"The moment I met you,
I held my breath.
And you've been taking
it away ever since,
Nico di Angelo."
[ NICO DI ANGELO x MALE OC ]
[ PERCY JACKSON SERIES ]
[ HEROES OF OLYMPUS SERIES ]
cover by @humaneity !
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0001. | EYE SPY WITH MY LITTLE EYE, LOVERS IN HELL
Shakespeare once wrote that 'Hell is empty and all the devils are here'. He, of course, had written it as fiction. A cry from a prince, terrorised by an imprisoned air spirit. It was quite clear in what it meant. Hell was emptied of its demons as they now walked among mortals on Earth. But it wasn't quite correct. Not truly. Hell was by no means empty, and though monsters crept and crawled on Earth, it was bliss compared to being the creeper and crawler amongst the monsters in Hell. No myth, no silly quote could ever reflect the honest horror of being the outsider in Hell. Much better was the Fate of having the devils on Earth.
Unfortunately, Nico knew this to be the truth.
No monster on Earth came even the slightest bit close in comparison with the devils in Tartarus. The things he saw, what he witnessed, what he endured... and now, thanks to the god he loved, it was all for nought.
There was no consolation in his thoughts as he fell into the darkness. It lasted eons but also no time at all. It was warped in Tartarus. He could have spent a day there, or ten thousand years and he wouldn't have known the difference. Tartarus didn't age the person, it aged the soul. Nico was likely half as old as Vela by now.
He had thrown himself so assuredly at Vela when he saw him fall, but now, in the darkness of their descent, Nico couldn't see a thing.
He was free falling, hot, blasting wind shooting through his ears. The fast falling wind didn't whistle, it screamed. The high pitched ringing of tortured souls that hadn't left Nico's ears since his time imprisoned in the jar. It only silenced when Vela was near. Now he couldn't find him, and that thought scared him more than anything in this world.
He tried to call out his name, but even with Vela's enhanced hearing, Nico's voice was lost over the screeches of the winds. He was alone. Alone, again, and he was so certain of that notion.
He screamed Vela's name again and he was met with darkness and screams. His panic flared, begging for Vela, begging for comfort. He couldn't do this alone. He couldn't be alone again.
He jolted. Something had brushed against his hand.
There, again, it did it again.
It took that second touch for Nico to realise it wasn't the cold wall of the tunnel through which he fell, or some sick monster grabbing him to drag him into some nest to feast. It was Vela's hand, his fingertips brushing over his, reaching, clawing, scrapping to grab him. Nico clamped down on his fingertips. It was all he needed to do for Vela to gather the strength to pull him against him from arms' length.
Nico's palpitating heart slowed immediately. Vela was there, familiar with his hard chest and sturdy arms wrapped around him, securing him against him. He had him. They were together. That was what was important.
