#rtth jericho

[doodleimprovement]

The Roadtrip to Hell :: Stop 4: Milan (with a stop in Genoa)

Something here changes...

Day 1

When waking again, Helena is with Jericho, who asks her how she slept, and is confused that he doesn’t remember waking her up from her nightmare. He assures her that he was tired too, but something in his face tells her that he simply doesn’t remember. He shakes it off, and asks her if she’s ready to visit Milan for the first time. 

She wakes up more fully as their first stop (after breakfast) was the children’s museum (its an “activity” day). They have fun up until lunch, where they go to the Galleria Vittorio to find a place for lunch. After lunch they get on the river cruise, and after Helena spends a long time staring out the window, she’s snapped out of the daze with a shoulder shake, and when she looks back, she sees a change in body language and sees that Neth is back in control. His tone is off, and he says that Jericho wanted to take her to an aquarium, and after that, the Planetarium. 

While in the aquarium - which is not big - Neth tells Helena that he heard her mumbling in her sleep last night about a cave, and she easily puts together that it was Neth who was awake for her, not her father. He asks what she’s referring to, and she says she doesn’t want to talk about it. He doesn’t push further, and by the end of their time in the aquarium, Jericho is back in control. 

Helena and her father head to the Planetarium, and Jericho asks her why she was dreaming about the cave again. She says she isn’t sure, but that she wanted to thank Neth for making her feel better, even if he didn’t know what he was doing. Jericho squeezes her hand, and encourages good behavior. 

While at dinner, she asks what they’re up to tomorrow, and he says it's a museum and landmark day and she sounds excited. While walking home, she stops them at a beautifully lit up piazza, where she encourages photos to be taken because she thinks it's so pretty. Photos are taken and after a bit she realizes that Neth is in control again. She takes a moment to put on a brave face, and takes his hand, leading him back to their RV, and thanks him for the night before. He seems sheepish and shrugs it off, but she gives him a smile before getting ready for bed. 

In the dreamscape, Neth asks Jericho what the ‘Cave incident’ is, and after some prodding Jericho tells Neth about a time when Helena was smaller and they were on a family vacation with a cave tour. Helena nearly died after falling into a cave lake and almost drowning. The dreamscape takes up the memories from Jericho's perspective, seeing how the accident - the crowd bumping into the child caused the near-death experience. Suddenly his freak out at the bridge made a lot of sense. The dream fades away, and Jericho asks to be left alone. Neth obliges. 

Day 2

The day is mostly Helena and Jericho out and about taking photos of museums and Jericho taking notes for his next blog post. They get a lot of good shots and Helena ends up needing a nap 

 Helena begs Jericho to take her to the theater for photos in the evening, and he amusedly obliges, going to a smaller, older theater than the most famous one - one that was hosting open auditions for a “Musical” that same night - a supposed tradition of the theater to include the community. Helena asked if they could try out and Jericho said that she could, but he wouldn’t be. She pouted, but accepted the opportunity anyway. They waited in line, and when he signed the paper, he put his name with hers anyway. Surprised at this, she looked up at him and saw, with posture alone, that Neth was back in the driver's seat. He gives her an amused grin. She can’t help but return it. 

The “audition” is simply acting out one of the scenes, and Neth comments that the dialog seems a bit off, though admittedly he hasn’t seen a play in… a while. Helena teases him saying that he’s just gonna have to “act” like he has. He sasses her back for the pun, and they perform the audition. 

They get in the chorus - something that Helena has to explain to Neth, and he’s a bit miffed at that because *he* thought they were excellent. He concedes however, and he and Helena have a grand ol’ time during the two hours of rehearsals - the directors finding Helena charming and her father quite the character.

The show is a tad chaotic, with poor direction and off-key singing, but Helena has a blast pretending to be a theater star and Neth plays along finding this to be the most fun he’d had in so long he’d forgotten he could even *have* fun. Jericho’s influence leaves a feeling of deep affection in his chest. Once the show ends, the directors give out flowers, and something about that bothers Neth and he refuses them, giving his bouquet to Helena so she just has one big bouquet of flowers. She loves it, but knows they can’t take them into the van, and asks if they can leave these at the Shoah Memorial. Neth doesn’t know what that is, but gives up control to Jericho now that the fun is over, and he tells her that they will do it tomorrow. 

