Ever since childhood, Nico has always been obsessed with the afterlife. Maybe that's not normal, but heck, normal is so dam overrated.

As a young boy he has heard many legends, secretive whispers, hushed tales here and there, especially when people think no one is lurking in the shadows. Those stories are enough to make Nico believe.

Make him believe in something good happening to him, just for once. Just once. Please.

Nico is still grieving Bianca's death when he decides to spend a good amount of his father's fortune on a tiny seaside home. He does not listen to the villagers' warnings of myths and magic... Or maybe he listens too closely.

Contrary to popular belief, Nico does not believe in gods. Yet strangely enough, he instinctively knows that there's an afterlife for his sister out there somewhere. He can't explain it. Not that he hasn't tried to describe it, but people usually just give him the same pitying look. Most shake their head with a frown. Some even offer a hug.

And Nico hates it. He hates it so much.

He hates it whenever someone gently explains, "They're just stories, Nico. They're not real. I'm sorry, we're all sorry, but she's not coming back. I... We... Look, she drowned. She drowned, Nico. I'm so sorry. But it's been years..."

(Nico covers his ears and walks away.)

Perhaps Nico isn't normal. But if there's a chance that Bianca's out there... Nico must believe — he has to believe — that the afterlife is real. For Bianca. For his childhood. For his sanity. And to prove people wrong. To not be alone anymore. To feel less helpless.

...Legend says, out there, under the sea, people who drown are reborn as selkies: seals who can shapeshift into humans when they take off their coats. It's been said that they like partying at the beach once a year to celebrate their rebirth... Some sort of Dionysian madness?

Legend says that selkies should not be provoked.
Legend says that selkies are vengeful.
Legend says that selkies are powerful and magical.

Legend also says that they can't shift back into their seal forms if their coats are stolen. (And this gives Nico an idea.)

As a child, Nico was obsessed with the afterlife. And now? Now, Nico is much older but still far too young. He's desperate, and he's alone. He just wants his sister back. Please.

Nico gasps as he melts into the shadow of a huge rock.

Selkies are real. Selkies are real. Selkies are real.

Selkies are real.

Beneath the moonless sky, Nico watches and watches and watches and watches them some more. Selkies are real.

(Selkies are real... The afterlife is real... Not crazy... Gonna get Bianca back...)

Nico is careful to hide behind the rock, despite there being no light. For all he knows, selkies have excellent night vision and will not hesitate to pulverize a voyeur. (Contrary to popular belief, Nico's not suicidal; he just really wants to know where his sister is.)

Wherever Bianca is now, she's not joining the party. So the only way to get info about her would be to interrogate a selkie... Nico almost hates himself for the thought that comes next, but he's going to reunite with his sister again, dammit, whatever it takes.

(Splash!)

Nico thinks he can see a new silhouette appearing. He watches silently as a latecomer emerges from the midnight sea and shakes off its coat impatiently, barely giving the rock a second glance. Carelessly, the coat lands right next to Nico. The selkie doesn't seem to notice.

Nico is effectively blind, but he instinctively knows everything about this fascinating creature. (This selkie is special, he thinks to himself.) It is a young male, roughly Nico's age (although he can't be sure). This selkie, for one reason or another, is fashionably late and smiling sheepishly. Nico observes how roars of laughter always follow it, and he observes how it refuses alcohol by acting drunk.

Nico becomes enamored as he gazes at the shadowy outline of the now-human's nude form. Visually devouring its every square inch of bare skin.

It would be a pity to deny this creature its freedom, wouldn't it?

But Nico had never liked the feeling of pity that much anyway. (He still remembers the whispers, voices, pity. "I pity that boy, whats-his-name... Nico." "Poor kid, lost his mom, then his sister too. What a pity." "Really a pity... He was such a lively thing before Maria got into that accident...")

It would be a pity to deny this selkie its freedom. Nico should not steal the selkie's coat. It's the wrong thing to do. What a pity if this party animal cannot ever return home...

But heck, pity is overrated.

(Small price to pay in exchange for his sister, Nico thinks as he watches the selkie laugh and splash around.)

The next morning, there's a gentle knock on Nico's door. Nico's palms are sweaty and he's paler than usual, which is saying a lot because Nico's skin is translucent at best.

Will the selkie find out that he's the coat thief? Will he be cursed? Does it know anything about Bianca? Or maybe it's Bianca outside? Nico itches with questions as the door creaks and opens.

