TW:Grief and mental breakdown
After their movie, Will had fallen asleep, leaving Nico awake on the couch. He sighed, laughing softly as he glanced toward the bedroom, then back at his golden haired sunshine. He carefully unwrapped their blankets, holding Will and picking him up. Yes, Nico was tiny, but fuck was he strong after all of their battles. He'd taken to lifting weights to make sure he had some strength, so he didn't have to worry about losing his abilities when on a possible quest or stuff without a weapon. Truthfully, he wanted none of that to happen, but he often found himself worrying about it.
"Neeks?" Nico stopped, halfway in the hall and balancing on the ball of his foot As he stepped down to take his next step. He was going to let Will sleep, since his weekend off from the infirmary wing ended this evening. Though, Will had other plans.
"I'm taking you to bed..." Nico explained, blushing and carrying will the rest of the way to the bedroom. He looked at the bed, it's warm and soft blankets tucked away and clean, pillows fluffed carefully by Will. He didn't understand why he liked to keep the bed so tidy, it was going to get ruined anyways. However, the letter sitting atop Nico's pillow made him feel anxious. He'd nearly dropped his husband on the floor, but instead set him on his side of the bed where he drifted back to sleep. Nico but his lip, glancing around nervously, he was ready to twist the ring on his finger and summon his weapon. Then, he stopped at the sight of a wax seal on the envelope, and elegant handwriting that looked oddly familiar.
"Nico Di Angelo"
He twitched, momentarily afraid before silently snatching up the sealed envelope with his name. He didn't notice the tears forming at the thought of calling it his name, glancing at Will. Will Di Angelo, his husband. He opened the envelope as he looked back, trying to be quiet while pulling out the paper and reading it. He examined it, feeling the coarse paper under his skin made his eyebrows crease in confusion. Parchment paper, who the hell used parchment paper anymore? Even the gods had modernized. He heard a hum and felt Will cuddle against his side, asleep but still feeling affectionate. He laughed fondly, looking at the light glow that radiated off of his hair. It was the only thing that let him sleep in the dark bedroom.
"My dear Children, by the time you're reading this. I'm likely dead, possibly killed by your father's family, or by my own secrets. You may be confused, but I promised that you'd go to school when you were ready. I wrote this letter to share the truth with you, in the case that I died before you could ever learn that you were magical. While it's very easy to let you live a semi safe life as a demi god, it would be immoral of me as your mother to hide that I am a witch. My magic let me see through the mist, revealing to me who your father was. It led us to falling in love and having you, Nico and Bianca, my angels." Nico gasped sharply, having to stop reading. His face was wet again, this time with tears instead of warm water from the shower. He wiped his face, trying to be quiet as he sat with Will asleep against him. He didn't want to wake him up. His fingers dug into the sheets and his teeth clenched, he could feel the ground shake, their home unsteady. Will's lit slowly dimmed as the shadows bent closer to Nico, responding to his subconscious request. They took him to see his father, carrying the couple to the underworld in quick silence. Will was woken up and Nico was barely bothered by the change of scenery. He inhaled, trying to breath and finding that he couldn't. He held onto Will, suddenly sobbing into his chest when he hugged him and held him. He looked at the envelope in his lap, he shook and hissed, crying at the sight of his mother's name. She hadn't gotten the chance to tell them about her past, her magic, her world. He wasn't sure if he could finish reading the letter. Not now. Will held Nico close, hugging him to his chest and gently running his fingers through his hair. He hadn't heard such gutteral sobs, not in such a long time. It always hurt to hear such an aching sound. "Mama... Mama... Mama..."The words were desperate, starting in English and progressing through the various languages Nico knew, Greek, Latin, and Italian. His words were wet, thick with a pathetic longing. He could never get her back, never meet her, never learn from her world from her, and it hurt so fucking much. It hurt them both so much.————"Nico, sweetie?" Will frowned, Hades gave them a room for them to have privacy in, which the young healer was very thankful for for. He waited until Nico stopped crying and felt better to talk with him, and to look at the letter he had in a strong grip.He heard the soft hum of the smaller male against him, his face hidden in his chest and under blankets. "Do you want me to read the rest of the letter for you? You don't seem like you can do this alone." He would've thought the whine was cute, if he didn't know how bad Nico was doing. He felt the light nod against his chest and carefully took the paper, holding it and doing his best to read it. Nico had taught him a little bit about reading Italian, and he was mostly trying to learn to talk the language. "Why didn't he tell me?" Will bit his lip, glancing at the door of their bedroom. It was a guess room within the castle, furnished and almost never used. He didn't have the answer to Nico's question and that made him feel horrible."Because I knew you weren't ready for this, you were dealing with quests and wars, finding friends and mourning loved ones. You were finally living, and I didn't want to ruin your happiness so soon. Not when you were finally healing." They jumped, looking at the open door and coming face to face with Hades, standing in his mortal form. He looked tired, old and worn. He looked regretful and entered the room, taking the letter with a sigh. "I'll answer your questions, and if you want to. I'll let you go to the school Maria went to as a child, but you'd have to go during the time period your name was written down. Don't worry, I may be able to pull some strings with Hecate."