While in the dreamscape, Nethaniel expects that Jericho is going to be angry at him for making a fool of him, but Jericho laughs as he recalls what occurs, and seems delighted at how much fun Helena had. Neth gets weird about it, pretending that he did it to mess with him and was disappointed that he wasn’t angry about it. Jericho is starting to figure out that Neth isn’t what he seems, and decides to push his buttons to tease him and Neth shuts down about it

Day 3

The morning is spent quietly between Jericho and Helena, going to the Shoah Memorial, and then the two going to breakfast. Helena talks about what she and Neth did last night, and she talks to her father saying that she wondered if Neth really was the prince that she thought he was, saying both his and Vanessa's name. Jericho immediately begins to feel ill, and advises her not to come to conclusions. 

The rest of the day is just Jericho and Helena, and she finds herself kind of missing Neth’s spontaneous appearances. She asks her father if he’s still there and he says yes, and she asks if she upset him, and he answers - quite confidently - no. 

That night, Helena is chatting with Bea via text, and Bea sends her PDFs from her father’s book collection with a more historical take on Queen Vanessa and her Prince, telling her that the historical records are really mixed and it's super weird. Helena ends up falling asleep reading the PDFs on her tablet. 

Leaving

The next morning, Jericho awakens, and as they’re preparing to travel to Genoa on their way to Cannes, he sees that Helena is exhausted and tells her to sleep while they’re traveling - she can do schoolwork later. She agrees, and proceeds to dream 

Helena ends up having a dream where she’s lost in a crowd of faceless people, looking for someone to help her. She feels small, insignificant, forgotten, before someone hears her cries and picks her up from behind. She hugs the person, and something about the hug feels different - she’d assumed this was her dad. She pulls away and is greeted by green eyes and black hair and olive-toned skin. She asks who this man is and he just gives a slightly impish smirk, asking her to guess before she wakes up while they’re well on their way to Cannes, just 45 minutes from Genoa. 

Rest Stop 5 : Genoa (2hr 15 min from Milan)

Most of their time in Genoa is spent in the car working, but Jericho fits in a stop at the palace art gallery for Helena’s sake. Helena can barely focus on her school work after that dream, and contemplates who that was. She spends some time looking specifically at the medieval portraits, and asks out loud if Neth “Wore those dumb looking pants” and Neth - offended - takes over just to correct her and lecture her about the fashion of the 16th century and how it was “So much better than the flimsy clothes you all wore in these modern times”. Helena seems delighted that Neth is showing his face again after disappearing, which she questions as they go about the rest of the gallery asking him inane questions and if he “knew” any of the people in the paintings. He claims not to, though his eyes linger on one family portrait. 

They have dinner at a small restaurant with another, very familiar looking waitress leaves a lot to be desired. Helena then asks Neth why he disappeared for two days, and Neth dances around the question, slightly annoying Helena and noticing, abruptly letting Jericho back in. Jericho is just as confused as she is. 

That night, Jericho finds himself in the eyes of another odd flashback. He is trapped in a stone box, screaming, begging for something in Spanish, but Jericho cannot understand it, but as he is screaming, he feels a force in his chest, like something is being ripped out. Before he can know what is happening he is grabbed by the back and pulled out of the dream. He is being held by his upper arms as he calms down, asking what the fuck that was. Nethaniel doesn’t answer at first, but responds, just as the dreamscape is leaving he answers Jericho’s question: Nethaniel’s final moments alive. 

[doodleimprovement]

The Roadtrip to Hell :: Epilogue :: Praia do Cabedelo, Darque, Portugal

To quote Semisonic: Every New Beginning Comes From Some Other Beginnings End

And with this update, the AU plot is officially done!

And yes, I will be taking questions :)

I will also be making a proper meta post so everything is aggregated sometime soon :)

Enjoy!

