Your Love Is Sunlight (Solangelo)

Chapter 1

The ocean, no matter how much Nico loved it, was dangerous and unpredictable. Something to love as well as to fear was healthy in this case. Maybe it was even transferable to other ways, but it stood out the most here.

For two nights Nico had been looking out at the endless and pitch-black masses of water. Again and again he felt the strong longing to throw himself into it. To feel the water tugging at his body and to imagine the magical creatures of the deep sea gathering around him. Nico was always curious to know what might be lurking down there.

Nico had often listened to the old pirates in his hometown. The way they talked about the sea had always fascinated him.

His father often hired pirates, paid them to travel around the world and bring back unique collectibles from all over the world. Sometimes he also hired them to murder people he didn't like, but Nico would often prefer the collectibles.

The old farts used to tell Nico, who was much younger at the time, about the people they met, the food they ate and what he liked best of all, the strange experiences they had at sea. While Nico himself was now standing on a ship that had been days away from his home, he remembered the blue glowing lights that the men would see in the water. How they would hear the cries of helpless woman in the open sea. 

And how massive tentacles would pounce on the stern of the ship, attempting to overturn it with its powerful body.

Of course, his father or sister never believed such stories. But Nico's childlike innocence loved them.

By now, Nico knew that some things did not exist or that there was a better explanation for everything than simple inexplicable magic. However, the love for the sea and the unknown remained. For years he had tried to persuade his father to finally buy him a ship to start his own adventures. It had taken almost a decade of pleading for his father to finally put his wealth of money into a request of his children.

Though Nico was not the captain, but his older and more responsible sister, Bianca, it was still exciting to be here. Especially because their father told them that if they were to master this voyage and bring back some of the requested goods, this ship would soon be fully theirs. It was everything Nico wished for.

Soon he too would have stories to tell. In the future, after decades at sea, he too would tell all his stories to the children in town. With glazed eyes and salty skin marked by his adventures.

Perhaps, he would also have stories for the fearless teenagers who could not imagine how vast and terrifying the sea was. Nico would tell them about all the monsters and creatures and mysteries he had witnessed in his life.

With a sigh, Nico leaned over the railing, letting his eyes roam freely over the sea. Every now and then, the moon shone through the numerous clouds, giving them a small glimpse of light.

and at that moment, with a faint ray of moonlight shining on the sea, Nico could see a faint golden glow flashing around in the sea. A loud laugh, made him startle from his comfortable position. Like a glittering spark, it flashed out of the sea and immediately disappeared. The laughter that had echoed around him a heartbeat ago, wafting around his nose like the scent of food, had also disappeared.

Cold, heat and burning hot air hit him in the body, drove deep into his skin and bit into his bones. If it wasn't a feeling as wonderful as it was heartbreaking, Nico would have cried out.

The spectacle and the touch of these feelings had lasted no more than a heartbeat. With a deep intake of breath, Nico took a step back, his eyes glued to the sea in front of him. His heart was beating so intensely, he felt as if it were competing with the sound of the sea.