Long Time Gone (Dante)

[Daphne Scotts]

Daphne remembered that during the one singular date she had with Dante, he kept his car out here to show her. Gods... why was she thinking about every single guy that passed through her life recently? The nightmares started up again. That was the only way she could explain it. She checked on the hideout she had with Achilles a day ago, but she found the roots rotting and everything was collapsing in on itself. She managed to save what she could, but she decided the forest could have the rest.

So it wasn't so odd she was in the forest for the second day in a row, but for a different reason. She crossed her arms as she ventured further into the forest. It felt weird. Very weird. Going to see if his car was still there was like seeing an old friend in forever. She cried over Dante after the explosion in the forges that took his life, but she moved on, trying not to give him any more thought after that. She had to move on, especially with everything she had gone through lately.

She took a deep breath as she entered the clearing where she last remembered seeing Dante's car.

(tag: Dante James)

[Dante James]

"I need to kick Nicoliah's ass" Dante muttered to himself before he looked up from his work on his car, trying to get it working properly after it had been left sitting around ignored since his death. His right eyebrow raised as he saw Daphne walk towards the clearing. "Well, look at who it is." He said with a small half smile on his lips. "Miss me?" The mechanic asked his friend as he grabbed a rag and wiped off as much of the oil from his hands as he could.

Dante tossed the rag to the side before shutting the hood of his car and turning towards Daphne. "I haven't seen you in a while." He said as he walked over to her, wondering how he should explain what happened to him, if he even really could. "Wanna help me kick my cousin's ass? My car is such a wreck right now." The smith pointed a thumb back at his Impala, grinning as he did.

[Daphne Scotts]

Daphne stopped dead in her tracks when she saw the car wasn't the only thing in the clearing. No. It couldn't be. It had to be her imagination. She shook her head and blinked a couple of times trying to clear her head, but it was still there. He was still there. Dante was back from the dead. Or someone or something that was acting like Dante.

"I... uhh..." she managed to stutter out as she tried to process everything. This was too much. Too much. He sounded just like him. Hades, what was going on here. Before she could process a reasonable explanation on why he was back, Daphne did the most logical thing she could think of. She screamed as she turned on her heels and went to bolt out of the clearing and away from this Dante impersonator.

[Dante James]

Dante caught Daphne's wrist when she screamed and turned to run. "Can you not?" He said as his ears rang because of her. "It's really me, Daphne. Here look." The son of Hephaestus pulled out his pistols and offered one of them to her. "Can you imagine anyone else besides me having anything like these?" He handed her one of his custom colts to study so she could make sure it was his.

Dante let go of her wrist and stepped back as he put away his other pistol, letting her keep one of them for now. "I'm really back, Daphne. Can you stop panicking please?" He asked while stepping back away from her. His hands held up. The mechanic waited for her to calm down, wondering if or when she would just accept that it was him.

[Daphne Scotts]

Daphne screamed again as Dante caught her wrist and she tried to pull away from him. But there was something in his voice that made her stop trying to get away. Her breathing was ragged as she stared between him and the pistol he presented to her. She yanked her wrist out of his grasp as she grabbed his pistol. She stayed silent as she twisted her hand as she studied his pistol. She took a deep breath before she looked up with him with tears shining in her eyes.

"You're supposed to be dead," she whispered huskily before she dropped her head and shoulders shook with sobs. "You died in the forge accident, trying to make sure everyone made it out alive. But you didn't... you died."

[Dante James]

"Yeah, that's pretty much what happened." Dante said with a slightly scrunched up face, not really liking to reminded about his death at all. "Really hurt too." He held out his hand, hoping to get his pistol back so he could put it away. "But I was pulled from Elysium by Thanatos and I woke up a few days away from camp, not certain how long I had been dead or why I was dropped off there." He gave her a shrug, showing that he was pretty puzzled by the whole thing as well.

"And before you ask" The mechanic began as he held up his hands in front of her. "No, I don't know why I was brought back or anything. Thanatos refused to talk to me at all."

[Daphne Scotts]

As Daphne sobbed, she let the arm with the pistol drop down by her side. She honestly didn't know what to think at the moment. What was this world coming to? Her friend was back from the dead. She didn't know how to process it all, so crying seemed to be the most logical explanation. Through her tears, she saw Dante's hand extended towards her. She sniffled a bit before she reached up to place his pistol in his hand.

