The Lotus Hotel II
“I am so glad that flower mamma gave us flowers that practically can't go bad. Not even if you touch them, Reggie!” Bianca said, looking pleased at the French braid Regulus had turned her hair in. They were matching again today, with Bianca wearing the pink roses she had in her hair when they went to the Lotus Hotel, Nico in yellow, and Regulus in orange. He didn't particularly like the colour orange, but according to Nico and Bianca, it complemented his golden eyes.
He nodded and looked into the large mirror in front of them. Nico's hair was braided into a flower crown, which highlighted his still gentle face and made him appear younger and more innocent than he was. Or maybe it made him look his actual age? Regulus thought ten was virtually a baby, but to him, every child was practically a baby. Being a recent ex child not once but twice would accomplish that, he supposed.
His own hair was braided in a long, loose braid that apparently made him look like a samurai. He had never seen one before, but his siblings must have in a book, so he trusted their word on it. The ring on his finger only further made the idea of looking like a fierce warrior sound appealing. His own face had lost almost all of its baby fat - finally - and even he could admit that with his braid, he looked dangerous.
Much like his father.
He smiled pleased at the reflection for a moment, before softly ruffling his siblings’ hair and getting twin glares shot at him for it.
“Don't touch my hair!” Bianca hissed, sounding like an affronted kitty that accidentally had let the canary escape.
Nico nodded. “What she said! Don't make us tell mamma!”
“Tell me what?” a calm voice asked from behind, making the siblings stare widely at each other, before turning around in tandem and looking innocently back at her.
Regulus smiled charmingly. “How beautiful you look today, mamma?” He hadn't meant to make it sound like a question, but oh well..
Maria raised an unimpressed eyebrow. “I know that I am getting old, but really, Regulus, have some respect for your dear old mother.” Her amused eyes betrayed her stern voice and face, however.
He scoffed softly and oh-so disbelieving. “You are hardly old, mamma.”
“Compared to pappa, you will never be old!” Bianca said sweetly. Nico nodded along. “Besides, you are like the finest of wine, mamma! You will never be milk!” Nico said delightedly, looking immensely proud of himself. It wasn't exactly what he had taught them to say, should they ever come dangerously close to insulting their mother, but it was close enough.
She chuckled amusedly. “Oh, my little flatterers.. You most definitely have inherited your father's silver tongue and wits.” She put a greying curl behind her ear. “That does not mean that I don't know I'm getting older. Such is life. People get old, then they eventually die. Every good mother would want their children to live longer than them, even if they would miss them dearly”
“Papa would never allow you to die.” Bianca stated proudly.
She smiled warmly at them. “He would severely dislike it, but of course he would. He should. Especially your father knows better than to try to stop the inevitable and to mess with Fate. It is a reason why us being in this time trap is such an irony; Greek Gods, especially Olympians should know better.”
Nico and Bianca appeared to be about to argue, when Maria placed a hand on their shoulders. "I am aware that my time is limited, but I am not yet old enough to be concerned about this. Besides, while it may be a time trap, it also presents us with an opportunity. We get to travel through time! Who would have imagined that? When we leave this hotel, we will be able to declare that we have lived longer than most humans.”
Regulus smiled at the irony of what she just said. Of course, his mother of all people would make an accidental inside joke. “I suppose that that's an impressive accomplishment.” He replied. “Are you sure that you don't want to come with us?”
Maria nodded resolutely. “I am. Unlike you, who would know the way in a maze even without all your senses, I could easily get lost in the hotel forever.”
Regulus shared uneasy looks with his siblings. “Do you want us to stay with you? We don't know how long we'll be away in reality.”
She sighed. “I know, my loves. It is a risk, but it is one that I am willing to take. Your siblings and you were not meant to stay still for so long. You need to get rid of all that excess energy some way and what better way to leave our room and check out the hotel? I promise that I'll be fine. I will just enjoy the inside spa that you checked trice and deemed not cursed.”
