Wings

41: Angel By The Wings

WPOV

Track: Angel By The Wings, Sia

A year after his trial, my village seems to mostly have forgotten about the original reason they hadn't liked Nico. He's mostly difficult to dislike, once you spend time around him. Not because he's particularly nice to the villagers—he could live to smile more, or to throw out a compliment to them every once in a while—but rather it's that he's so goddamn helpful that no one can stay angry at the new citizen of our town.

When he first arrived, people still didn't quite believe that Senate had removed the bounty on his head, and it took about four near-death-experiences before we thought to have the newly elected Praetor—because the Senate decided a break from the monarchy—Reyna Avila Ramírez-Arellano visit the town and announce to the people that, in fact, killing a Guardian is equally as bad as killing a human.

After that, people reluctantly stopped pulling knives on my lover, and life became much smoother for everyone.

Nico helps the villagers wherever and however he can. He hunts, he fetches water, he helps fix the market stalls, he helps transport bags of flour from the mill to the bakery—whatever needs to be done, he's there to help. He likes proving them wrong, I think.

Once, the priest found the audacity to ask him for help, and Nico has caused quite a stir by telling the priest to "fuck right off before I tear you limb from limb, you miserable piece of shit." (When the priest skipped town two weeks later, Nico pretended to be shocked, and I can't help but laugh at his methods of getting his way.) On other occasions, someone will try talking to one of us about our 'sins' in the priest's place, and Nico unfurls his wings, which feels like a threat even though it isn't one, and tells the villager that he'll go ask God himself if it's a sin, if they are so insistent.

Usually, that shuts them up.

They've left us alone since then, and overall they seem to be warming up to the idea that Nico is an ethereal, practically Biblical being, and that I am his queer lover. There's, like, layers to unpack there, but time makes everything easier to process.

While Nico spends his days running errands and finding new ways to spend his time, I spend most days shadowing Dr. Chase, helping him sew up injuries, cauterize wounds, and identify illnesses. He teaches me his craft, and in the downtime between patients, I hang out with Annabeth, Percy, my siblings, or whoever else visits me. (Usually, Nico visits me—he's got most of my breaks memorized, using the sundial behind the house to tell when I'll most likely be free to talk. Every time I find him waiting for me outside, sometimes on the roof, my heart flutters as if I'm falling in love with him for the first time all over again.)

"My dad's visiting this weekend," he tells me one day when I leave an appointment diagnosing a boring case of simple dehydration. "He and the Senate are updating the treaty. I advised him on some minor changes, and he's promised not to change anything else."

He's sitting on the roof again. His feet dangle off the edge, his wings spread wide behind him. He looks so relaxed—his hair falls carefree around his face, framing him nicely, gently. He's got a slight smile on his lips, which lets me know Hades is doing his job correctly. A year ago, I might have worried that Hades would use this as an opportunity to slip the love clause back into the treaty once more, but things have been different these past few months.

"He also wants to know how to make bread," Nico informs me, and I laugh as I unfurl my own wings and launch into the air so I can get up to the roof and sit next to him. When I land up there with him, it's a little clumsy, but not too bad for someone who's only been doing this for a year.