bring me infinity

i'm not running from anything, i'm free

[polluxcastxr]

Gem let him has his tantrum, leaning back in her chair and staring at the ceiling. Nico could be full of it. In fact, in Gem’s opinion, he was always full of it. It was quite obvious he had a privileged upbringing sometimes. “Are you done?” she says when the line goes silent.

Sitting up, she speaks calmly. Unlike herself in every possible way. “This job was going to put me over for Pluto’s surgery, and now I have nothing. Do you understand, Nico? Nothing.” In fact, she was in debt if they didn’t get this figured out. Sighing, she rubs her forehead before continuing. “I’m not seriously considering trading the girl in, it was a joke. Okay? But you need to take this seriously.” This is probably the first time she ever asked him to take anything seriously.

[stellarpilot]

With one phone call he could probably help fix Gem’s problem. If he could swallow all of his pride and call home, give in and ask them for help. Maybe somehow there could be an anonymous donor or he could explain his way out of how he got the money in the first place. The least he could do is get her even again.

Nico rubbed his face with both hands and spun his chair all the way around. Puck was sleeping in the room he cleaned up for her, at least he thought she was, and Bella was still rolling in the piles of glitter he just couldn’t sweep up. “I am taking this very seriously, what do you need me to do? Are there other jobs farther away that could help clean up the mess? I’ll give you all the profits…” Yeah, and maybe he’d call his father at some point too.

[owlpequena]

Nico was everything she wanted to be. He was cool. He was strong. Her adoration had always been poorly hidden. Smiling wide at his show of affection, she is blushing when he pulls away from the embrace. “Port Gem,” she says quickly. “It’s really beautiful, Nico. It’s covered in blue ice.”

She peers into his room curiously, the overwhelming scent of teenage boy filling her nostrils. It would be rude to move past him and invite herself in, no matter how much she wanted to. She pulls her hands up into her sleeves nervously, feeling her glasses slide down again. It was embarassing. She must look like the doofiest little kid he’s ever seen.

[stellarpilot]

“Port Gem?” that didn’t sound like a port name to him. Normally they were numbered because there were so damn many of them. He quirked an eyebrow, “Never heard of it, but I’ll have to go someday.” Maybe one day he could visit, though at this rate he’d never get to go anywhere he wanted. They were fast tracking him to leading the family and he needed all the training in the world apparently before he could go off on his own.

Nico stood up and walked out of his room to go toward his game room. He glanced back to see if Marciella was following, but he had a feeling she would be. “So… where is Port Gem exactly?”

[etarcadia]

In hindsight, maybe it was a good thing that Cadi ratted him out to the Witch’s Council. When Clara and Ariella had come to the school, it took her days to agree to their request. This girl he was with, Puck, she was supposed to be the Phoenix. And her brother, the reincarnation of the one and only Noah Hopkins. She hadn’t believed them at first, no matter how special she thought Nico was. But then she saw him, in a dream, the way her prophecies came.

They were climbing up the bank again. Except they were older, and the man holding her hand was bulky in place of Nico’s lean muscle. She watched him just as clearly as she had the day it actually happened, but when he swung her onto his back the hair that flew in front of her face… Red as fire.

Blinking hard, she shakes the memory from her head and tries to keep up with Atlas. It’d been years since she’d seen him too, he hadn’t recognized her. She wasn’t offended, she was different. Everything was different. Grabbing onto his outstretched hand as they vaulted onto the platform of Port Hoster, she tries to ignore the pounding feet behind them. Coming for them, for her. The shuttle they hurry towards looks like home.

Stumbling into the open door, she hears a gasp from the girl, Puck. But her eyes are on him. Would he recognize her?

“Nico,” she breathes, heart pounding. “Corra.”

[stellarpilot]

Do me a favor. Nico should have known better than to do Atlas a favor, every time he said those words something bad was bound to happen. Sure, this wasn’t exactly his fault, but those damn words never fail. Nico’s fingers are tapping the side door as he stares out waiting for Atlas to show up so they can leave. Three more minutes and Nico will be charging head first into the mess so he can save his brother.

