Voice of an Angel

Frank and Hazel stumbled through the door, the small female fumbling with her bass guitar case and the large male struggling behind her with an amp. Three heads simultaneously snapped to look at them, the couple grinned sheepishly at Hazel’s band mates. Jason shook his head at them before going back to adjusting his drum kit.

“Let me guess, Octavian extended your practice again?” Reyna asked as she tuned her guitar.

Frank grunted as he set the amp down in Hazel’s usual spot. “Yeah, he would have made it longer but Dakota’s dad is holding another block party tonight and he kept calling and then actually showed up to grab Dakota so he had to let us go.”

The Hispanic girl scowled, “I’d really like to beat the crap out of that guy.” Frank nodded in agreement and Hazel huffed, tuning her bass.

“You guys know the rules, the last person in buys dinner. Even if it’s because the evil dictator who runs your acapella group,” Nico smirked, sitting on top of his guitar amp. His black guitar, affectionately named Stygian, resting in his lap as he absentmindedly plucked at the strings.

“I know, I know,” Hazel groused as she hooked her bass to the amp, “can we just get on with practice?”

“Choice words from the girl who showed up late for the 3rd time in a row,” Jason teased from behind his drum set. His blue eyes twinkled with mirth at the dark skinned girl’s answering growl.

“You’re getting a brick for dinner,” she threatened, fixing him with a golden glare, Reyna snorted in amusement.

The blond laughed, “Alright, jeez my bad. What are we starting with?”

Everyone looked to Nico, as the singer he’d become sort of the unofficial official leader of the band. “I was thinking we try a couple of covers and then practice some originals? Pick which ones we want for the gig on the 8th.”

The other’s nodded before finishing setting up their equipment. “Wanna start with our version of Nero’s Decay?” Jason asked twirling his sticks. With Italian’s nod approval he tapped out the tempo with his sticks before starting the song.

Their version was softer than the original song, Nico wasn’t a fan of screaming- it hurt his throat and it felt too aggressive. They played the opening phrase, Reyna playing lead guitar with Nico on rhythm. Frank, who wasn’t actually in the band, sat on a stool as an audience of one; he just came to watch Hazel on her bass.
“Our empire has fallen, the columns came crashing down. Faster than children could outrun the shadows,” Nico’s voice spilled from the amps filling the studio space.
“Drunk with hysteria the survivors run for their lives as precious dream erupt before their very eyes!”

The intensity of his voice made up for the lost effect of the screaming. “Tonight it’s over; at long last we will fall. The ruins will fight in our stead!” his voice softened as the melody floated through the air. It had taken him a little bit to coordinate his guitar playing and singing, not used to having so much to focus on at once. Hazel teased that he’d taken to it pretty naturally, despite how much of a struggle her brother tried to make it sound like.

“My flesh is burning from the embers, but still the brilliant tale of our utopia survives. Tonight, her beautiful exterior will crash and burn to ash, but the fight for her honor will rage on! I hope I never see the end, I hope I never have to live without her comfort,” Nico sang, his eyes closed as he practically yelled the melodic words.
“But for now she dies. Oh, Rome so full of majesty, you’re gone” Reyna sang on back up. It switched between her and Jason depending on the song. Hazel had a beautiful voice but it was to clean for the style they played. Reyna’s voice had this rich gruff undertone and Jason’s had that unrefined quality while still being pleasant to listen to.
Over all they were a great band, and them being such close friends made it all the better. They continued practice, singing a few more covers and a handful of originals. By the end they were all sweaty, out of breath, and smiling- well with the exception of Frank he was just smiling. Sensing that practice was drawing to a close Frank took up his unspoken duty by going and grabbing the cooler from his car. Once back inside he passed out water bottles.

“That was a good practice guys,” he complimented them. His girlfriend smiled and pecked his cheek before packing up her base and plopping on the floor next to her amp.

Reyna opened and downed half her bottle. “We need to work on the riff in From the Underworld,” she said addressing Nico. The dark haired boy nodded in response, taking a chug from his own bottle. “I have practice tomorrow and Thursday, but I’m free any other day this week.”

“You guys are still coming to watch us compete, right?” Hazel asked from her spot on the floor.