"... I didn't wanna be a half-blood. Y'know? I didn't wanna be a selkie. I would've blamed my mom for this mess, but she's awesome."

"What." (Nico is too surprised to form questions now.)

The nude selkie-human — (Nico tries really hard not to stare, but Nico's eyes are still mentally massaging those firm muscles and smooth skin... Argh.) — continues, "I mean, swimming feels great as a selkie, but humans can swim too...! She could've found a nice human guy to settle down with. But nooo. Mom fell in love with Dad, and so now I'm the half-blood prince. Ugh, and Clarisse keeps calling me a bastard princess. Or just Prissy. She's one of my best friends, by the way, and I love her so much but I hate her company. Oh, and say hello to Riptide, my pen. It's the only thing I have with me now, don't ask why."

"Huh."

"But back to our original topic, I'm Percy, nice to meet you. Your world is so fun. At our party last year, I even saw a puppy! Too bad Smelly Gabe scared her away. Thank the gods that Mom turned him into stone... Don't ask."

"Hmmm."

"Land animals are so warm and cuddly. Do you think we can go riding horses sometime? No pressure, of course... And we're off-topic again. I mean... Look, sometimes I see you pacing at the coastline. Makes me wanna write you a note, except that my spelling sucks, you see? And Triton says it's a bad idea. And yet, here we are. Someone, dunno who exactly, misplaced my coat so I'm here to stay, and I'm starving. Any fish?"

"Hmm."

"I'll take that as a yes. I don't really know how to cook, because there's no fire underwater, duh. But I can eat them raw, if you like. And I hope you have a warm, dry bed for me. Doesn't really matter if we have to share."

"Hm."

Percy — still buck naked — walks into Nico's home, acting like a prince in a palace.

What the Zeus just happened?

(Nico is pretty sure that Percy's the one who's stranded here. Except that he's not so sure anymore.)

Within a few days, it's as if Nico was never alone in the first place. It's as if Nico had known Percy all along.

With Percy by his side, Nico is living, not merely breathing.

Percy always drags him to random places and uses his pen to poke at everything curiously. Percy is everything Nico is not: talkative, optimistic, lively. He's the sort of person that Nico hates.

Nico hates how Percy can live rent-free and spread sunshine everywhere.

Nico hates it. He misses the shadows... But sunlight is warm and wonderful.

Eventually, however, Nico starts feeling guilty about stealing Percy's coat and suggests that he help Percy find it. The plan is to bury it somewhere safe and (ahem!) accidentally (ahem!) unearth it.

Percy's response, as always, is as unpredictable as the sea. "You want me to leave?" he has the gall to give Nico those goddamned puppy eyes.

"No! Yes? No. Umm..."

"For the record, I really like it here. I like land. I like puppies. I like you."

"What."

"What I mean is, selkies live longer than humans. So really, I have time to spare. The Fates will bring my coat back to me. Eventually. Maybe. If I'm lucky, which I'm not. Basically, it's destiny. Now, c'mon, let's go! Adventure awaits!"

"Hmm."

Nico has a metaphorical headache. He can't believe he hasn't kicked Percy out yet.

Somehow, he has completely forgotten to ask about Bianca.

Some days, Nico wants to approach the topic. But those days happen less and less often. Percy has some sort of weird selkie-gravity thing that draws Nico to him (or maybe it's just a Percy thing), and they talk about everything and nothing.

They don't avoid the topic of Percy's selkie upbringing and they don't avoid the subject of Nico's tragic backstory. They acknowledge it, sure, yet they somehow manage to avoid talking about them, because they're both idiots.

Nothing feels real to Nico recently, apart from the way Percy's gentle fingers pass through his hair when he braids them.

Nico doesn't hate it when Percy braids his hair. This should scare him, but it really doesn't.

Time flies when you're having fun, people say.

Nico does not notice time passing until he coincidentally catches Percy slipping out of bed one night. Wanting to surprise the selkie, Nico melts into the shadows briefly (it's been so long since he lurked in darkness) and watches the amazing Percy Jackson.

Percy is staring out of the window.
Staring at the sea.
Staring with a wistful gaze.

"...Percy?"

(Long silence.)

"Percy?"

(Loud silence, then a softer silence.)

"Percy?"

(Oh no. On the Richter scale, it is currently a Hades-level silence.)

"PERCY?"

Percy jumps a little. "Oh my gods, you scared me."

"...Come back to bed."

"Clingy, aren't you?" Percy teases, but does not object.