Bella hates being caged up, but Nico is afraid he’ll lose her if he doesn’t keep her locked her up. The dog’s incessant crying is breaking his heart, but the storm outside is much worse. He looks at his wrist communicator and the clock seems to be unable to settle on a solid number, even the date is way out of whack. Figures.

“Puck, watch for him. As soon as he’s on, tell me and I’ll punch the throttle.” They can’t stay here anymore. Atlas will show, he knows it. They all went through the same hardship; they were all invincible because of it. Finally he hears the sound of metal scrapping against metal and Nico doesn’t need to be told twice that Atlas is on board.

Corra. His heart feels like it’s frozen. “Puck, fly the ship.” he commands and shoots up from the pilot’s chair. When he finally focuses on her, he can’t believe it’s really her. Atlas looks at Nico like he’s insane, but runs to the co-pilot’s chair to help Puck.

“Arcadia?” He feels like he can pause for the first time in years, like he doesn’t need to move anymore because the person he had been running for was standing in front of him.

[binbons]

❝ Skies open, where we going. It’s in the stars, it’s who we are​. ❞

[owlpequena]

The air here is different. Heavier. Marciella didn’t like Earth. Staring out the window as their spaceship lands, she can already feel her lungs struggling to keep up. She reaches into her bag to find her inhaler, pushing up her glasses as they slide to the tip of her nose. It was a reflex now. Inhaling her pump twice, each time she holds her breath she takes a quick glance out the window. Her heart was beating in anticipation, and she wasn’t sure it was the steroids.

Before they finish parking, her seatbelt is off and she’s racing past her dad down the ramp and into the Bellamy Estate. She takes the stairs two at a time, suddenly invigorated. Earth might suck, but this place didn’t. Because this place had him. She skids to a halt outside his open door.

“Hi.”

[stellarpilot]

His door wasn’t exactly supposed to be open, Nico turned and zipped his pants up quickly and grabbed a shirt to throw on. Damn Enzo for never calling ahead of time. At least he wasn’t doing anything inappropriate, being half dressed wasn’t such a terrible thing. Nico pulls a shirt over his head and straightens his hair before he turns back around to greet his cousin.

“What’s up, Marciella? Long time no see.” He wasn’t exactly sure how long it’s been, he wasn’t really counting the days though he did miss them. Enzo always thought he was so cool, like he Nico looked up to him. Psh, as if. Though if he were telling the truth, their outfits looked really similar ninety percent of the time. It was weird.

“Where’d you go this time?” he kneeled down to give her a hug.

[stellarpilot]

“Adiós amor.” Nico whispers as the door slides shut behind her. He turns and shoves everything off his desk in a fit of rage. Unable to calm down, he picks up his mattress and flips it off the bed. Nico screams and falls to his knees before he can’t think straight anymore.

Tears finally break free from his eyes, but he’s not making any noise anymore. She wasn’t even gone yet and he felt like he would never see her again. Well, there’s no way he’s allowing that to happen.

[etarcadia]

Arcadia keeps her head held high as she steps onto the loading dock. She can feel eyes on her, wary and alert. Scanning for any signs of her going off like a bomb. It does occur to her, how she can wipe their minds in just a second. All of them. She could make them brain dead for doing this to her. But she wouldn’t, that wasn’t who she was.

Just for a moment, she closes her eyes and takes it in. The smells and the sounds of her home. She’ll be back, she knows it in the way that she knows things. How long? There was no telling, but she’d be back. With confidence, she steps into the shuttle and feels a smile spread on her lips. Here goes everything.

[etarcadia]

There was no place like home, and wherever Nico was? That was home. She has to force herself away from him, and it’s probably the hardest thing she’s ever had to do. Which she feels terrible for thinking, considering what she’d been forced to do in the past. But whatever her soul was made of, hers and Nico’s were the same.

