"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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0015. | THE PROMISE OFHIS HEART BEAT
Vela dreamt of a cottage. The room was red and warm like a living room and he was sat on a rug in front of a roaring fire that burned away the scent of sea salt from Ogygia and replaced it with the scent of charcoal and pine. It smelled like home.
"Is he your home?"
Vela snapped his head over to the voice. A little girl was sat on an armchair with her feet not meeting the ground. She looked around eight years old with warm auburn hair and a modest dress that made her look like she was from 'Little House on the Prairie'. She had a kind smile on her face, very welcoming with her flaming eyes that burned like the fire.
"Who?" Vela asked.
The girl smiled. "You know who." She said. "I am the goddess of the hearth and the home, Vela. My fires make people think of home, so - is he your home?" Vela arched a brow at the little girl claiming to be Hestia, but he didn't challenge it. He knew gods could appear as they wished.
"Yes." He answered shortly. When he looked at the hearth, all he could think of was Nico. How the fire would've warmed him up because that boy was always cold and how Vela could hug him and tell him how sorry he was - how he was sorry that he ever left him. That all he needed in this world was him and only him for the rest of eternity.
Hestia held a knowing glint in her eyes. "You should return to your home." She advised softly. There was no instruction or order in it, no arrogance that gods normally carried (Vela was guilty of it too). She only sounded as if she was looking out for what was best. "I heard a prayer last evening, one for your mother." She gestured towards the fire and the red embers glowed orange.
Goddess of love, bring your son back to me.
The words washed over him like a spell, coaxing him, enticing him with his love's voice that made his heart ache for home. "Nico." He realised. "He never prays to the gods." He noted. Vela had taught him that habit. Nico never sacrificed parts of his meals to any gods because Vela did it for him, he didn't want Nico to miss out on any of his food.
"Perhaps he found a great enough cause to do so." She winked at him. Vela would have blushed but he was too swarmed with the aching feeling in his stomach of guilt. Hestia noticed. "I understand you are torn, but you do not belong where you are. It is not your home. Nico misses you, and your mother, and your sister, and your friends." She paused. "They still believe you to be dead."
He felt as if he'd swallowed acid. His family thought he was dead. They had no idea that he was on Ogygia asking Calypso to spend more time with her... how selfish could he get?