It's a sunny evening, with the sun about to set. Helena is out in the water, up to her chest, looking for something. Jose bursts out of the water behind her, grabbing her and tossing her back into the water. The two are clearly playing a game, and watching them from the shore is Jericho, who is relaxing in a beach chair, with an empty one next to him. He’s approached from behind by Nethaniel, who is asking him what they’re doing about dinner tonight. The two have some banter, and Nathaniel kisses him before saying that he’s going to go grab Helena so she can dry off before the sun goes down. 

Jericho looks back at their RV - newer, bigger, better for a family of four - and then back at the ocean, where Neth is calling for help as he’s in tug of war with Jose - Helena is in the middle laughing perhaps too hard for someone that might get tossed back into the Atlantic any second. Jericho gets off his chair and runs into the water to help his partner. There’s smiles all around, a happy ending if ever there was one 

[doodleimprovement]

The Roadtrip to Hell :: Stop 6 :: Andorra De La Vella, Andorra (With a Stop in Manresa)

Two friends meet for the first time, and character development inches along... the journey is coming close to its end.

Day 1

Helena is extremely excited to meet her best friend officially for the first time and hurries through her typical morning routine, telling her father that Neth needs to stay back this time cause everything has to go perfect. Jericho can feel Neth’s amusement at this, but he thankfully stays put in the subconscious as they head into the city and follow the GPS to Beatrice’s house 

Beatrice and Helena scream excitedly at each other when they meet and rush off to go do best friend things (like share secrets) upstairs, leaving Michel and Jericho alone to formally meet face to face and have some coffee. The men converse, and Michel states that he’s heard some … interesting things… from his daughter. Jericho looks nervous, but Michel doesn’t look super bothered before asking if there is anything that Jericho wants to tell him. 

Neth actually comes through and threatens Michel for making Jericho so uncomfortable, but Michel changes his tune and offers to assist Neth - in whatever way he can, but at a cost. When Neth asks the cost he states that Neth must leave them all alone once he is reunited with his body. That means everyone, including himself and Beatrice. Neth is insulted, and Michel seems a bit surprised, and calms down after being so tense. 

Meanwhile up with Bea and Helena are talking, with Helena telling Bea about how Neth doesn’t seem like that bad of a demon, and that she thinks that he really is the lost prince from legend. Beatrice doesn’t seem fully convinced, but as Helena tells her, she thinks that her friend might be onto something

The girls are called downstairs so they can all go out to lunch, and Beatrice asks point blank if the person in control is Jericho or Neth. Neth is surprised at this, but introduces himself to her before playfully ribbing Helena for spilling the beans. Michel laughs, and asks if Jericho could return so they could talk and catch up. Weirdly enough, Neth concedes and Jericho is given back control of the body. 

The group has a really nice day overall, sightseeing and letting Michel act as a tour guide. Jericho and Michel get along swimmingly, to the point where Jericho starts getting an odd feeling in his stomach. The day ends with Michel offering to let Helena and Jericho stay in his guest room, and while they appreciate the offer the feeling in Jericho’s chest tells him to say no. 

That night in the dreamscape, Jericho tries to ask Neth what the hell his deal was. Neth is dismissive and defensive, and tells him that he was getting “too friendly” with Michel. That sort of rhetoric causes Jericho to effing loose it and the dreamspace warps, showing a rather triggering montage of his ex wife’s jealousy and mental abuse. Neth hadn’t been expecting that, but was able to pull Jericho out of it. He apologizes repeatedly to Jericho, and the two don’t speak after that. 

Day 2

The morning starts odd, with Neth in control, which is not very usual. Helena can tell that Neth is… off, and wants to try to make him feel better - though she is wondering why her father isn’t in control when Neth is in such a mood. 

The two of them take a walking path that gives spectacular views of the city, and it takes Helena a little time before asking Neth why he’s acting like he is. Neth tells her that he admittedly had made her father upset, and asked her if she knew what he could do to make it better. Surprised at the sincerity in his voice, she tells him that her father appreciates honesty and has always taught her that if someone deserves to know something, lying is the worst thing you can do, even if it's about how you feel. Nethaniel thanks her, and they continue the walk, with him taking photos for Jericho. 