“But what if-”
“-You missed something?” She finished.
He nodded. “Exactly. I could never live with myself if I'd let you die because of a mistake like that.”
She walked closer towards them, before putting Bianca's cap on her head and putting two, long and extremely sharp pins in it. “Remember.”
Bianca nodded seriously and straightened, but Regulus and Nico only shared a confused look.
“Remember what?” Nico asked, not liking to have been left out of the loop. “I want cool pins too!”
“It's a girls thing.” Bianca replied. “And you don't even have a hat.”
“I can get one!” He pouted petulantly.
Maria chuckled. “No, you cannot, my little ghost. A hat pin is often a ladies’ best protection. Your grandmother never got the chance to give me one and teach me how to use it, but I got the chance to give your sister one.”
Regulus nodded. He remembered that his cousins had vaguely mentioned something about Bellatrix stabbing some Rosier who wasn't even from the main branch to near death as an answer for her hand in marriage when she was already engaged to Lestrange. It was all rather dramatic, but so was everything that had to do with his eldest cousin. She reminded him a lot of Bianca, but in all the good ways. They probably would have either hated or loved each other.
Nico crossed his arms. “I could still totally wear a hat!”
Maria hummed softly. “You know what? If you still want a hat when we exit the hotel, I will buy you one.”
Bianca grinned mischievously. “Ah, why not?! We could even match!”
Nico's grin turned even wider, matching Bianca's feral energy. Regulus had the feeling that this could only lead to a disaster. A fun one to watch, though.
“Besides, with Regulus's fancy dresses, I don't see why you couldn't wear a hat.” Maria said airily.
He let out an indignant gasp. "Dresses?!" He sputtered, "They're robes! I am wearing a robe, not a dress!”
Maria hummed disbelievingly as if to say ‘sure you are.’, while Bianca and Nico shared a look before bursting out in laughter. Bullied! He was being bullied by his own blood for having a fashion sense. The Audacity! The blasphemy!
“I trust you to watch over your siblings out there, my little samurai.” Maria teased him, closing the door in front of them before he could say anything in relitation.
…….
“This place is so big!” Nico said in awe, looking at the walls around them. Even Regulus had lost count of how many hallways they had passed by now.
For such a big hotel, the hallways were oddly deserted. He could feel the many souls around them, yet they seemed to be one of the only ones in the hallways.
At least, one of the only lucid ones, he thought, glancing at the two identical small girls that couldn't be any older than ten years old. Nico's age. They wore identical red dresses so old-fashioned he had never seen them before, held matching cherry red lollipops and stared blankly ahead. The most frightening part was that they constantly hopped as if they were merely playing, and even hummed the melody of a childish song he had never heard before, in the most soulless voices he had ever heard.
“Hello.” Nico said carefully, stepping towards the girls. They kept staring vacantly ahead of them while humming that song and hopping in the same rhythm, however. After waiting a few seconds, he stepped back just as carefully.
Bianca shivered. “That is creepy.”
Nico nodded shakily. “Will we one day be like that?”
Regulus shook his head, determinedly. "Definitely not. They lost their souls, and are nothing but hollow bodies frozen in time, repeating the final moments of their lives, not unlike an echo. They have been like this a long, long time, it appears. I will never allow this to happen to either of you.”
As the soulless, yet haunting humming continued to fill the air, a shiver ran over his back and neck, making his hairs stand up. “It's wise to move on now.” None of his siblings argued.
They all instinctively knew which way would lead them further into the trap, which fortunately meant that it only took them about half an hour if he had to guess to find the more populated areas.
“Look!” Nico shouted, pointing at boards. “They have a casino here.”
Bianca grinned. “Do you think we can win some cool games? Maybe even win a prize for mama?”
Regulus nodded. “It's better than the alternative.” He said, looking pointedly at the bright white board that said ‘Swimming pool’ that pointed towards the opposite direction.
