𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘭𝘭𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥. | p. jackson.

▪︎botl▪︎ and you're not sure and i don't know

● _____《°•○ \|/ ○•°》_____ ●

ANDROMEDA DID NOT REST.

no surprise there.

she dreamed of nico again.

he was standing in a graveyard under a starry sky. giant willow trees loomed all around him. he was watching some gravediggers at work. she heard shovels and saw dirt flying out of a hole. nico was dressed in a black cloak. the night was foggy. it was warm and humid, and frogs were croaking. a large wal-mart bag sat next to nico's feet.

"is it deep enough yet?" nico asked, sounding irritated.

"nearly, my lord." said minos, just as dead and translucent as when she had last seen him. "but, my lord, i tell you, this is unnecessary. you already have me for advice."

"i want a second opinion!" nico snapped his fingers, and the digging stopped. two figures climbed out of the hole. and andromeda realized they weren't people. they were skeletons in ragged clothes.

"you are dismissed," nico said. "thank you."

the skeletons collapsed into piles of bones.

"you might as well thank the shovels," the ghost complained. "they have as much sense."

nico ignored him. he reached into his walmart bag and pulled out a twelve-pack of coke. andromeda was worried for his health for a moment, to drink coke after eating the amount he did was severely ill. but she wouldn't have to worry. nico popped open a can but rather than drinking it, he poured it into the grave.

"let the dead taste again," he murmured. "let them rise and take this offering. let them remember."

he dropped the rest of the cokes into the grave and pulled out a white paper bag decorated with cartoons. she hadn’t seen one in years, but she recognized it — a mcdonald's mappy meal.

he turned it upside down and shook the fries and hamburger into the grave.

"in my day, we used animal blood," minos mumbled. "it's perfectly good enough. they can't taste the difference."

"i will treat them with respect," nico said.

"at least let me keep the toy," minos's ghost said.

"be quiet!" nico ordered. he emptied another twelve-pack of soda and three more happy meals into the grave, then began chanting in ancient greek. andromeda caught words of her own spell — of magic and reminiscence and and the joys of life. but then she also caught other words the dead and memories and returning from the grave.

just a few finishing touches. minos had said.

she wanted to give him a touch that would finish him.

the grave started to bubble. frothy brown liquid rose to the top like the whole thing was filling with soda. the fog thickened. the frogs stopped croaking. dozens of ghouls began to appear among the gravestones: bluish, vaguely human shapes. nico had summoned the dead with coke and cheeseburgers.

"there are too many," minos said nervously. "you don't know your own powers."

"i've got it under control," nico said, but andromeda could tell his bluffing by the tone in his voice. she realized that he hadn't been doing this long. he drew his sword. she'd never seen one on him — a short blade made of solid black metal. it didn't glint like celestial bronze or shine like steel. by the way the crowd retreated at the sight of it, she had a feeling it was a dark metal.