“Yo se,” she whispers, squeezing his hands as she backs up towards the door. “Goodbye.” She’d forgot to tell him there was already a shuttle waiting for her just outside this room. Her parents knew better than to give Nico time to find his way around something. Quickly, she turns to wrench open the door before he can come up with a way to keep her.

[stellarpilot]

“Adiós amor.” Nico whispers as the door slides shut behind her. He turns and shoves everything off his desk in a fit of rage. Unable to calm down, he picks up his mattress and flips it off the bed. Nico screams and falls to his knees before he can’t think straight anymore.

Tears finally break free from his eyes, but he’s not making any noise anymore. She wasn’t even gone yet and he felt like he would never see her again. Well, there’s no way he’s allowing that to happen.

[etarcadia]

Arcadia all but melts into her big brother. Their arms are both long and lanky, a common Bellamy trait. So much of them was the same. “I wish that were true, Nico,” she whispers, breathing in the scent of his jacket and committing it to memory.

When she pulls away, she looks into his eyes. They were a match for her own, and she knew them like no other. And so she plants a memory there; her dress billowing in the sandy breeze as he helps her climb the hills of the beach. Her hands are tiny, grasping onto his arm. “I’ve got sand in my shoes,” she complains. He laughs at her, picking her up in one fell swoop. Her smile is brighter than the sun beating down on them. “Te amo, Nico.”

[stellarpilot]

Nico doesn’t force her to stay, but his eyes are sparkling as he tries to force the tears to stay in place. He feels like he’s losing a piece of himself and there is no way to stop this move from happening. His own parents made Arcadia doubt herself and he could disown them for it. 

They were taking away his whole world. Nico remembers seeing her in the hands of a psychopath out to take everything, he remembers bringing her to his bed and cuddling her until she fell asleep after that for weeks on end. They were attached at the hip and he’d tear apart this family before he let them get away with this. He kisses her forehead and whispers, “Juro que te encontraré...”

[mortalinvincible]

Farrah feels her stomach plummet, her face going white as a sheet as she’s unable to hide the hurt he causes her. No future? Did their friendship really depend on whether or not she put out? Swallowing hard, she tries to look away as quickly as possible so he doesn’t see how fucking raw she is.

“Oh…” she takes a deep breath and slowly backs up, “If that’s tha case then.” Turning quickly, she begins to make her escape. What did she think would happen? It’s not like Nico ever did what he was told. Or asked. She thought she was more to him than this. Stopping abruptly, she feels the anger tear out of her throat. “No!” She turns back around and marches towards him, shoving against his chest. “No, you don’t get to say that to me!”

She’s fuming, hair already a mess like when they were young and used to rough house from sunup to sundown. “Is that all I am to you?” Her voice is disturbingly quiet for how furious she is. “Are those the terms and conditions to our friendship, Nico? I put out and you stay?” She had thought he was better than that. She had thought he was better than any man she’d ever met, and that’s why she didn’t deserve him. Or even open up her mind to the possibility that… “I will do anything,” she whispers, looking into his eyes and letting him see her. Maybe for the first time since she saved his life all those years ago.

[stellarpilot]

Rage always brought out the worst in him, Nico nearly chokes at her reaction and realizes he is a complete numbskull. “I never said that! That’s not what I meant.” One second he’s shouting at her and the next he’s eating his words again like he always did. Sometimes he wondered how many conversations he’d save if he just thought about what he should say before blurting it out. 

Everything was wrong, he was supposed to storm off without anyone knowing. He knew she wouldn’t approve, but he didn’t think he’d have to justify his relationship with her or to tell her why she mattered. “You are my best friend and you saved my life, but I need this. I feel like I’m-” He barely heard her, the words floated away in the wind and he stared at her unable to finish his sentence. Nico could have died there knowing he’d failed her and Arcadia. She didn’t need to do anything for him and he felt like a complete tool for making her think that would keep him here.