Jericho eventually takes over towards the end of the day, and Helena pokes at him, asking what happened between him and Nethaniel that they’re being so strange. Jericho states that they had an argument while they were dreaming - explaining the dreamscape to her, and Helena asks if they’re gonna talk and make up tonight. He admits he doesn't know. 

That night, in the dreamscape, the two are extremely awkward, but Nethaniel manages to apologize, stating that he felt awkward with how well Jericho got along with Michel, feeling discarded. Jericho tells him that it’s bullshit and he confirms that, apologizing again. Jericho still isn’t sure how he feels, but thanks Nethaniel for the apology. Nethaniel wants to make things right though, and offers to show him something.

For the first time, Neth lets Jericho into a memory willingly, this time an argument with a woman that Jose recognizes as Queen Vanessa of Catalonia from the portrait they saw several days ago. Though the Spanish is off to Jericho's ears, he hears an accusatory tone from her, and hears “himself” argue back, and the argument is dropped and the memory ends. 

They return to the shared dreamscape and Jericho is shocked that Neth would show himself getting humiliated like that, but Neth was clearly trying to show Jericho that he knew how he felt, even if it was different. Jericho and Neth sit next to each other, and Jericho changes the scenery for the first time, showing a beautiful beach. The two sit in silence, but it's no longer uncomfortable. 

Leaving

The next day, Jericho is in a much better mood, and they get together with Michel and Beatrice to have breakfast, which goes well. They are then on their way to Manresa with time to spare. 

Rest Stop 7: Manresa

They are only stopping in Manresa to refuel and eat - as they want to get to Barcelona by nightfall, so their time here goes by quite quickly. While eating lunch - with Neth at the wheel - Helena points out that the waitress taking care of them looks familiar, and Neth agrees, him wanting to confront the stranger but Jericho gave him an anxious feeling. Nethaniel grumbles, but decides to mess with the waitress by bringing up other places he’d seen her. She matches him tit for tat and mocks him lightly,something about how the “Snatcher” had seemed to go soft. He retorted that perhaps it was her perception that needed changing, not his actions - though Helena does make a point that he’s changed, something that Neth is not comfortable with talking about. 

Helena and Neth end up taking a walk after the meal at her request, and asks Neth if change was a bad thing. He says that sometimes it is, but Helena argues that she doesn’t think change itself is good or bad, but what the change does is. She uses the example of how she felt about him when they met versus now, and he teases her, asking if she’s going to try to “get him out” again. She admits that she doesn’t mind him, and asks him if he’s gonna just- run off when he gets his body again. He admits that he has no idea, he has to get there, first. 

Jericho takes over again as they get the RV ready, and asks Helena if she has any opinions on Nethaneil, and she admits that she doesn’t hate him anymore, and he agrees, and they head out on their way. 

[doodleimprovement]

a continuation of This, technically from the RTTH AU

This is a turning point in their relationship. A big one

Bonus:

Jericho Primo caught feelings for a 15th century ghost. RIP in pieces my dude.

[doodleimprovement]

The Roadtrip to Hell :: Stop 2: Munich, Germany (With a stop in Konstanz)

And here, we meet Muriel and her moms! They’re friends <3

Day 1

Jericho and Nethaniel are in the dreamscape, and Neth compliments Jericho on the intelligence of his child, who takes the opportunity to be a #prouddad about it. Neth has an odd expression at first, but starts asking invasive questions because he finds Jericho’s responses funny. When getting to the topic of his ex wife Jericho finally puts his foot down, and Neth just grins, now curious, and knowing that he struck a nerve. 

In the morning it's Neth who is in charge of the body, and Helena seems a bit miffed at this and doesn’t make a show of hiding it. Neth scowls at her attitude, and she point-blank tells him that she’s gonna find a way to get him out of her father’s body, cause he’s just a mean old demon. He bites back that he is mean, and he is old, but the demon moniker is - at best - a misnomer. 

Sometime in the mid-morning, Jericho is back at the helm to drive them over to the Weber household after a morning of monument photography, where they are greeted warmly by Cici. Muriel is absolutely HYPED to meet Helena in person, and the two hunker down together at the dinner table to do their daily schooling. While Cici offers some hands-on cooking experience to Jericho as she’d promised in previous emails. There’s an air of warmness to the space that gives Jericho an odd feeling in his chest that he knows is from Nethaniel.

