Two powerful forces: One unstoppable, and the other fed by what tries to dampen it. Death and fire. The eternal darkness and the brash mortality of flame. One long-term and permanent, the other swift and just as fierce.
The fire feeds death, turns over soul after soul; death grants the fire a powerful purpose.
Two elements that, once united, appear immortal... represented in two teenagers; one an outcast Son of Hades, the other a bright yet, unsurprisingly, bitter Son of Hephaestus.
In battle, they fight together. The fire comes roaring in first, a force so ferocious it purifies everything in it path. And then comes death. A darkness that seems even more so after the brightness of the fire. It swoops down over whatever is left, devouring every inch of light it can find, leaving no survivors.
They're good at what they do; they're congratulated, heralded as heroes.
They're empty when it's all over. Everyone else celebrates. Those that call themselves their friends see what everyone else sees - an illusion telling of false happiness. Even though they think that they know them better than the others, in reality they're too scared to dig deeper.
Everyone is.
Except them.
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In the night, where the darkness has enveloped the light and stripped the boy of darkness's most powerful weapon from him, the fire is there. He creeps into the boy's cabin and summons fire, creates light, allowing for shadows to form.
Only then does the boy crawl out of his suffocating cocoon of darkness and drag himself into the most absolute shadow. He sends the fire boy a weary smile, grateful and tired, and curls up against his back where the shadows are darkest and warmest.
During the day, the perpetual sun turns the boy's fire obsolete; no one needs it when everything is already light and warm.
No one else understands. Their powers can be used whenever they so wish; and even if they can't, none of them are quite so bitter about it.
The boy of the flames, though, is bitterness incarnate when alone. His most powerful tool is also his most hated one and he hates himself a little more each and every time he uses it.
Not even the boy of darkness can sympathize with this; but he understands. He understands the sour taste of a loved one lost, and the feeling of blaming yourself for it everyday, but continuing on anyway.
And most of the time, it's enough that he understands.
Until it isn't. And the light swallows him. He begins to drown in fire.
It's not the type of fire that's easily smothered by water, or beaten away by wind. But the boy is there, like he always is. He draws the other into his own shadows, allows him to light them with just one flame. A singular, powerful flame, nowhere near enough to drown in.
It lets him breathe, to bury himself in the boy's arms and let the darkness gently envelope him until his flame is nothing but a mild simmer. And yet, even though the flame is weaker, its presence is stronger, enhanced as it is by the shade around it.
It's this contrast that allows them to exist side-by-side, constantly seeking to aid the other and never giving up when they were needed. Even when their friends had paired off leaving the 'seventh wheel' and social outcast behind, they weren't unhappy.
When they were with each other their levels of internal darkness lowered; the bitterness became slightly sweeter; they became more content.
In battle conditions, when flooded with adrenaline and the feeling of being alive, they empowered each other. When everything was over and the others were celebrating, they calmed each other; doused the adrenaline in shadows and buried it in embers.
They enabled each other to survive; to live.
Two powerful elements; two teenage boys.
Nico di Angelo and Leo Valdez; death and fire.