"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. | HOW CAN LIFE POSSIBLY GO ON WITHOUT HIM?
Plato had once staked that the bonds between souls were not crafted by some mystical Fates in the sky, nor gods nor goddesses of love atop a mountain. He had argued that the bond between two souls was a value that transcends the particularities of the physical body. He said that the souls were what controlled the bond, each one longing for its other half and so they would throw their arms around each other, weaving themselves together, wanting to grow together. It was a bond crafted by one another, two halves becoming whole, and that made it a greater bond than any blessing bestowed by the Fates or the gods and goddesses of love. The bond was a search for another half, a soul that one could weave together with another, but what was Vela to do when he had lost his other half to oblivion?
How was he supposed to be a whole when his other half—his better half—had been stolen away from him by Giants fated to snuff out his angel's breath?
He didn't know the answer and it had been plaguing him for days. He had kept his oath, he hadn't eaten, he hadn't slept, he hadn't breathed without his other half to weave himself with. He was in pain, and no matter how hard Annabeth tried, there was no relief to his agony.
She hadn't been allowed past his doorway in three days, no one had, but she didn't stop trying. He appreciated that, but he wasn't sure how to show his gratitude. He didn't even know if it was gratitude, he just knew it was a feeling, and these days, he was grasping at straws of emotion. He was struggling to feel anything at all other than despair.
Everyday, as Leo guided the Argo II across America towards Camp Jupiter to Percy, Annabeth would knock on Vela's door to beckon him out, but she had no such luck. He had been restrictive with who he spoke to, and other than family, Annabeth was the only outsider who had managed to get close to him.
He told her, Drew, and Lacy everything that had happened since he had left nearly three months ago to find Percy. Everything. When he told them what had happened, Annabeth had looked at him differently, a sympathy in her steely grey eyes that was wide but couldn't hide that glimmer of fear that shone when she looked at him, as if saying the tragedy that had befallen Nico aloud had somehow solidified his Fate and she was preparing to lose him too. Maybe she already had, Vela couldn't tell if he was even a person without Nico.
As soon as Leo had shown him which room was his—the spare room—he had locked himself inside and hadn't been seen since. Even Coach Hedge knew not to bother him. There was something sinister about Vela now, something dark looming over his head. He wasn't sure if he was ready to part with it yet. The darkness was somewhat comforting because he knew it was something he was sharing with Nico.