However, for the next few weeks, Nico glimpses as Percy paces the rocks stares out at the midnight sea. The selkie has never mentioned swimming ever since their first official meeting, but Nico sees Percy absentmindedly splash bathwater for no apparent reason.

Nico does not think too much about it... until he does.

How long has Percy stayed with him? Days? Months? Years? Nico isn't really sure anymore. Time flies when Percy is around.

With that revelation comes another. Nico notices how Percy remains youthful. Nico notices how his own reflection seems to grow slightly taller and a lot stronger. Nico notices how both of them don't belong to the same worlds, despite their fascination in each other's. A selkie can't live on earth forever.

(It's fine. Really, it's fine. He never expected this roommate-thing to last as long as it did, anyway. Nico is fine. Seriously, it's fine.)

Nico knows he cannot handle another sudden goodbye. If he and Percy cannot live in their little homey bubble forever, then...

Then what?

Then...

Then...

Then Nico will have to accept that some things are out of his control.

Nico lets Percy braid his hair with a sad smile and promises to talk to Percy about it in the morning.

Percy deserves so much more than what Nico can give. If Nico loves him, Nico should let him go.

Percy does not object to the idea of going back to sea as much as Nico thought — and even dreamed — he would. (The sea is Percy's true home after all, Nico thinks to himself bitterly.)

"You can still visit, Percy. I'll bring you grilled fish. I don't care if you can't spell. Write me a message in a bottle or something." (Nico hates how needy he sounds. He hates it.)

"I... I can't." Percy twirls Riptide nervously.

"Why?!"

"It's... complicated."

"Try me."

"...Dad wants me to... marry someone. We are... We were friends, but Dad's convinced that we can love each other romantically some day."

Nico swallows back an angry You never mentioned this?! and instead deadpans, "That's arranged marriage. I have a few choice words to tell your father, if I ever meet him."

There's a brief flicker of panic written across Percy's handsome face. "You won't."

Nico raises a lone eyebrow and waits for Percy to say something more, but there's only silence.

"Well... Percy, for what it's worth... I don't regret giving you half of my bed every night, even if you always hog the blankets."

"Nico..."

"I found your coat — don't ask where — some time ago, near the rock. It's in that drawer." A shaky finger points towards a dusty corner. "Time for you to go, dear heart."

"Nico..."

"Go! Go! Just... Go. Don't make me watch you leave." Nico squeezes his eyes shut.

Percy gives a small sound of frustration, then sighs, and sighs again. "... I'll look out for any signs of your sister. Take care."

Nico thinks he hears Percy's faint whisper repeating the name "Nico..." for a long time. Nico thinks he imagines a small sigh of "I love you..." before Percy shuts the door, but Nico covers his ears and doesn't dare to listen.

When Nico opens his eyes after a long time, with his eyelids almost sewn shut with tears, Percy is already gone.

Clouds are blocking the stars from view.

Nico's tiny seaside home is plunged into darkness, with Percy gone. Nico starts hiding in shadows again. (It feels familiar, but everything doesn't feel the same anymore.)

People shake their heads and say he's wasting his life.

Nico angrily thinks that they don't understand. None of them understand what it's like to keep losing people, to keep hoping only get disappointed each time, to face life's challenges alone.

It is only until a man, roughly Nico's age, stumbles half-dead into Nico's house, when Nico realizes that he can learn to make new friends.

Nico can learn to love, again and again. Because love is worth it.

The man who teaches him that lesson is Will Solace.

Years later, Nico has a pretty normal life. He isn't obsessed with the afterlife anymore (although he still believes in it), and he's gained a new appreciation for the sea. Nico watches the sea stretch out to the horizon, and always walks closer whenever he sees an unusual splash. Even if it's in the dead of night. (Especially if it's in the dead of night.)

But he never meets any selkies. Even the ordinary seals have abandoned this place, it seems.

Nico is totally not disappointed. He is not miserable at all. He is completely, perfectly, incandescently happy with his life now. After all, Will is a sweet husband, and their adopted daughter Maria should be named a national treasure.

"Bye, Papa!"

"Take care of your dad for me, yeah?" Nico hugs his daughter, a little too stiffly but still enthusiastically. Maria immediately starts running towards Will's small fishing boat.

"Neeks!" Will exclaims, offended. "Nothing bad happens when I'm in charge."

Maria hollers to Nico, "Papa, sure you don't wanna come too? I don't have to go, if you wanna."

