𝘏 𝘌 𝘓 𝘓 ' 𝘚 𝘎 𝘈 𝘛 𝘌 «𝔡𝔲𝔫𝔤𝔢𝔬𝔫𝔰 𝔞𝔫𝔡 𝔡𝔯𝔞𝔤𝔬𝔫𝔰»

●︎ 𝙣𝙞𝙘𝙤'𝙨 𝙡𝙤𝙫𝙚 𝙡𝙚𝙩𝙩𝙚𝙧 𝙩𝙤 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙜𝙧𝙤𝙪𝙥

Nico had never been too certain what true love was. He knew of affection, wanting to comfort those close to him, and he knew physical attraction very well. It was easy to fall prey to a beautiful woman with dark eyes and a mesmerizing cold stare that would soften under the throws of laughter into something blinding. Love seemed somewhat foreign to him given his lack of education, so everything he knew had to come naturally—it came from within himself. Grief, sorrow, joy, pain, regret, tenderness—it all came naturally enough for him to navigate the difficulties of life. But love—true love—was still far too abstract to him.

Was love sacrifice? Surely it was, for Calypso offered up her mother to save Lorelei. That must be love—a bond that felt sisterly despite how often they enraged one another.

Was love made through mistakes? He didn't doubt it. After all, Cedric had destroyed his home in the name of love in the attempt to save those dear to him. And yet Cedric remained strong—and kind.

Was love a promise? Absolutely. Tarthuul embodied love's promise. Tarthuul loved his family enough to leave in order to provide. And when he returned it felt as if he had never left. Tarthuul lived for his wife, his daughters, his son, his father, and his guild.

Love was all of this; a sacrifice forged through mistakes to keep a promise.

This group of adventurers embodied what Nico thought love to be. Despite their sins, their terribly sharp tongues, their crude edges and poor sense of self importance at times, they were strong and they fought until their bodies gave out. These heroes faced death countless times not only for their sake and the sakes of those they value, but they battled on for those they had never met. They saved cities because it was the right thing to do. They offered aid to little gnomish families down on their luck, and they used their powers to even help said family start anew in Port Mabari. These heroes braved demonic fires to save orphans, ran through cannon fire to rescue an abandoned solider in the city of Ruwen, patched a broken royal family back together, and all did so in the perfectly flawed way that they were.

And they cared for one another despite the right assholes they could be. Cedric was hardheaded to a fault, often blaming himself for the deaths of the innocent, and he was a drunk. Cedric was a man who ran from his past before planting his boots in the dirt, spitting his blood onto his blade, and turning to face the end of the world with a determined, clever smirk. He had grown from a lost boy to a man scaling mountains to reclaim his divinity and restore the world to a time before the darkness he had brought. 

Lorelei was cruel, vain and deceitful; manipulative to a fault. She was downright mean, uncaring of the suffering around her because of her unjust upbringing. And yet she was able to learn and grow, letting that odd pendant fall into the flames to be reborn into something she held much more dear. Her friends softened her and helped her repent. 

Tarthuul was absent for some time in the lives of those who needed him most, and on the outside his choices seemed shallow—he didn't want to be the cook anymore, he didn't want to be the useless child of the great Tarthus, he wanted to make a name for himself. But deep down his actions defined him and made him the man all see him for—a loving father and husband. He worked to support the wife he could not be around for and he brought power to his guild through the bonds of those far from the watery boarders of Port Mabari. 

Calypso was cruel not only to others, but to herself in the gravest form. She hid wrapped in the callousness of her past sins, building new layers of unforgiving rock around her with each new mistake she would not forgive herself for. Yet everything she did she did for love. She saved Lorelei by meeting and leaving behind her birth family. She saved Mortimer from death by offering her blood to a demon. And despite the scales she built around her heart, there were times in which her delicate and gentle fondness was able to shine. Something in her smile could not be forgotten when an orphan would hold her hand, and something in her voice as she laid her past bare could knock down the mightiest of men. She was flawed and loved, yet she was unable to recognize how important she had become in the eyes of the other members of her group.

These were the people Nico had fallen for.

These were the people he had hopelessly given his love to.

To Cedric Blackmire, an equal, his dearest friend, a broken man forging his broken bits back into place, and the man Nico strived to be like.

To Lorelei Bitterman, a friend, an example of growth, the first person of great wealth and status to recognize him as a person.

To Tarthuul son of Tarthus, the father he dreamed he could have had, the epitome of family, a man proud to be green.

And to Calypso Amity—no. Just Calypso, someone not too different from himself, a misunderstood monster with a heart, a woman he wished to spend his days with—no matter how short, how possibly uneventful...

He wanted to be with them. He wanted to see them live their dreams, accomplish what they once thought impossible, and he wished—gods how he wished—to see the mark they would leave on the world. True love was the ache of pride Nico felt when he smiled to his friends and they smiled back. True love was the unspoken pact between them all to fight the good fight and to protect one another through it all.

And maybe Nico was wrong. After all, he wasn't good with words. But this felt right.

"Nico?" The half-orc jumped at his name but beamed as he saw Cedric standing by his side as they looked out over the ship to the never ending oceans of the Water Plane. "You alright, man?"

"Would you believe me if I told you that I've never been better?"

"I'd believe you," Cedric grinned, "but I would think you've gone mental." The aasimar hit his shoulder with a laugh before walking off to find Tarthuul, no doubt.

Nico watched the waves roll against the ship, the sea spray misting his green face gently, and he smiled.

Yeah.

This felt right.