Unravel. 2023 (Nero x male OC)

5.

4th September, 9 AM

An unusual aura of light emits from Jason's hand as he stares into Lapis' eyes. "You think your puny magic will stop me", Lapis laughs devilishly.
"It's worth a shot." Lapis smirks at the man in front of him. "Just like old times?"
"Just like old times." Then their powers clash, sending a rumble through the ground around them. As Nero runs to the van he can feel the rumble underneath his feet. He looks back the way he came from but Jason and Lapis are nowhere to be seen.

He pulls himself together and runs for the van where he meets the others. "What happened", Nico screams. "Lapis. Looking for this." He shows the book to his crew. "We need to wait for Jason. We can't leave him."
"Nero, for all we know he could be dead already."
"Don't you dare say that", Nero yells as he turns to Trish. "Don't you dare", He growls once more with a stern look on his face. Trish only rolls her eyes.
"You still have a girlfriend, you know?"
Suddenly those words make Nero snap back into reality. Trish is right. Why is he so focused on a stranger? And what was Trish implying when she mentioned Kyrie? That he was in love with Jason?
"I know that. Just think of how this will look for future costumers. We let our client die fighting the threat he asked us to get rid off." Lady chuckles. "He's right, Trish."
Trish rolls her eyes once again. "Fine. Don't get yourself killed." Nero nods and runs off to where he last saw Lapis and Jason. He still hears their clashes and screams but not from where it originally started. All that's left is a crater in the ground, the ruins around it completely turned to ashes. Nero grabs his sword, ready to join the fight. He follows the destruction deeper into the village.

There he finds the town square. It seems almost untouched, a former village taken back by nature. Suddenly a figure crashes to the ground. It's Jason.

Nero runs over to the seemingly hurt man.
"Jason, you alright?" Jason looks at Nero in shock. "You shouldn't be here!" Jason gets onto his feet. "Let me handle this. I'll meet you back at the van, or wherever you go. Just go!" Jason looks up and suddenly grabs Nero. "Look out!"
He forces Nero to jump to the side, narrowly dodging an attack by Lapis. "There you are", The horned monster says. "Nero, run", Jason yells as he blocks another one of Lapis' attacks.
Nero runs back into the village and hides behind one of the stone walls, only hearing a bit of Lapis' and Jason's fight.

Jason finally pushes Lapis off himself. "How dare you cross me", Lapis growls. "You crossed me when you picked up that damned book", Jason yells back. Nero can hear the pain in his voice.
"I loved you, Lapis! And you threw it all away!" Nero's eyes widen.

Lapis and Jason loved each other?

"You knew what would happen when you picked up that book, you knew and did it anyway!" Another clash sending vibrations through the ground.
"And what are you going to do now, my love? Kill me?" It's silent for a little while. "Yes."

Suddenly Nero sees Lapis flying into the ruins. With that last blow Jason runs towards the edge of the town square where he finds Nero. "Why aren't you at the van?"
"Incase you needed help."
"I told you, Lapis is mine, now let's go!" Jason grabs Nero's arm and drags him through the ruins and towards the van where the three women still wait for them.
"Let's go", Nero yells as they enter the van. Nico starts the car and hits the gas while Jason looks out the back window to make sure Lapis doesn't follow them. He releases a sigh as the leave the area. As he turns around to join the others he's met with angry looks by Trish and Lady.

Trish points her finger at him. "So that's your little friend that opened the portal?" Jason nods, not knowing what else to say. "You could've given us more details, you left out a huge part of your story", Trish accuses him and Nero jumps up from his seat. "Trish-"
"You knew he'd be here, right?" Jason stays silent. "Running off to fight him while we stay back? It's suspicious." Nero looks at Jason, shocked by the accusation in the room but Jason doesn't even flinch. "There is no better person to distract him than me, alright", Jason says in an angered tone. "I've done nothing but help... yet you accuse me of treason?"

The tone in his voice is almost threatening, as if he's about to betray them for real.

"You have the book. Everything you need to defeat Lapis is in there. If you don't want my help I'll stay back."
"Wait." Nero walks over to Jason and places a comforting hand on his shoulder. "Jason is right. He's done nothing but help. We can trust him."
Trish raises an eyebrow.
"What if he turns on us. What happens if he becomes like Lapis?" She points at Nero. "Will you be responsible for all the destruction if that happens? You saw the village."
Nero looks back at Jason not sure what to think of this situation. Trish has a point but Jason has done nothing wrong. "Let's head back. We'll figure it out there."

Trish rolls her eyes and retreats to the seat next to Nico while Lady only sighs. "Hey", Nero whispers to Jason. "Can we talk?" Jason nods and the both go into Nico's workshop in the back of the truck.

"What is it", Jason asks seemingly annoyed by the whole situation. "Jason, I need to know that I can trust you." His eyes widen. "You don't trust me", Jason asks, clearly hurt by Nero's words.
"Back in the ruins... you told Lapis you loved him. I need to know that that won't become a problem." Jason's eyes look to the ground in defeat.
"You want to know the whole story?"
"That's all we're asking, Jason. We need to know what we're dealing with."
Jason sighs. "Fine." He takes a deep breath to calm himself first.
"Lapis and I used to be together. We've known each other since we were kids and suddenly it just clicked. I can't explain it. Everything was going well until he heard of that potion. He became obsessed with it. He wanted to leave that town behind, he wanted to run away. Little did I know that plan didn't include me." A tear rolls down his cheek.
"It all happened so fast. Lapis must've found that book and read about the potion there. That's when he became irrational. He was always angry, always looking for ways to shut me out. I just didn't want to hear it."
He chuckles. "Then the day of the attack came where he took my wings. That's when I realized he was gone."

Silence fills the room as Nero tries to digest all of this information. "That's all there is", Jason says. "That's my story." Nero looks up into Jason's tear filled eyes. "I'm sorry that happened."
"Don't apologize." Nero steps closer to the shattered soul in front of him. "I don't need your pity, okay", Jason grumbles but Nero ignores him. He stretches out his arms and pulls Jason into a tight hug.
"What are you doing", Jason immediately asks. "Comforting you." Suddenly Nero feels Jason's arms wrap around his torso as tears stain his red sweater.
"I won't ever let him hurt you again", Nero whispers. His cheeks light up in a reddish color as his heart bangs against his chest from the inside. Having Jason in his arms like this, it makes him feel fuzzy.

Ever since he met Jason he can't shake this feeling. What is this? The last time he felt like this was when he fell in love... with Kyrie.