"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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0026. | ALWAYS THE FIGHTER, NEVER THE LOSER
Lycaon threw the first punch. And it hurt like hell.
Vela steadied his feet but the next punch knocked him off balance. He spun, blocking the next punch with his arm and sliding up into close combat to smash his head onto Lycaon's nose.
Lycaon grabbed his shoulders, smashing his knee into his chest so hard Vela felt his rib crack. He gasped, hunching over. Lycaon kicked him in the shoulder, sending him sprawling on his back.
He blinked harshly, pushing away the memory that earned him his title. Instead he glared indignantly at Luke who stood smugly like he was proud of knowing who he was. Vela was curious too. He wanted to know how Luke knew who he was but when he saw a flicker of movement by Luke's side, he knew immediately who the informant was.
Adrian.
He looked just as Vela had seen him last, still like a second in command.
From that point of view, Vela enjoyed seeing Adrian by Luke's side. He liked that even with Lycaon's death, Adrian still wasn't strong enough to succeed as a leader himself and had to find a new ruler for guidance. On the other hand, Adrian was a cruel man who hurt children so seeing him again made Vela's hand curl into a fist.
Percy looked at him nervously. Vela didn't dare look back at him. He didn't want Percy to see how furious and panicked he was.
Antaeus broke the jeers of the crowd with his bellow. "A son of Poseidon? And a king? Then they should fight well. Or die well!" Vela preferred to think it was the former rather than the latter. He figured he'd fought a lot worse than whatever Antaeus could throw at him - hell, Vela survived an attack from a goddess. He was a lot stronger than people thought.
Especially when he was angry. And right then, he was fuming.
"If their deaths please you," Luke mused. "will you let our armies cross your territory?" Vela kept his fist tight to help with his nerves.
"Perhaps." Antaeus thought on it and Adrian glared down at Vela like he was threatening him. Vela found it quite amusing though, how Adrian thought he was protected by the monsters that surrounded him, conveniently forgetting that all Vela had to do to him after Lycaon's death was stare him down for him to yield.
"Luke!" Annabeth yelled, grabbing his attention. It seemed he hadn't noticed she was there until she shouted. "Stop this! Let us go."