The moment they entered the casino, they were greeted with a wave of noises he had never seen before. The place was so chaotic and bright, he had to close his eyes for a moment to let them adjust to the sudden change.
This hall, in contrast to the hallways, was crammed with people dressed in clothing ranging from even more archaic clothing than the twin girls he had seen previously (some even wore togas) to people wearing Muggle clothing from the 1960s and 1970s, his own generation. Seeing that again felt strange, as if he were witnessing a relic from his past life. As if he was seeing an echo frozen in time. Looking at them, he could almost picture Sirius standing there, carelessly playing one of those silly games.
He quickly turned his head away from them to look through the rest of the hall.
There were long lines in front of some games, in which both the person playing the game and the people in the lines had that same vacant look in their eyes the girls from earlier had. Some people in the line were constantly tapping their feet irritatedly; they must have stood a long time in that line, even before they lost their souls. Still, he supposed it was a kinder fate than those whose souls were sucked out by Dementors had suffered.
“Look, this line is completely empty!” Bianca said, tugging them to a game console in which only one boy sat, mindlessly eating popcorn with one hand, while playing with the other. At first, he thought that the boy was yet another soulless husk, but then he loudly cursed.
“I almost had that level!” He shouted aggressively, pulling his hands in the air and accidentally throwing popcorn all over himself, the game console and the floor.
Nico nodded brightly. “Now you can let us play!”
Regulus couldn't see the boy's face, but he was willing to bet that it was just as mocking as his voice. “Now you can shut up.”
Bianca stepped towards the boy. “Don't talk like that to him!”
He chuckled. “Yeah? What are you gonna do about it?”
Regulus put a hand on Bianca's shoulder, lest she might decide to attack the fool for being too annoying. He wouldn't blame her, but they were better than that. Self-control was extremely important, especially for them and his little sister had always been rather feral at moments like this.
“You sure have a big mouth.” He commented calmly.
“It runs in the family, you could say.” The boy smiled smugly, finally looking up from his game computer. Regulus had never seen such a big computer in his life before, or any for that matter. The music that came from it was extremely weird, too. As if someone had had the ambition to make the most obnoxiously loud and yet immersive sound ever.
Nico looked the boy over, before scoffing softly. “As if anyone in your family runs.”
Bianca gasped shocked. “Nico! You can’t just say things like that!” She hissed, eyes flashing amusedly.
He smiled innocently, resembling Giallo after just waking up. “Why not? It’s true, isn’t it? Besides, what is he going to do about it? Not be the bigger person?” He said, looking pointedly at the boy’s huge appearance.
She sighed, before shaking her head. “Boys..” She muttered. “Just because it’s true, doesn’t mean we have to say it.” Nico didn't look at her and therefore did not see the ever growing amusement in her eyes. Regulus smiled softly, his sister sure had a vicious sense of humour.
“When did you get all responsible? Weren't you about to attack that bitch a second ago?” Nico asked, before pointing an accusing finger at her. “Have you touched any forbidden objects in your room, such as the sword mamma told you not to touch?”
She rolled her eyes. “We have rings and I have my pins, you midget.” She grinned mischievously. “It makes sense why you are not the biggest person in the room, now though.”
Regulus couldn’t help it anymore, and if anyone would ask him later, he would vehemently deny ever having been so inappropriate. He snorted out loud. “That would be rather difficult, wouldn’t it?” He commented, gesturing airily at the boy whose face was getting angry from rage. Seriously, he practically radiated that emotion by now. Regulus would offer them a meditation technique, but he doubted he would appreciate it.
The boy narrowed his eyes at them, seemingly trying to find a good insult, before giving up not soon after. Regulus doubted that he would be silver tongued enough for that anyway. “Joke’s on you! At least I am good at this game.”
Bianca smiled down at him. If he did not know her as well as he did, he would have thought the smile to be sincere, but this was her ‘I am making fun of you and you're too stupid to realise it’ smile, which was exactly the same smile his mother always had when someone was being rude to her for no reason at all or when someone was being particularly stupid.
