Chapter Text
One breath. Two breaths. He stood on the ice, left leg behind his right with the toe pick digging into the ice. The lights in the stadium shone brightly, illuminating the ice but making it so the rest of place was left pitch black, almost swallowed by the void. For most it would create a sense of being in the spotlight, but the only reason Nico had it that way was because his coach insisted it would help him completely immerse himself in his program and avoid being distracted.
And yet there was no way he would get distracted in the state he was in, because he was the only person existing in the world, him and the entirety of the rink for his using. He lifted his head the moment the intro of the song reached the lyrics. His arms moved from being stretched back, to above his head and he shot down to a crouching position. His hands, held together, flowed down with him.
Within a moment, he shot back up and went straight into a series of step sequences, which were then followed by a twizzle. The rest of his program consisted of multiple quads, triples, and all sorts of spins and combinations.
This free skate had a higher technical score than he had ever skated before, but that's exactly what he needed if he wanted to stand a chance at gold at the Olympics.
His journey as a senior skater began quite recently, and with that came the tremendous expectations set by his coach. He needed to train, he needed to qualify, he needed to win. However, he wouldn't complain, since being an Olympic champion had always been his dream since the first time he won a competition as a kid.
The season started off a bit rough for him. After various ISU competitions where he emerged placing high on the podium, he almost crumbled at nationals, but he still earned a spot as one of the qualifiers for the upcoming winter Olympics.
He ended the program looking up, his hand placed dramatically on his chest.
"Great and all di Angelo, but you can wave your technical score goodbye if you don't improve that sloppy lutz technique of yours." His coach said as he handed Nico his jacket and skate guards. "Whatever Mr D, I'll work on it." Nico grumbled as he stepped out of the rink.
He wasn't in the usual rink he practiced in, rather he was invited to practice in an Olympic sized one, a few hours out of the city. That meant that other skaters training for the same cause as him would also be there. And THAT meant that he was currently in the same building as Will Solace, another USA qualifier.
Will Solace- Quad king, newest sensation, sunny. All those nicknames were created when the world witnessed the rise of the new prodigy, a skater who broke all limits while looking like the sun itself was gliding on the ice, melting it with his artistic skills and bright energy. A boy who had a streak of constant winning in his junior years, and was still keeping it through the two years he has had as a senior.
But most of all, he was Nico's inspiration, someone to look up to. Most didn't believe Nico when he stated that, pointing out how incredibly different they were from each other. Considering Nico's gloomy personality and aloof demeanor, he would unconsciously intimidate and often scare people, while Solace could bring a smile to people's faces by just being in their vicinity.
And Nico confirmed that the moment he opened the door he thought led to the main staircase, but actually turned out to lead to the gym area, where Will Solace was currently warming up. A low smile immediately tugged at his mouth, but he hid it just as fast. He would finally get to compete against his idol on the big stage, something he’d waited to do for the longest time.
However, his thoughts of fantasy were cut short since the blond boy seemed to notice the figure silently staring at him from the door. He turned and that huge bright smile that Nico had seen on TV a million times shone at him. “Hey, Nic-” His words were cut short by Nico slamming the door closed, he was not prepared to talk to him yet. What was that though? Did he know his name? Nico had to take a deep breath to stop his heart from beating too fast.
Although Nico was still too socially awkward to talk to the other skaters, he hoped that it would change after the Olympics.
Having finally found the right way, Nico entered the locker room, which was surprisingly empty. He took off his skates and then his clothes and went in to take a shower. The water was hot when it hit his skin. His coach would always tell him that showering in cold water would be beneficial to his physical health, but Nico thought that was bullshit. He would never trade his relaxing cold shower for anything.
However, this time it wasn’t nearly as relaxing. He started to feel faint, as if the dark walls of the shower were pushing on him. His vision blurred and he nearly stumbled over. He grabbed onto the small door knob to try to keep himself upright. His first thought was that his blood pressure might have been dropping, with the hot water and all. But suddenly, he started seeing streaks of something blue, his vision was swimming so he couldn’t make out exactly what it was.
He wiped the water out of his face and tried focusing his vision, which helped him make out a blue box seemingly floating mid-air. “The hell…” Nico could tell that there were letters in front of him, but what words they made out he couldn’t comprehend.
Thoughts spinning and his legs turned to jelly, his vision started going black and he eventually passed out.
*****
Nico awoke with a start, as if cold water was just splashed on his face. However, he didn’t feel wet, not at all considering that he was in the shower just a moment ago. Disoriented, head still pounding, he didn’t understand where he was or what was happening.
That was until he felt the cold around him and his eyes finally got used to the light. He was standing… on an ice rink. But it wasn’t his usual ice rink, this one was way bigger and for some reason it looked as if the enormous sitting area was… afloat?
He looked around in shock at was seemed to be thousands of figures watching him from the bleachers. They were so high up and far away that he couldn’t make out a single face, or if they were even human.