The urge to be free had always been overwhelming, but if he were being honest with himself he’d know that deep down it was just an urge to run. Bad things happened to everyone he loved and no matter how hard he tried he felt like it wasn’t enough. If he didn’t go as soon as possible, something horrible was bound to happen again. Instead, he lingers to pull her in for a hug and rests his head on top of hers, maybe this would be the last time he’d get to be with her for a long time so he tries to record it in his memory for safe keeping. "Nothing will make me stay, but I need you to understand this choice has nothing to do with you. I’ll always care about you, Farrah. You’re the bravest, most down to earth person at this stupid estate and I know you’ll survive without me. You’re going to tear them apart and show them how to really save the world.”

[mortalinvincible]

Nico actually believing all his bullshit is what made him spoiled. Farrah stares into his eyes, anger making her skin red and her eyes narrow like slits. She could blow. She could tell him all the things he hated about himself, tell him all the thing he was afraid she hated about him. Farrah wasn’t stupid, she knew how Nico felt and it would be so easy, too easy, to break his rebellious spirit right now.

But that wouldn’t make him stay.

It’s cute, the way he’s trying to tower over her as if she hadn’t fought enemies even taller than him. Besides, if there was one person in this world who would never harm her it was him. “It’s not fair,” she says, reaching up to hold onto his wrist. “It’s not right. And it’s so fucking stupid.” Stepping closer to him now, her opposite hand settles on his lean torso. He’s so warm. “I don’t know what I would do if they took Squid, but I do know it wouldn’t be this Nico. Doing this doesn’t just screw them. It..” Her head ducks, unable to form the words. Emotions like these weren’t like her, and they both knew it. She barely showed any affection towards Atlas or even her own siblings. “Don’t make me say it,” she says softly, turning her head down to kiss the thumb tucked under her chin.

[stellarpilot]

There they were again, those damn butterflies bouncing around in his stomach wanting him to do something. If he were younger, maybe he’d stay just because she wanted him to. Nico steps back to get away from her tenderness, finding her gesture slightly manipulative even if it was sincere. His love for her would always be unrequited and he had to let it go. In a world of what ifs, Arcadia missing would still eat him away until there was nothing left.

"I’ll live with my mistakes." Nico would scour the stars and galaxies to find her, and even if he couldn't he would die trying. He takes a page from her book and twists the knife just a little bit, "There's no future for me here." Her punishment set his destiny in motion and the universe was calling to him. His eyes left Farrah's to follow the journey of Arcadia's ship. No matter how much he cared about everyone here, he needed this more than they needed him.

[mortalinvincible]

Everything was changing. Everything was falling just out of her grasp. Her fingers tangle in his shirt when he pulls her in, his ferocity unlike the boy she grew up with. She wanted to kiss him. Not because she had any romantic inclination to him in the least, but because he was a part of her and it felt like her limb was being torn off. Atlas. Nico. Her. Atlas. Nico. Her. Atlas. Nico. Her. Over and over in her brain, memories of their childhood. She may act like she doesn’t give a shit about a damn thing but they were family.

“I know,” she says quietly, unlike herself as well. “Nico, I know.” It must feel like he’s being torn apart too. She knew how he loved Cadi. “But please, don’t do this.” But the look in his eyes… There was no changing his mind. Anger swells in her stomach and she ends up shoving him. She shoves him like he’s a bounty rather than her best friend.

Her voice is deep with her anger, cheeks flushed pink. “You are the most spoiled son of a bitch,” she growls before shouting, “I don’t have a choice!” With both her parents dead, she was the only one fit to lead her house. A house older than his own. She had a legacy to uphold, thrust upon her the moment she was conceived.

[stellarpilot]

It affects him more than she would ever know. For a split second he falters and he wants to say sorry, to change his mind and stay with her because he has always loved her. Another solution would be to offer a cabin to her, but he knows Atlas loves her too. She would always have him even if Nico thought he loved her more. The butterfly feeling fades and Nico stumbles back from her shove, he readies himself for further violence but it comes verbally instead of physically. He would have rather been hit in the face, but she goes for the kill like she always did.