After school is over, Muriel loudly announces that she and Helena are going upstairs to play Smash with her Switch and Cici warns that she only has until Mama gets home and she agrees, dragging Helena up the stairs. Muriel closes the door behind her, and then takes out a purple folder, holding dozens of papers of Murrie’s research. She then asks Helena to tell her /everything/ and she does. 

Later on, when Emily returns home, she doesn’t seem.. Pleased, at Jericho’s arrival, though she knew he’d be there. Cici offers that they should all go to Emily’s bar for dinner and they agree, calling the girls down and Helena rushing to drop off her “school stuff” in the van before they leave. Emily and Cici talk briefly and Cici tells Emily to back off Jericho, and that if she starts insulting his meek demeanor she’ll be sleeping on the couch

Dinner goes by just fine, up until some men at the bar start getting rowdy, and Emily excuses herself to help take care of it. Jericho gets that off feeling again from Neth - who seems to know when trouble is coming to them. Oddly enough, the danger doesn’t come from the rowdy men, but from an angry customer that seems to recognize Cici, and attempts to chew her out as if the bar flies were her fault. Jericho gets anxious about how angry this man is, but the moment that he reaches to *grab* Cici, his vision blurs

Helena notices the immediate change. “Neth” is here. He’s grabbed the man’s arm, and warns him that if he lays a hand on his “dear little friend” here, that he wouldn’t have an arm to use when he was done with him. That was more than enough to scare the man off, and Neth’s smug expression confuses Cici, who asks him what that was about. Neth shrugs, stating that he just snapped from his “concern” for her. She thanks him, and Emily returns, having seen the interaction and compliments him on his “moxie”. Helena scowls, elbowing Muriel who gets what she means and stares at Neth with wide eyes. 

The night ends, and Helena and Neth return to the RV, where Helena ends up asking Neth why he acts so mean if he’s “not a demon”. The question genuinely catches him off guard, but he brushes it off and lets her get ready for bed. 

Day 2

The next day, Neth is once again in control and Helena is annoyed. He teases her, and asks what she and her father were going to be doing today. Helena asks how he doesn’t already know, and he shrugs. She grumbles and tells him they were gonna go to 3 museums for photographs and the blog. Neth grabs the camera and grins at her, asking when they start. 

She leads him to the Munich Residence, where she starts reciting facts she’d read about the palace and what medieval life was like. Neth seems annoyed and starts correcting her, taking some photos that end up odd, but in a really interesting way. Helena begrudgingly says that it's not bad, but then asks again when she’d get her dad back. He retorts that he won’t come back if she keeps asking. 

They then go to the Lenbachhaus - Helena saying that her and her dad agreed to have lunch there. Neth shrugs, and as they’re wandering the halls, Neth stops at a specific painting, called “Queen Vanessa of Catalonia - Holding Her Heart” with a very familiar box. He scowls at it, muttering about a “false queen”. Helena asks him what he means, and asks what she knows about the queen, saying that she was known as a well-loved queen until her prince poisoned her mind, and she went mad. She was a tragic figure. Neth looks even angrier and stomps away. Helena is confused by this, but recognizes the box and takes a photo of it, sending it to Muriel with a “!!!” 

When she found him again, her father was back in the driver’s seat, and they enjoyed lunch, as well as their final museum visit to the Egyptology museum, with Jericho commenting that he had a good idea for the next blog post. Helena is still thinking about what Neth said about the Vanessa portrait, and decides to look into it after doing her schoolwork the next day. 

In the dreamscape, Jericho is sucked into a remnant of a memory of Neth’s past, and is in his place, finding himself arrested and being pulled away from someone. He is yelling out, begging, screaming, and everything goes dark

Jericho wakes up in the middle of the night, and checks to see if Helena is okay- and she is. He lies back down, and sighs deeply. 

Rest Stop 3: Konstanz (From Munich 3.5 hours)

The next day, Jericho and Helena decide to stop in Konstanz both for lunch and for the both of them to do “work”. They have lunch at a new place - a German Bar. There's an oddly familiar bartender there, but Jericho shakes off Neth’s odd feeling in his chest. 

