter of Ares

OOC: Nate/Chiara topic.

BIC: As Nathan left, I followed him with my eyes for a moment. It seemed unreal that he was back -- that they were back. Fck, was I relieved, but it was also somewhat of a shock. I had also no clue why Chiron didn't tell us anything, but there was probably a good reason.
Apparently, the boys seemed as mystified about this than Chiara and myself. Catching Ben's look, I nodded towards the forest. "Fancy a walk?"

Ben nodded his head at Morgan's offer, shuffling around for a minute to loosen his limp leg before he fell over. "A walk would be great to be honest." He said to her and started towards the forest with her.

I didn't say anything during our walk to the forest, deciding to just stay quiet for now and let Ben do the talking if he wanted to. After all, he was the one who had been to the Underworld and back.
However, a lot had happened in that month and a half. I had no idea what Ben and I were supposed to be -- Delphi had been the moment I realized he and I could become something more. But then, he just disappeared.

I was so relieved he was back. However, I knew this was bound to have consequences: whoever caused his and Nate's disappearance probably had other plans out there.  

Finally, I came to a stop in front of a little creek that I knew well for having bathed in it quite a lot with Andy and Salem. There was a long piece of wood on which I balanced for a moment before looking over at Ben. The afternoon light played around in his black hair, attracting attention to his rather pale skin.

"What did you see?" I finally asked.

Ben walked quietly noting the air of dread that had fallen over the camp.
He wasn't sure just how much things have gone wrong in the time he was gone but he did notice something very different from what was the norm of camp.

As they made way to the creek, he felt something very...malevolent about the forest but it seemed to be something that he couldn't...or more to the point didn't want to know about.

Hearing Morgan's question of what he saw he tried to remember back to when he was in the underworld. The problem was the memories were foggy at best if even there at all. He vaguely made out a memory of his father's palace in the underworld, and maybe got a glimpse of Melinoe presiding beside what appeared to be Nathan's form, but words weren't said, nor remembered.

It was all blank.

"I have a slight glimpse of Hades's palace, and a very short shred of memory of Nathan's mother being their with Nathan's body in view. But beyond that I don't remember anything. I don't even remember anything said of why we were there." Ben told Morgan whom he knew would be disappointed with the answer.

"What has happened to the camp?"