"Someone has to clean up this house now. Unless you want to do the house chores?" Nico raises an eyebrow.

"Ew, no thanks. Bye, Papa!"

Nico waves as the boat leaves. "Bye! Have fun but don't forget to come back for dinner!"

Will's voice is like sunlight. "Love you too, Neeks!"

The story of Nico's life can be summed up pretty nicely in one word: unlucky. His life basically boils down to bad luck.

He wasn't done grieving for his mom when Bianca drowned, he wasn't done grieving for Bianca when Percy left, and now he isn't done accepting Percy's absence when he sees the oncoming storm.

"Please be safe, please be safe, please be safe..."

Nico sees a monstrous flash of lightning.

"Please be safe, please be safe, please be safe... Come back to me, please..."

The sea seems to be at war with the sky: frothing waves meeting howling thunder. Nico's heart is beating far too quickly and everything feels unreal. He covers his face in his hands, and there's a broken, muffled voice that be heard along the coast...

"Percy! Percy! If you're out there, help them! Percy! Oh gods, please be safe, please be safe..."

Nico doesn't know how he knows — the storm is as violent as ever — but he instinctively knows the exact moment when Will and Maria are saved. Heartbeat fluttering and slowing, he watches from the huge rock as a few selkies carry them to shore, to safety.

"Will! Maria! Are you hurt?"

"...'M fine..." "Fit as a fiddle..."

"Thank the gods."

Nico almost doesn't notice how a familiar selkie sheds his coat and places it gingerly in the shadows. He almost doesn't notice a familiar voice saying, "No, y'all go first. I'll be right behind you, Wise Girl. No, I won't disappear again, G-man... Yeah, I'll be fine."

Nico almost doesn't notice how one of the selkies snorts.

Nice almost doesn't notice the familiar voice replying, "That's not very nice, Wise Girl, I won't tell him you said that... Okay, okay, now go."

Nico almost doesn't notice, but he does.

Standing in front of him, looking as young as the day he left, is Percy Jackson. He's buck naked — (Maria is yelling something about decency and getting bleach for her traumatized eyes) — and wearing a familiar, albeit faintly miserable, lopsided grin. "Miss me, Nico?"

Nico nearly swoons.

Before everyone goes into Nico's tiny seaside home, Will realizes that there won't much space inside for all of them.

So, Will looks at Nico, then at Percy, then at Nico again. He sighs, and tells Nico that he'll help Maria dry off inside. And Nico's wonderful husband mutters something to Percy that sounds suspiciously like "Don't break his heart too much."

Percy's grin becomes a little strained.

(Meanwhile, Maria's eyes are wide and oddly silent.)

Will pecks Nico on the lips, and the father-daughter duo retreat into their cozy home.

Then, the world stops, and it's just Percy and Nico, together again.

"Percy."

"Nico."

"Percy."

"Is that all you can say?" Percy smirks.

"It's been a long time," admits Nico.

"I guess, for you it is. Seems like yesterday to me."

"Felt like forever."

"Sorry for that," Percy mumbles. "You'll get over it... I hope."

"No."

"I don't... Nico, we're wasting time. I came to tell you that I can't interfere with destiny next time the Fates decide to start an otherworldly war. Your partner and your child... This is a one-time thing."

"You mean...?"

"I mean, time's up. It's time for us to live our lives separately. You found Will, I found love in Annabeth. So there's that. And you won't find me at the parties, so please don't bother anymore."

"You're... breaking up with me. Again."

"Technically we were never officially together, if you catch my drift."

"Percy..."

"Will seems like a great guy, Nico. And Annabeth is a nice girlfriend, so really, we're fine. We're okay."

"The love between me and Will is... It's different."

"...I know. I know."

"Stay," Nico whispers, "please."

Percy twirls Riptide between his fingers, clearly agitated. "It's not a good idea to screw with destiny. We'd risk too much. Think about Will. Think about Maria. We can't condemn them for our own choices. And I can't leave my friends alone again."

"I know." Nico bites back a million words, and thinks about how he imagined this moment a thousand times. "I have to tell you something."

"Sounds pleasantly ominous. Fire away."

"I... I know it's been a long time, but it's been nagging me and... You should know that I was the one who stole your coat, before we met."

Percy is unsurprisingly unimpressed. "What."

"Yeah."

Percy shakes his head disapprovingly, but there's a weird sort of amusement there. "...You're a selkie kidnapper. I should curse you to jump off a cliff and drown, or something. Maybe a heart attack. Less hassle. You're a menace to selkie society and a dishonest man."