Helena - in between school work - is chatting with Beatrice and getting her up to speed on what’s going on. Beatrice is amazed, and asks her if she wants her to look at her father’s history books, because if he’s connected to queen Vanessa, then the demon might be the prince! The Mad Prince Nethaniel!

Helena realizes this, and looks over at her father, who is focused on a new blog post as well as answering work emails. He looks up when he sees her in the corner of his eye, and gives his daughter a loving smile, asking if she’s done. She resolves to get to the bottom of the situation with Neth, for her father. 

[doodleimprovement]

The Roadtrip to Hell :: Final Destination :: Bosque De Surcon

 The only Fictional Location in this Journey, and it is the final one

All Aboard!

Day 1

Jericho and Helena start the day driving into the Surcon forest, parking in a lot meant for hiking. Helena makes a joke about going hiking in a sense, wearing her new hat. They make their way around, using a compass and finding their way to an abandoned path. They take a break as a little creek, and Jericho mutters to himself about how he isn’t sure where to look next, as everything is starting to look the same, and they need to head back before they get lost. 

Nethaniel is a bit insulted at Jericho’s “wimpiness” and takes over, assuring Helena that they’d be fine, and that he actually recognizes this part of the forest - a place his brother and him used to go hunting. They find a rocky outcrop, and Helena thinks they might be close - mostly because they were getting very close to where the man - Neth’s brother - had pointed to on the map. While she is looking at the map, Nethaniel has to pry her attention away to look forward, and before them they see a large, simple stone door, with a dragon wrapped around it protectively. While the door itself looks worn with hundreds of years of age, the dragon looks distressingly brand new. 

Nethaniel suddenly feels uncomfortable, thinking that this has to be the place, but his emotions are all over the place about it, and he suggests that they go back to the RV. He’s able to navigate them back there easily, and Helena starts asking him questions about what hunting was like, which he answers with stories and memories of his brother. They get back there, and Helena shows him how to set up their little outdoor kitchen, teaching him how to make ramen - something he thinks is hilariously over-salted - doesn’t mean he doesn’t finish the whole thing. 

Nethaniel states that since they spent all day searching, they can sleep tonight and get all the nonsense done tomorrow. Helena invites him to watch a movie with her on her laptop - sometimes he has never done before. He agrees, if only out of curiosity. They watch Homeward Bound because Helena thought it would be funny, but Nethaniel is moved by the journey home, and how anticlimactic his own feels. Helena tells him that she hopes that when he gets back in his body, he’s happy like the characters in the movie are. Something about that really touches him and makes him emotional, grabbing the girl in a hug. The night ends quietly, with Helena asleep as the credits rolled

Day 2

The next morning, everything is slow and leisurely, with Jericho in control as they eat breakfast, and assures Helena that today is probably the day. Helena asks why the “probably” and he gets a bit flustered, not answering. 

They return to the stone door, and the unnervingly realistic dragon curled around it. Jericho looked over the simple door, and tries pushing it open - managing a solid push to get it fully opened. There is nothing but black down there. Helena asks what they’re going to do, and Jericho turns on his phone’s flashlight and tells her that he’s going to go down carefully, and to only follow once he’s called her. She’s not thrilled at the instruction, but understands. He starts down, and just as he’s seeing the bottom of the stairs, he feels a rumble, and hears Helena start to scream - he hears something about a dragon? - and just as he’s about to rush back up, something big grabs him right around his waist and practically launches him out of the stairwell and into the daylight, thudding down onto the dirt. Reoriented, Helena rushes over, pointing at something. He looks up, and there is a young man - no older than 20 - dressed rather anachronistically and speaking in old Spanish he remembered from Nethaniel’s memories. 

Whoever this person is triggers a very strong reaction in Nethaniel, who immediately takes over and calls out for the man - Jose - who is startled at someone knowing his name. He continues speaking in the old Spanish, before Nethaniel manages some back - though it seems difficult, telling him that no one speaks that anymore. Jose seems to understand the implication, and a few moments and a complicated spell later, Jose is speaking English, demanding to know how his name was known. It takes some convincing (And Neth nearly stating something highly embarrassing) for Jose to be convinced, and Neth asks what the hell Jose is even doing here, hundreds of years out from when he was supposed to have lived and died. 

