The Ambassador

I CAN'T BELIEVE I FORGOT

He looked at the time, 10:48. Judging by the light coming through the curtains, it was a.m. and not pm. He stood and stretched, for the first time in a long time, he didn't have a plan. He knew what it took to defeat Kronos, that's why he brought Percy to the River Styx. He knew what he had to do to find the doors of death, and when he ended up captured he knew he would be rescued. He even traveled the fucking world just to stop another war from breaking out, and he nearly turned into a puddle of shadows because of it. But he knew what had to get done, he had a plan. This time, he was at a loss. Nothing like this has ever happened to anyone in history. He should know, he went through every major history event since the beginning of the mortals and the gods. He went as far back as he could, nothing ever came close to this.

Nico sat at the edge of his bed, rubbing his puffy eyes from crying earlier. He was stuck, stranded on an island.

       There was a knock at the door," Master Nico, breakfast is being served if you wish to join."

       Join? Maybe it was Nicole, or maybe the other cosplayers.

Nico made his way downstairs, and eventually ran into Nicole.

"Hey, going down for- you don't look so good. Were you crying?"

"What? No, and yea, Alfred came and got me. After you?" Nico gestured to the stairs, even though there was room for both of them.

"Oh, ok." She stepped down first, Nico falling a step or two behind her.

"So, what do you think Alfred made this time?" That's the last thing he wanted to do, converse with her. But he guessed he needed her trust, and information.

"Not sure, maybe a little bit of everything?" They turned the corner into the dining room and froze, looking at the boy.

"Are you just going to stand there or are you going to sit down?" The boy looked as though he hadn't slept in days.

"Uh, yea." Nico and Nicole sat down a seat or two apart, and across from the boy.

"So how are you enjoying your stay?" He didn't even look up from his computer.

"It's been ok- thank you, Alfred- but when do you think you'd be able to send us back to our worlds" Nicole asked and Nico's eyes widened.

"From what we can tell, whatever transported you , they used a mixture of magic and technology. It's something we've never seen before. Batman can't figure it out, even with Dr. Fate's help." At that Nico seemed confused. "Oh, right, I forgot you don't know any heroes. Dr. Fate is the lord of order, and a very powerful magician. If him and Batman are lost, then it has to be someone from one of your worlds."

"Definitely not mine, there isn't such a thing as magic on my earth. And if there were I'd know; and the whole world because everyone is nosy." The boy looked at Nico.

"I guess it's someone from mine, which doesn't make sense." Nico stirred his cereal.

"How so?" The boy took a big gulp of coffee.

"The only people I know with that kind of advanced technology are my friends, they're family. They wouldn't do something so dangerous. And the 'magicians' , definitely not stupid enough to do that. They know the risks." The boy raised an eyebrow.

"You sure, there might be a spy that could have slipped under everyone's noses." Nico stopped stirring his cereal.

"Trust me, ever since last time– no one would dare betray the others. It might be one of the gods." He was hesitant, afraid he would be zapped with lightning.

       "Do you have any ideas on who?" It was Nicole who spoke up this time.

       Nico pursed his lips, "That's the thing. The gods on my world, they're pretty– they're a bit difficult to work with, and very unpredictable. My best guess, if this turns out how I think it does, we could be looking at a war. One that could–" Nico shuddered, not wanting to think of the death toll.

       "What makes you say that?" It was another boy, one much smaller than the one in front of him.

       "I mean, it would make sense," It was eye-bags who spoke up, "But who would we be up against? Would it be from someone from this world, Nicole's, or Nico's."

       Everyone looked at each other, "I have to go. I need to get this information to, Bats. Nico, if you have any clue on who did this, and why, tell one of us as soon as possible." With that, he closed his laptop and coffee and walked away quickly, careful not to spill anything.

       "Is he ok?" Nicole asked.

       "You never know with him." The smaller boy then picked up a piece of toast and left.

"Well that was weird," Nicole said.

"I just can't believe you told two complete strangers that we're from different worlds," As you can tell, Nico wasn't happy.

"What are you talking about? They're the– oh." Nicole turned back to her breakfast.

"They're what? And what do you mean by oh?" Nico was now fully turned toward her, a confused look on his face.

Then realization struck, "Wait a second. Those people, the one with the eye-bags and the shorter one, they're part of the cosplayers?"

"Ok, first off, they're not cosplayers. They're heroes. Second, yes," She seemed a bit offended.

"Well then what are their names? If they don't care about showing their faces to me, why not give me their names?" Nico was getting desperate.

"I'm sorry, it's– I'm not the right person you should be talking to about that. And why didn't you ask them before they left?"

       Nico hadn't thought of that. I guess with everything happening, his manners were lacking.

       Soon after Nicole left with her third helping in her stomach and a belch on her way out. Nico, he couldn't eat a single thing. There was something that he was missing. Something that he should know.

       Nico left, his head down and shoulders slumped. He went towards the clock, where it should be led back to the cave of cosplayers. As soon as he reached it, he tried opening it like a normal door, and when that didn't work, he tried pushing it aside.

       He spent the next twenty minutes trying to figure this thing out. Slouched on the floor next to the clock, he could barely hold in his patience as he heard the ticking tok. He was annoyed, frustrated, and just all around angry. He was pathetic. He can't figure out how even a stupid clocked worked- that's it!

       Nico stood, full of energy, and look at the minute and hour hand. Something about them. Last time they were at a certain time.

       Nico moved the minute hand, then the hour hand. In his mind, he somehow knew it was meant to be p.m. and not am. He looked at the time, 10:48.