“What the fuck?” He mumbled as he got a good look at himself. He was wearing his skates that he definitely remembered taking off just a few minutes ago. The more shocking part was that he was in his costume designed for his short program. The intricate silver bodysuit with sleeves made to look like angel wings, which was currently supposed to be just a sketch, much less beautifully fitted on Nico’s body.
The situation freaked the boy out so much that his hands began trembling, but he didn’t have enough time to figure out what was going on before a blue panel appeared in front of him.
On it was written:
Trial 1
SHORT PROGRAM
-Score a TSS of 80+
-Failure to meet requirements:
Termination
“Is this some sort of joke?” Was the first thing he thought of saying at the scene he was seeing. He wondered if he fell into a coma and awoke competing at the Olympics. Or perhaps this was a hallucination from all the stress his body had been going through. But it felt very real and he could feel himself standing on the ice staring at the word “Termination” wondering if it meant what he thought it did.
Suddenly he heard the familiar sound of music radiate across the entire rink. It was his short program song – I hear a symphony, instrumental version.
Without a second to think, muscle memory pulled him into his starting position. He began going through his step sequence as he arranged his plan in his head. His short program was already choreographed and Nico had already made a technical plan for it with his coach. However, his technical elements weren’t polished and the final adjustments weren’t yet made.
That meant that he had to calculate his elements in his head to make sure that his score reached at least 80. It wouldn’t be too hard because his program was made to expect a score of at least 90-100, but he didn’t feel warmed up at all and his hands were already going from a slight tremble to full on shaking.
He went through his step sequence as cleanly as possible, trying to make himself look angelic and graceful. That was the whole idea of his program, because of his name ‘di Angelo’ he was nicknamed ‘the angel on the ice’ which was the inspiration for this seasons short program.
Even if he was stressed, he felt some confidence as he looked down at his flowing costume. He did agree on the final design, but he didn’t expect it to come out looking this beautiful. Nico felt like a real angel gliding on the ice.
He started setting up for his first jump, which was a triple axel. He jumped and let out a sigh of relief when he landed it cleanly. As someone with a small frame he was known for being able to spin quick when he jumped. After the first jump, he moved closer to the center and went into a camel spin and grabbed the blade of his skate to pull it closer to his head.
His muscles were becoming sore and starting to ache from the lack of stretching beforehand. But he paid no mind to that. He wasn’t going to let himself fail this, he was going to become one with the ice and give it his all. Going into his next elements; rotations, twizzles, steps, he was completely immersed in the music and letting himself fly with it.
The next jump he had planned was a quad lutz. He went into it, but left it slightly under rotated which caused him to stumble on the landing. Dammit, should have listened to Mr D and fixed his technique sooner.
Going into his next spin, which was a sit spin going forwards, then sideways, then backwards, he started thinking of how he could fix his score. Changing one of his combinations could work. The combination he had planned was a quad toe + triple toe, but as he left the spin and started preparing for the jumps, he quickly changed it to quad flip + triple toe. With another sigh of relief, he landed the combination cleanly.
The rest of his program he performed in a daze, finishing it with a biellman and scurrying back to the center of the rink for his final position. Nico lifted his arms to spread the angel wings as he stared at the thousands of blurry faces in front of him. Suddenly, the audience went into an uproar, clapping and yelling things Nico couldn’t make out.
In front of him, the blue message board appeared once again. On it was written:
Trial 1
SHORT PROGRAM
-Total segment score: 95.15
-Requirements met, Trial completed
Not a bad score, could be better, but at least requirements were met and he wasn’t getting terminated, whatever that even meant in this situation.
Nico looked around himself confused, he couldn’t see a way to get off the ice. However, that question answered itself since in a swift moment his hands were swept behind his back and some invisible force started dragging him to the corner of the rink.
“Hey, let go!” As the end of the ice neared, Nico realized that it was literally suspended in air. For a moment he wondered if he was about to be thrown over the edge, but instead he felt the air compress and when he opened his eyes that he didn’t realize he closed, he was sitting on the bleachers.
His arms still bound, there was nothing he could do but look around. He was surrounded by what looked to be people, but no matter how hard he tried to focus he couldn’t make sense of their faces or what he should have been seeing. Nico tried to talk to them, but was ignored. The figures just looked forward, expectantly.
Having nothing else to do, Nico followed and also looked on forward.
The blue panel appeared above the rink, signaling that a new skater was about to step onto the ice. Nico took in a breath, nervously wondering whether he’d recognize the next person who would be made to skate, but he wasn’t sure if he would even be able to make out their face from this distance.
As if to taunt him, the huge screen previously signaling the message, now switched to broadcasting the rink, where a new skater now stood. It’d be impossible for Nico not to recognize him. That head of bright golden hair that was almost glow in the dark. The smooth skin and pointy nose, and blue eyes that currently had confusion and fear written all over them.
The next one to skate would be Will Solace, the panel announced. Nico attempted to call out to him, but it was in vain since he couldn’t even hear himself through the uproar of the audience. He watched Will’s confused expression from the screen, as he looked over himself in his flame red costume and black skates with golden blades.