Jose sits down to tell what happened to him

After what happened to Nethaniel, his brother returned to Vanessa having lost herself, and Jose - a sorcerer's son traiting as a knight - having to tell the prince that his brother’s soul was flat out missing. Felipe - ever the optimist - told Jose that they *would* find Nethaniel and bring him back, But Jose was unsure. However, after Vanessa was deposed, and Felipe crowned king, the two were shocked when someone attempted to break into the tomb. Felipe worries that there won’t be a body left for Nethaniel if he doesn’t assign guards, but that guards might alert more people to its location. Jose makes a decision independently to bind himself to the location- something he knew that Felipe would not approve of, and has been guarding the tomb ever since. 

Nethaniel is - quite understandably - upset that Jose would do that to himself. Jose argues that in the ensuing chaos he was almost certainly the next to be targeted in the hunt for who was responsible for Vanessa’s madness, seeing as it didn’t go away when Neth “died”. Neth still isn’t pleased, but Jose placates him in two ways: One, that Jose had been “awoken” several times throughout the years, so he wasn’t completely oblivious, and two, that once Neth was reunited with his body, he would be free from the curse, so this was quite fortuitous. 

Everyone seems a bit stressed out, so Helena requests that they go back to the RV for lunch and Neth agrees, interested to see how Jose reacts to food. They have lunch, with Helena showing Nethaniel how to - once more - work the outdoor stove. After some time eating and talking casually, Nethaniel eventually falls asleep while Jose and Helena are talking. 

Dreamscape

Jericho can see that Nethaniel is still bothered and upset about what Jose did, and Jericho really, really understands that, but attempts to comfort Neth - telling him that it's a true show of Nethaniel’s character that someone would do that for him. Nethaniel is mostly just anxious and isn’t sure what's going to happen when they wake up. Jericho states that whatever it is, they are in this together. 

The afternoon

When Jericho wakes up in control, Jose is showing Helena fire magic and Jericho is understandably a bit alarmed. After that's all settled - and Jose and Jericho are properly introduced, they return to the tomb, and Jose gladly lets them in, using his magic to light the way down safely. Once down there, they see yet another door, covered in carved latin and Christian motifs on the stone. 

Jose pushes the door open, and inside is a rather simple room, with a tomb that clearly once had a statue on top that was destroyed. Helena asks what happened, and Jose says that the statue on the top did not look anything like Nethaneil - so Felipe destroyed it. Jericho traces his hand along the tomb carefully, going over the rubble. Helena wonders aloud if maybe being in an airtight tomb preserved the body or not. Jericho, awkward and realizing he had to say something - admits that he doesn’t know, and that they aren’t actually sure what’s going to happen next - Neth might not come back. 

Helena is understandably upset and distressed at this news, cearly throwing a fit and getting angry. Neth takes over quite suddenly, and finally has an important conversation with her - Link . He has placated her, and takes a breath, looking at his hands, thinking, praying, hoping, that maybe he will get to hold one of them- if things go his way for once in his long, long life. He relinquishes control to Jericho then, and Jericho looks to Jose, asking what they need to do next. 

Jose states that he probably just needs to focus, and let Neth’s soul do the majority of the work. Jericho understood, placing his hand on top of the tomb - where Nethaniel’s chest might have been, and closed his eyes. He feels a tingling and he was vividly reminded of when he was originally possessed, but this time the feeling is reversed. Once the feeling leaves him, he stumbles back and is kept standing by Jose. Everyone is staring at the tomb, wondering what happens next. 

