Chapter Text
All the Stars in the Sky
Chapter One :: Acamar
August 1, 2006
Nico didn't know what to think.
The young boy glanced awkwardly between the handsome man with the greenest eyes he had ever seen, and the hotel manager as the two shared rapid words in a language Nico didn't know where to place, but he could somehow understand.
"-sent by their father, and you will let me take them away." Green eyes seemed to shift to gold as the man narrowed his eyes and the hotel manager blustered. "You wouldn't want to anger the Silent One, would you?"
The Silent One?
"But they-" The hotel manager paled rapidly, eyes flicking around nervously even as the ground shook with a faint tremor, which Nico ignored with the knowledge that it was common place.
"Your contract is over, Lotophagoi, and you would do well not to anger me furthur."
Lotophagoi?
Nico knew he had heard those terms somewhere before, but he couldn't quite place them.
The manager fled, and the man turned a kind smile towards the two di Angelo siblings, "Hello Bianca, Nico, my name is Harry." He had a British accent, Nico found it kind of funny the way his tone dipped as he spoke, and the way it twisted his words.
"Are you a lawyer?" Bianca asked, and Nico had to fight not to roll his eyes as his older sister stepped in front of him.
He didn't think the Englishman was a lawyer, in Nico's opinion he looked to young and friendly to be a lawyer.
Harry blinked green-green eyes as his smile became more amused than kind, "I work for your father." He deflected easily, and Bianca tensed.
"Why are you here then?"
"Ah," The man chuckled, "You remind me of your father." He was grinning now, face open and friendly, and Nico could see Bianca relaxing despite herself.
"If you work for our father, where is he?" Bianca demanded, but there wasn't as much heat to her words as before, and Harry's eyes turned sad for a moment.
"You're father is a busy man, he rarely has time to get away from his work." He told them, "Don't let that think he doesn't love you both, there are just things out of his control that stop him from seeing you." A gentle hand landed on Bianca's shoulder, and Harry smiled, "He still grieves for your mother, don't let his distance make you think that he doesn't care."
Bianca was quiet for a moment, and Nico gripped her shirt.
He barely remembered his mother, just a blurry face and a gentle voice singing to him in Italian, Bianca's memories were clearer, and she always told him he had their mother's eyes in between bouts of frustration towards her younger brother. Talking about their parents was how Bianca apologized for the cruel words she could say in her anger, and a small part of Nico was happy that their father grieved for their mother, because that meant their distant father cared.
"Where are we going?" Bianca asked finally, and Nico grinned.
They were finally leaving the hotel!
"We'll be going to New York for the rest of the summer," Harry said, "You two get to stay with me until the school year starts, then I'll take you up to your new school."
New York!
"We're going to New York!" Nico beamed, bouncing on his toes as he tugged on his sister's arm, "Come on, Bianca! Let's go pack!"
"Do you two need any help?" Harry asked, and Bianca shook her head as Nico pulled her along behind him.
"We don't have much," Bianca assured the man, before grunting in annoyance and tugging her arm free to glare at her brother, "Stop pulling me, Nico!" Bianca's black eyes shifted back to Harry, "I'll make sure he has everything."
Nico couldn't bother to be hurt by Bianca's sharp tone, too excited to be leaving the hotel after so long (...how long were they in there anyways? It had felt like years to Nico, but none of his birthdays had passed, so it couldn't be that long... just thinking about it gave him a headache), and they were going to New York!
They had the rest of their life ahead of them, and Nico couldn't wait.