Although Nico understood how Solace must have felt at the moment, he still couldn’t help but admire his ethereal beauty in that costume and feel excited for what he was about to see be performed on that ice. He found himself in the same anticipating position as the rest of the audience.
Will’s face went from looking around to focusing on one spot. Nico assumed that the same blue panel appeared in front of him and gave him the order to perform with the pretty obvious threat.
As the blonde’s short programs song of the season started, Nico found himself clenching his hands that were still behind his back. He was sure that Will was fully capable of scoring above 80, so why was he so worried for the older male? However, he didn’t have more time to think about it, since his mind was fully consumed the moment Will began performing.
Nico could tell that Solace’s movements were unsure, but unlike Nico he didn’t falter or fall on any of his elements. He performed with grace and flexibility, executing each element with sharp precision and undeniable skills that almost no skater this season compared to. But despite his clear gain of confidence, Nico could tell that he slightly changed his jump composition to adhere more to the not warmed up shape he must have also been in.
That left the boy to wonder how long he was out before some force put him on that ice. Weeks? Days? Maybe months?
Before he knew it, Will’s performance was finished and he took his final stance on the ice. The large screen read out his Total segment score, which was 99.24. Nico couldn’t see Will’s face anymore but he could tell that he let out a sigh of relief. That was a truly commendable score, although Nico knew that if Will were to perform after proper preparation, he would definitely cross the 100 mark.
As the audience went into uproar once again, Will was also dragged off of the ice. Nico wondered whether another skater would be going to perform, but the panel made an announcement that that was the last performance they’d see today. Did all the others perform already? And if yes then how many people were there before Nico?
His questions answered themselves as the panel switched to broadcasting the leaderboard. Nico searched for his name quickly and was surprised to find himself up on 3rd place. Not the best but at least he reached the podium. Will Solace was right above him on 2nd place, with another team USA skater, Percy Jackson, on 1st.
The rest of the skaters were listed off.
1. Percy Jackson, USA, TSS 103.90
2. Will Solace, USA, TSS 99.24
3. Nico di Angelo, USA, TSS 95.15
4. Frank Zhang, China, TSS 94.98
5. Jason Grace, Italy, TSS 93.24
6. Luke Castellan, Canada, TSS 93.00
7. Leo Valdez, Mexico, TSS 90.90
8. Travis Stoll, France, TSS 89.74
9. Connor Stoll, France, TSS 88.87
……..
The names listed off until 29. Nico recognized almost all of the names. They were all of the people who he was preparing to compete against in the Olympics. He was surprised to see that the podium was filled with team USA members, the ones he was going to travel with and eventually compete against.
First place was taken by Percy Jackson; which Nico didn’t find surprising. He was slightly older than Will and also the favorite to win alongside the blonde. Almost every competition would end with them competing for gold which sparked a friendly rivalry between the two boys. Nico could already imagine Solace’s irritated gaze as he examined the leaderboard.
Although Nico wouldn’t often be seen talking to Jackson, he was still one of the first friends Nico made in the skating world, so he held nothing against him.
Nico couldn’t help but let his eyes wonder down to the skaters who got a score below 80, and that was everyone after the 18th place on the board. He recognized some of their names and some he didn’t. Would they be terminated? What did that even mean in this context? Would they not be allowed to compete or would they actually be killed?
It seemed like a silly thought, but in his current unknown circumstances Nico couldn’t stop himself from coming to scary conclusions.
However, once again he didn’t get the time to think before he was once again hauled off by an invisible force. This time he found himself standing on the third place of a podium suspended in air, a bronze medal on his neck.
The blue panel appeared in front of him again, on it read “Broadcasting in process” Weird names flashed in front of him on the screen, informing him of donations being made to him. “Eurus of the east wind has donated 5 golden drachmas”, “Nyx has donated 10 golden drachmas” and so on.
He recognized some of these names but didn’t know where from. Only when he looked around in confusion did he realize that on the podiums next to him stood the two other winners, Will Solace and Percy Jackson. They all looked over each other with acknowledgment and shared confusion. Percy tried to speak but his voice seemed to be drowned out in the wind, so they just continued silently staring at each other and shrugging.
Suddenly, the message on the panel changed. It now read:
Skater Nico di Angelo has impressed the gods with his performance.
Gods willing to sponsor:
Hades,
Dionysus,
Hypnos,
Eurus,
Nyx,
Hecate.
Impressed the gods? Like LITERAL gods? By the impression on Percy’s and Will’s faces Nico could tell that they too must have gotten a similar message.
Nico recognized some of these names from what he learned in history class. They were Greek mythology gods. It seemed like the panel was urging him to choose a sponsor from one of them.
He scanned the list carefully, but the first name on it was the one that caught his eye the most. Hades, god of the underworld or something like that. He seemed like the most powerful out of the selection he was given, and Nico also remembered that he was the god of all riches or something similar, so definitely a useful sponsor.
Nico made his selection and the panel rang a congratulation on selecting a sponsor. That was the last thing he remembered before promptly passing out again.