Steeling himself again, allowing his previous anger to boil he spits, "Spoiled... ha! You think they're letting me leave? I'm not going to let them force me into a role I don't want anymore. We were conditioned to think we have to live up to some cosmic fucking standards." Funny how one moment could change his whole perspective, The three of them were born leaders and maybe he would stay if his parents didn't wait to tell him. They didn't even give him a chance or an inkling of hope that could have been accomplished by letting him in the damn meeting.

Nico moves close to her again now towering over her, using his height to his advantage as an intimidation method. He looks down to meet her eyes while he pushes her chin up with his knuckle, "No one is holding a gun to our heads to keep us here, you're just making excuses because you think staying is the right thing to do. They don't need me when they can make their own shitty decisions."

[mortalinvincible]

“Cut the shit Nico,” she growled, following on his heels as he marches off to his spaceship. “You’re not leaving!” Granted, she’d be pissed too if they sent away Squid but she wouldn’t take it this far. This was just stupid. Farrah grabs his shoulder and yanks him until he faces her. “If I have to stick around and deal with these assholes then so do you!”

Maybe she was biased, it wasn’t like she’d been able to look Cadi in the face since they were young children. Farrah had her reasons, and they didn’t have to be spoken. It wasn’t Cadi’s fault, really, but it didn’t change the fact that it was her powers that took away the person Farrah loved the most in the world.

[stellarpilot]

Everything was packed, everything that mattered anyway. They’d sent Arcadia away the same day he found out. His parents left him no time to protest or even beg, so he spat what they thought was an empty threat and stormed off. Nico’s not serious, he knows where he needs to be. On the contrary, Nico was absolutely set in his decision to leave and he knew exactly what he was going to do. Now he was more than angry and maybe she didn’t deserve it, but he whipped around and grabbed her shoulders to stop her.

All of the rage that had been bubbling up inside him spilled out without mercy, “They didn’t even tell me until she was already packed to go! If I’m supposed to lead, that seems like a big fucking decision to make without my input.” His voice was louder than he had ever thought it could be, more vicious than Atlas even. Nico moved his hands to the side of her face and pulled her closer to him, “You can suffer under their thumbs, but I’m done. I’ll go do what I know I am meant to.”

[cinemagorgeous]

By photographer Ruslan Asanov.

[stellarpilot]

etarcadia

She goes into his arms limply, face landing in his shoulder. It was true, this wasn’t right at all. She would be ripped from her family, her own people. Again. That would mean they were safe, and not from bounty hunters. But from her. Her fingers crackle with energy, she doesn’t dare touch him. “It would keep you safe,” she mumbles into his jacket, eyes closing.

When she didn’t return the hug, he refused to let go. They had frightened her into thinking something Nico never could. Whatever power she had, he was convinced nothing she could do would hurt him. “We could have kept each other safe.”

[etarcadia]

She didn’t understand it either, even though she listened for nearly an hour as her parents tried to reassure her that this was the right choice. This would keep her safe. Her eyes meet his under her wet lashes, she’d been crying before coming here to tell him. “I have two days. It’s… It’s the best choice.” She sounded like their mother.

[stellarpilot]

Nico was the heir, damn it! Wasn’t he supposed to be consulted or something on a decision like this? It wasn’t like he waited with bated breath for them to save Arcadia, he was there too! Nico towered over her and pulled her into his embrace, squeezing her tight, “That’s not enough time, this isn’t right.”

[etarcadia]

It’s not like she can argue with that, he had a point. Still, she didn’t want to unload on him. He had his own responsibilities to take care of. Sniffling, she shuffles her feet. “They’re sending me away.”

[stellarpilot]

So maybe he wasn’t expecting the news to be that... heartbreaking. He blinked a few times and took steps closer to her, “What do you mean they are sending you away? We just brought you back, you’re home now...”

[etarcadia]

“You wouldn’t understand… you’re not like me,” she says quietly, slowly like she’s trying not to hurt his feelings.

[stellarpilot]

     “I’m not really like anyone, but that’s not the point here. We rant at each other, it’s what we do.” he shrugs, trying to make her feel more at ease.