"It still doesn't make sense," she muttered as she looked up at him, despite she knew her cheeks were tear stained. She sniffled a couple of more times before she walked towards him to give him a big hug.

[Dante James]

"Tell me about it" was all Dante got to say before being hugged by his best friend, making him smile slightly before he wrapped his arms around her to hug her back. "But now I'm back, so lets be happy about that, okay?" He said with a slightly goofy grin before letting her pull back from the hug slightly. "So how have you been, Daphne? I haven't seen you for a while." The son of Hephaestus looked down at the small young woman. The difference in height between them made glaringly obvious by that hug. He was curious what everything that happened while he was gone. He still didn't like to think about his death at all.

[Daphne Scotts]

Daphne hugged Dante as she buried her face into his chest slightly. She still couldn't believe he was back in the flesh and blood even though she was holding him. Part of her was afraid to let him go or else he might disappear all over again. A few more tears streaked down her face before she took a step back and looked up at him. "Okay," she said softly as she smiled sadly up at him. He was here and he was alive even if all logic said otherwise. She smiled a bit more as she moved to push her hair out of her face. "And I guess I've been alright since you..." She laughed slightly as she shook her head. "How long has it been anyway? Three, four years?"

[Dante James]

"Really?" Dante gave a small laugh as he heard about how long it had been. "I didn't even realize it had been that long." He said before scratching the back of his head briefly. "Well, in the underworld, I didn't really notice the passing of time." His hand moved back down to his side. "I mean, I knew about what was happening to me down there, but it didn't feel like the world was moving along, you know?" The smith shook his head. "I guess it's hard to really explain it, huh? Anyways, it doesn't really feel like any time has passed at all since my death." He said with a shrug.

[Daphne Scotts]

Daphne raised an eyebrow at Dante. She heard stories of the Underworld, mostly from her mother. But she never thought she would meet someone from there while she was still living. "So it's kind of like a Lotus Casino, but for dead people?" she offered her explanation. It was the only logical thing she could thing of to describe what he was describing. But she shook her head. "But camp has been... okay I guess?" she reached up to comb her hair out of her face. "I mean... we were attacked by the Primordials, but now there's a new group calling themselves the Usurpers. I don't know what they're up to really... it's been making camp feel weird lately." She shrugged her shoulders in an oh well way.

[Dante James]

"Kind of, but it has its own differences." Dante said in response to her saying the underworld was like a Lotus Casino. He frowned a little bit when she told him about the Primordials attacking the camp. His grudge against Xenos still in full effect. He wasn't certain to make of this new third group though. Honestly, it was making him even more confused than before. "Usurpers? It sounds like a bad alternative rock band. Does the leader wear his hair down in front of his face?" The son of Hephaestus joked before smiling down at her. "What about you? How's your life been going?"

[Daphne Scotts]

Daphne for the first time since running into Dante. She shook her head before a genuine smile crept onto her lips. "Nah, I don't think they wear their hair in front of their face. I don't know who even runs them. They've been like this... mysterious group in the camp that people know they're there, but not who they are." She shrugged her shoulders. But she blushed when the topic got turned back onto her as she reached up to comb her hair out of her face. "I've been doing well, I guess," she said with a sheepish smile. "I mean... I'm still cabin leader and I'm dating Marius now." She shrugged her shoulders before she laughed slightly. "I don't think you want my entire biography since you died, do you?"

[Dante James]

"No, I think I got the gist of it." Dante said as he wondered exactly who Marius is. Oh well, I guess I can find out later. He though to himself. "You still using that same old sword you had before?" The smith asked her after a little while, wanting to find a project he could do besides his own personal ones as well as trying to find a different topic other than what happened while he was dead. "You ever going to get something better?" He teased before sticking his tongue out at her briefly. His hands moving to rest down at his sides.

[Daphne Scotts]

"Which one?" Daphne asked as she smirked at Dante. "I have two of them now." She was relieved to have a change in conversation. She reached up to rip her necklace off and the pendent turned into a sword in her hands. "I got this one on a mini-quest, but I do have the one with the lightning bolt designs on it." She looked down at her sword before extending her arm to present it to Dante. "But if you think you can make me a better one, then be my guest. I haven't really trusted your siblings to make me a new one. Their craftsmanship isn't like yours."