“Oh yes, so good that you just failed the level that you were playing. From what I've seen so far, you're rather bad at it.” She teased him.
Nico sighed. “And now you get to say the obvious, while I don't?! Ridiculous!”
Regulus put a comforting hand on his shoulder. “Let Bi have her fun. It's harmless.”
Nico frowned. “Nothing about her is harmless!”
The boy took a deep breath before turning his chair around and facing them. Even now, his face was still red. “What d'ya want?”
Bianca looked like she was about to reply even sassier than she already was and would undoubtedly list all the things she wanted at the moment, but Regulus gave her a look.
“Your name.” He replied calmly.
The boy's eyes narrowed. “And why would I give that?” He scoffed. “I don't even know you. For all I know, you could be monsters. The flowers in your hair and uncanny eyes already are weird enough.” He gestured at them. “Not to mention the weird ass dress you're wearing.”
Regulus’ lips curled downwards. It wasn't a dress. Did no one around him have a sense of fashion anymore? If anything, what the boy was wearing was ridiculous. He was wearing a Led Zeppelin band T-shirt (the exact same one Sirius often wore), a leather jacket and the tightest leather trouser he had ever seen. How could anyone call that fashion?
He decided to not argue with a fool like him. Although, that wasn't quite right, was it? It appeared that the boy was more intelligent than he had originally anticipated. How Interesting. He wondered what lay behind the stupid cover that was his attitude and appearance. He should have known better than to judge him at face value, but something about this boy just rubbed him the wrong way. It must have been the same for his siblings.
Nico looked entirely unimpressed at him. “Says you…” He muttered.
“Got something to say to me, midget?” He asked, saying the last word just as teasingly as Bianca had earlier.
Nico's eyes flashed. “Yes! You're not only annoying and stupid, but you're also weird and ugly! How could you say that we look weird, when your eyes are so brown they are basically red?”
He shrugged. “I say it as I see it. Red eyes are cool, they're a sign that I am my father's son. Your coal black eyes and golden eyes are just weird. What are you?”
Regulus shook his head. Perhaps he was stupid, after all. “Do you seriously think that if you won't even tell us your name, we would give you free information about ourselves?”
He hummed. “I suppose not.” He stood up, before stretching and by doing so popping too many bones to be healthy. Just how long had he been in that chair?
“It answers my questions, though.” He continued speaking.
“What questions?” Bianca demanded, stepping a step forward to intimidate him.
The boy merely chuckled amusedly instead of being intimidated. “Girl, you remind me of my sisters. I like that.” He walked away, without looking if they followed him. When they did, he merely hummed again. His constant humming was starting to get on his nerves. Regulus wouldn't be surprised if that was why he did it.
“I will bring you to the others.”
“Others?” Regulus asked carefully. This could very well be a trap. He shared a look with his siblings, who nodded seriously back at him, before glancing at their rings, clearly ready to transform them any moment to fight a foe.
If he heard them over the booming music, he didn't let them know. After what seemed like yet another eternity, he finally led them to a relatively quiet room filled with a pool table, piano, bar, and strangely enough, plants.
"Welcome to mi casa!" He opened his arms wide before yelling so loud it sounded as if his voice had been enhanced, "Guys, come!" "We have new blood!”
Three teenagers - or near teenagers - immediately ran towards them, speaking all over each other.
“Do you think they are?-'' a boy around Bianca's age asked. He looked like the most stereotypical Gryffindor ever, with a natural troublemaker's smile painted on his face, and brown eyes that seemed to dance with mischief, combined with a raven's nest of black hair. Must the universe curse him with echoes of his past life today?
“Clearly they must be, or otherwise Jack wouldn't have brought them.” A girl with red hair and grey eyes answered in a faint Italian accent.
Bianca grinned at Jack. “Ha! So you're named Jack!” She shouted triumphantly.
The now dubbed Jack grumbled under his breath, before sighing. “You're just as annoying as my sisters too.”