After a few seconds of nothing… the tomb shakes. Jose gets Jericho to help him push the lid of the tomb, and they manage to push the top part diagonally, and a hand - a real, alive, human hand, grabs Jericho’s wrist, making him scream for a second before he pulls up the torso connected to it, and is met by bright, green eyes. Everyone is shocked to see nethaniel, in his very much not decrepit or aged body, sitting up in his tomb. He looks around, and then lets go of Jericho to grab at himself - his hair, his face, his chest - realizing that his clothing long since disintegrated away - and taking heavy, deep breaths to fill his lungs. Jose removed his outer tunic and gave it to him, helping him put it on. Helena is watching from a few feet away, staring with wide eyes as Jericho and Jose help Neth out of the tomb, getting him on unsteady legs. He can’t stand, not at first, but he gets to his knees, and takes a moment to collect himself a bit, looking up and seeing Helena approaching him. 

The first thing he says is a hello to her, his voice so different from what she knew of him, and she grabs him in a tight hug. At first he seems to be overwhelmed, but then grabs her tightly, managing to stand up and pick her up as he did so. They have a pretty long moment, and after a second, Helena comments that the portrait got his ears wrong, and he lets out a laugh

It takes a little time, but he puts Helena down, and she holds his hand to lead him outside. It's when he’s out there that he finally starts actually speaking, asking in a very thick accent if he could have something to drink. 

They all get back to the RV, and they’re all pretty quiet while Helena gets Neth water, and Jericho finds him some clothing - kind of surprised that Neth is shorter than him, but not that surprised. After Neth is fed, and gets to wash himself in their outdoor shower and puts some clothes on, he asks, verbally, what happens now. Jose asks that as well, seeing as he is no longer bound to the tomb now that Neth has returned. He asks if perhaps he could be taken back to Barcelona - make his own way, so to speak. Nethaneil is not happy with the flippancy of that request, as if Jose didn’t wait hundreds of years and neth was just going to abandon him like that. Jericho interrupts, and shares a look with Helena, who looks hopeful.

[doodleimprovement]

If there's anything more you can tell us about the RTTH AU without spoilers, I'd love to hear it!

Hm... Have an out of context scene from the last third of the story :3c

Prince Nethaniel has a lot of unpacking to do once they get to Catalonia..

[doodleimprovement]

The Roadtrip to Hell AU - START: Budapest, Hungary

And so, the journey begins!

Enjoy! Any and all questions are welcome!

(Starts around 1 PM) Story begins with Nethaniel having taken over Jericho's body while sitting in the dining area of their RV. Neth starts to snoop around, attempting to figure out where he is and “Shaking off” any of Jericho’s attempts to take control of his body. Then he hears Helena, and the body seizes, and Jericho is able to overtake him.

The rest of the day is Jericho and Neth tug of war with Helena confused at her father’s odd behavior. Both of them brush it off, but Helena remains unconvinced. 

Once Jericho has managed to take over and put Helena to sleep, he ends up falling asleep himself and - in the dreamscape - meets “The Snatcher” - Nethaniel. 

The two argue, and eventually come to a tense agreement where Jericho will take Neth to the tomb to reunite him with his body in Catalonia, and in turn any time that Neth is in control he will play the part and take care of his daughter. The two shake hands in the dreamscape, and Jericho wakes up in the morning with control of his body

Jericho tells Helena that they’re changing their route to head to Spain, and makes sure to plot out stops in Munich and Andorra La Vella in an attempt to take Helena’s suspicion off the change. She’s excited to see her friends and goes to call them on voice chat to tell them. 

(After about An hour) They drive their RV into a small, Hungarian town because they’re running low on food and need some lunch. Helena and Jericho have a system, and the two walk together through the market. Jericho feels his arm twitch, as if Neth knows something but he ignores it for the time being as they shop. Once they stock up, Jericho states that he’ll go grab them some lunch from a stall and they’ll eat in the RV - despite trying to ignore it, Neth’s bad vibes are making him wary. 

Jericho attempts to purchase food for him and Helena, but the mafia goons start to intimidate him, and attempt to extort and threaten him. Before Jericho can attempt to run, Nathaniel takes over and the difference is like night and day. Neth ends up in a fight, and stops short of killing anybody at the behest of Jericho. Neth ends up just taking the food, not paying, and entering the RV, where he believes he’s fooled Helena and they eat. Jericho is given back control to drive, and Helena logs into “School” for the late afternoon while he drives them to Vienna