"Oka-AHHHHHHHHHHHH!"
So much for his pride. Moments before, Nico had considered trying to maintain his cool and calm while facing his worst fear, next to the hot chunk of a man named Will Solace.
The moment they dropped, he thought, Nah, screw it.
They fell through the air. The wind whooshed up wildly, smacking them right in their faces. Nico's heart went right up to his throat. He felt as though his organs were floating in midair while the rest of his body plummeted downwards...
Just like that day.
The memory engulfed him like a black tidal wave before he could stop it. He struggled and tried to call out for help but his mouth was already torn apart in a silent scream. It was of no use anyways. No one can hear me and no one ever will... was his last bitter thought before he let himself be swallowed down the darkest abyss of his memories.
*flashback
He was 10, and was on the plane from Venice, Italy to America. He was going there with his sister and mother to visit with his father, Hades.
Hades had first met his mother, Maria di Angelo, in Italy on one of his long business trips there. It had been love at first sight and dates soon turned into a proposal which turned into a wedding ceremony. It wasn't long before his sister, Bianca di Angelo was conceived from this marriage. A few years later and he, Nico di Angelo was born too. They lived together for a few happy years. Unfortunately, all good things were to come to an end. Hades had been permanently deployed back to work in America where he were to take charge of an Amusement Park.
Before he left, he asked Maria to come with him but she refused, saying that Italy was their homeland. Hence, Hades supported them from far away by mailing them money every month. Like this, Nico and Bianca grew up without a father being there for them physically. However, they were content with their lives.
Everything changed with the plane tickets that were mailed to them. They were from Hades, telling them to come visit him in America. Nothing could possibly go wrong with one visit, could it?
It could.
His 10 year old self remembered everything clearly. The jolting of the plane as the wing caught on fire, just before they were about to touch down. The feeling of his heart rising to his throat as the plane spiraled out of control. The passengers' panicked cries as the pilot tried to regain control of the plane. The flash of a stray butter knife as it flew through the air, straight into Bianca's chest. Her gasp, as Nico could only watch in horror, unable to do anything to sad look on Bianca's dying tear streaked face, as she slipped a metal skull ring onto his finger, whispering her final words,"B-buon compleanno fratello. T-ti amo. Im sorry that I am unable to accompany you to the end. Live on, Nico." Her blood on his hands as he tried, desperately, to staunch the steady flow of it. His grieved sobs as her body went limp in her arms. His screams of denial,"NO! BIANCA DON'T LEAVE ME! NO NO NO DON'T GO... Please don't leave me... NO...!"
His last memory before he blacked out was of him hugging her head to his chest, crying his heart out, as her hand slipped out of his grasp.
It had been his 11th birthday when he lost everything.
He closed his eyes as the flashback ended, a stray tear falling down his cheek. He fell back into his pool of memories as it washed over him, suffocating him, waiting for someone to rescue him from the endless depths of his pain.
No one would... He thought. No one understands...
Right then, he felt a warm hand clasp onto his pulling him back up...
"Come back, Death Boy..." That smooth voice... It sounded incredibly sad...
That could only be...
*End flashback
"Will..." A quiet groan was heard from the dark haired boy currently stirring on his lap.
"Death boy?! Oh thank god." The blonde quickly helped Nico to a sitting position. He somehow ended up on his lap, their fingers still intertwined. Still weak, Nico leaned against his shoulder in a daze, unable to control his body from shaking just from the sheer movement of propping himself up.
"W-will, you saved me..." He was unable to control the fresh tears that sprang into his eyes as what he had just gone through hit him like a brick and he buried his face into his neck, sobbing. Will was shocked, he seemed so broken, like a faulty faucet which couldn't control it's water spray. He carefully wrapped his arms around him, rocking him back and forth.
Will knew nothing about this stranger. Heck, he didn't even know his name. But for some reason, he was unable to let him go.
As he felt Death Boy's hand tighten ever so slightly on his shirt, he knew that he felt the same.
At that moment, nothing could have disturbed them.