Bianca was about to argue back, only to gasp. “Tonio?!” She ran towards yet another echo. Not one from his past life, though.
A blond boy that looked like an older copy of Tonio, looked questionably at her. “Who are you and how do you know Antonio?” He asked in a faint Italian accent.
Bianca's wide smile dimmed. “You're not Tonio Bruni?”
The Tonio look-alike gasped. “You really know Tonio?!” He asked hopefully. “Is he alright?”
Regulus shook his head, trying to get rid of the bitter taste that thinking about Antonio brought him. That imbecile had manipulated his sister when she was too young to realise it and had by doing so earned him reincarnation instead of the fields of Asphodel.
“He's dead.”, he ended up settling for. Sometimes there was a need for tact and sometimes he just cared too little about it. Antonio got much more than he had any right to.
The hopeful look washed off his face. “I see. Do you know how he died?”
Bianca nodded. “Cyclops.”
He sighed softly. “I always knew that I wouldn't see him again. Still, I always hoped…” He looked away. “It doesn't matter anymore. Better to die, than to end up like most people around here.”
He looked at Bianca again. “I'm Tommaso, but my friends call me Tommy. Son of Lord Aristaeus.” He gestured at the redhead. “This is Rosa, my girlfriend.”
Rosa smiled sweetly. “Said girlfriend can introduce herself.” She looked at them. “I'm Rosa Bocconcini, daughter of Lady Athena. It's a pleasure to meet you.”
The James Potter look-alike grinned widely. “I'm Charles Taylor, but everyone calls me Charlie! Son of Lord Hephaestus, nice to meetcha!”
They looked expectantly at his siblings and him, at which they shared a panicked look.
Nico grinned, however. “Nico di Angelo, son of Lady Persephone.”
Regulus let out a soft breath of relief and saw Bianca do the same thing. Technically, it wasn't even a lie as Persephone had practically raised them too and even allowed them to call her ‘flower mamma’. She was their third parent, just not in blood.
“Persephone, huh?” Jack said. “That's one I've never heard before.” He grinned. “Jack Jackson, son of Ares.”
Bianca snickered. “Your-” She wiped away tears from her cheeks. “Your name is Jack Jackson?!”
Jack glared at her. “Yes, what about it?”
She smiled innocently again, clearly trying not to burst out in laughter again. “Nothing..”
“You do realise that that smile does absolutely nothing, right?” Rosa said amusedly, before looking them over as if they were a new specimen. “Your parentage does explain the flowers in your hair, I suppose… What's it like being the children of Lady Persephone?”
Regulus hummed. “What's it like, being a daughter of Athena?”
She shrugged. “Fair enough. What brought you here? Tommy and I ran away to make a life together in the land of dreams.” She gestured around them. “Clearly it didn't work out. Tommy was a war deserter and I an unmarried woman. We heard of a place that would accept us, and here we are.” She grinned wryly. “It ended up accepting us a little bit too much and too eagerly.”
Tommy nodded. “We cannot find the exit. We've been looking for over a year, yet cannot find it. Then there's the absent people and the fact we don't seem to age. Charlie doesn't even grow taller.”
Charlie looked down. “We lost too many to this place. My own twin brother became one of the absent ones. He doesn't even recognise my face anymore.”
Rosa put a comforting arm around his shoulder, which he leaned in to.
“What brought you here?” Tommy asked, giving Rosa and Charlie their moment.
Regulus sat down on a couch, nodding slightly at Bianca and Nico to show that the couch wasn't cursed or anything like that. Immediately after, they sat next to him.
“The war.”
Tommy nodded understanding. He supposed, it made sense. To him, they were but two teenagers that ran away from war.
Jack scoffed. “That's stupid.” He gestured passionately. “You can run away from war just as much as you can stop people from creating it. It's in our nature to wage war. Those who run from it don't help anyone.”
Tommy raised his chin. “We helped ourselves. Isn't that enough?”
The silence after spoke more than any words ever could.