"Percy, look, I know you're mad but I need time to tell Will and Maria first before I die, so please..."

Nico shuts up when he sees Percy's expression. It's carefully neutral. (Percy's face was never carefully neutral.)

Nico tries to convey how sorry he is, because guilt has been eating away at him. Nico has waited and hoped for years to see those sea-green eyes again, and he can finally die happy now (although he should probably apologize to Will and Maria first).

But Percy just stares at Nico for a while. Nico stares back. (It feels oddly intimate to stare into each other's eyes. Nico suddenly feels as if Percy has never left, which is a lie, but with Percy here, the past few years are blurring together.)

"Screw this," growls Percy suddenly.

Abruptly, they're kissing. Far more chaste than any of Nico's fantasies, but still oh so good and sweet. He can taste the sea — oh no, wait, that might be his tears, never mind — and their mouths crash together a little too sloppily but it's still extremely perfect.

Percy's warm hands travel from Nico's cheeks to his nape, and threatens to explore further. Nico, meanwhile, is unashamedly discovering every inch of Percy's body. They barely pause to breathe, and their hearts beat in sync for a second or two.

Then, as suddenly as it began, Percy pulls them apart, giving a final nip to Nico's lips. They're both flushed, and — since Percy is still nude — Nico gazes appreciatively at the sight before him, and peeks discreetly downwards at the obvious hint of arousal in his lover.

Percy takes deep breaths. "Nico, as much as I want this to continue, we both won't want to stop if we do this."

"Percy... Please," whispers Nico.

Percy gives him a sad smile and draws him in for a warm hug. "I love you, Nico di Angelo."

Nico is taken by surprise but hugs back, not stiffly.

Then before he can say anything, Percy is running away to grab his coat. He is running away towards the water, towards the sea. Half of Percy's toned calves are already submerged when he turns around and hollers, "May Poseidon bless you, Nico! You deserve so much!"

"Percy..." Nico swallows, and stubbornly refuses to beg. "I love you too, Percy Jackson."

Percy stands there in the sea, water swirling around him. "Y'know, once upon another time, if things were different..."

"I know." Nico sighs. "I know."

"...I didn't want to be a half-blood. I didn't want to be a selkie."

"I know."

"So long and thanks for all the fish." Percy smiles, but it looks more like a grimace. "Some kinds of love are just not meant to be."

Nico does not cover his ears. He watches as Percy turns into a seal and dives deep, and he watches as the violent waves turn gentle, and he watches the sun set. He does not cry.

And, if his vision gets blurry and there's a mysterious teardrop-shaped thing on his cheek, no one has to know.

Will and Maria don't judge Nico. In fact, there's a silent agreement to pretend that nothing important happened. They acknowledge it, sure, but although they don't avoid the Percy-shaped elephant in the room, they somehow manage to avoid the Percy-shaped elephant in the room.

Maria is shockingly not traumatized by the experience. Strangely enough, she seems to have gained a new appreciation for the sea, and likes splashing at water, and likes braiding her dad and papa's hair. She is lively and is the most precious creature in the history of most precious creatures, and Nico and Will both love her dearly.

And they live happily ever after.

Happily ever after... But actually no, scratch that, because Nico has bad luck, remember? His bad luck strikes him again after a few more years.

Nico has so much bad luck. Proof: when Maria (almost an adult now, Nico always thinks to himself proudly) sees a lonely selkie one day and says hi, she strikes up an unlikely friendship with him.

Some time later, in the place where Percy once carelessly shook off his coat, this conversation occurs:
"Run away with me?"
"Sure, why not. Dad won't mind, anyway."

(Nico and Will both figure out that the two must have been meeting in secret for years, somehow. Will is surprisingly not surprised.)

Nico has so much bad luck that he wants to scream. He's worried about Maria, and he can't sleep. So that night, when he hides in the shadows and squints at an unusual glint in the water, he almost forgets that he can't swim.

But Percy wouldn't be cruel enough to tease him with false hopes, right?

With trembling hands, Nico receives a message in a bottle.

Dearest Nico, the message begins. The handwriting is familiar, somehow.

The message tells him that Maria would be safe, tells him that Maria would help Luke find himself, and tells him not to worry, and to take care and stay safe.

At the end of the message, it's signed simply. Love, B.

Love, B.

"Bianca?" Nico asks out loud.

And maybe — just maybe — in the sea, someone hears.