“Yep, got off work and everything,” Jason smiled from behind his kit.

Reyna took of her guitar, putting it away in its case. “Of course, you’ve only been talking about it for weeks.” Nico nodded again, a slight frown on his face.

“What’s wrong, Nico?” his sister asked concerned. He sighed, “Dad can’t make it, he won’t be back in time from his trip with Persephone.” Hazel frowned but nodded in understanding, “That’s alright, you’ll be there.”

Nico’s frown deepened, he knew their father’s absence was much harder on Hazel than it was on him. He’d learned long ago not to count on him to be there, his father had a very hard life and the loss of his first two loves made him cling desperately to his third, and sometimes his children were left in the dust. Hazel had lived with her mother until she was 14 and her mother passed away from a freak accident when a cave collapsed. She wasn’t used to not having a parental support figure around all the time yet.

It’s okay though, they had each other and that’s all that mattered. That’s really how he felt about all his bandmates. He’d been weary of Reyna at first, just like everyone else he didn’t see why she tried to connect with him- that was until they had a weird heart to heart after a long day of sword practice. Since then she’d become the closest person to him, beside Hazel. He’d felt guilty at first, like he was trying to replace his older sister Bianca, but he realized, that while it was true they shared traits, Reyna was not Bianca. That was okay though, she was important to him in her own way; it took him a while to realize that he didn’t have a limited number of spaces for people in his life and adding someone new didn’t mean forgetting someone old.

He’d love his sister till the day he saw her again but he also loved Reyna and that was okay. Jason was a different story however; the blond jock hadn’t given him a choice of friendship. He inserted himself into the small Italian’s life and there was really no protesting it. Not that Nico really wanted to, in the beginning he found the older boy aggravating. He overheard a confession to the school counselor, a freakin douche named Cupid (Who the fuck names their kid cupid??), and suddenly felt this great need to protect him.

Nico used to hate everyone, after he lost his sister the world just seemed like a cruel place full of cruel people just waiting to find your weakness. That’s how he viewed Jason, so he’d waited as the blond had wormed his way further into his life, waited for him to strike. He never did though, it took a good year of pestering Nico and a lot of lecturing from Hazel, but eventually Nico came to realize that Jason genuinely just wanted to be his friend. And then Reyna had come along, and then Frank, and then Will and Connor and Travis (he still wasn’t sure if those two counted as friends, they were pretty devious and no one was safe). Slowly his circle grew and now he had a hand full of people he cared for and trusted; it was nice.

Speaking of Will, where was the annoyingly over attentive blond? He said he would stop by during practice because he had news. Nico shrugged, he’d show up or he wouldn’t- he’d made himself their unofficial manager after their first gig but with med school and work he didn’t always have time to stop by. He’d get whatever message he had for them to them eventually.

Or now, because the blue eyed boy just burst through the door. There was a huge smile on his tanned face and the scrubs and bag slung across his shoulder meant he’d rushed here straight from class. He rushed at Nico, picking the smaller boy up and spinning him in a circle before setting him down.

“Hey, hey, getting too touchy, Solace,” Nico grumbled pushing the other boy away.

“I’ve got the best news! Well sorta, I mean it’s great for us- not so much for them but he’ll be okay so I think it’s fine to be happy-

“Will, you’re rambling,” Jason interrupted him with a fond smile, the scar on his lip curving with the rest of his facial features.

The younger blond laughed sheepishly, “Sorry, I’m just excited.”

“Feel free to share the glorious news with us whenever you like,” Reyna teased, ruffling his hair affectionately.

“Oh! Right, sorry. Guess who is playing mainstage the opening day of the Not Your Parents Music week long music festival?”

Nico rolled his eyes, “It’s those guys from Boston, Magnet or whatever his name is.”

“Not anymore it’s not! Seems they’re reckless front man had a tumbled off stage and won’t be healed enough in time for the festival,” Will smiled like a five year old, “and I’ll give you 3 guesses who they chose to fill the spot.”

“No fucking way, you’re shitting me,” Jason laughed in disbelief.

“That’s right, me!” Will died laughing at the faces the other’s sent his way, “I’m just messin’ with you guys. Angel Protection will be kicking off the opening ceremonies.”

Reyna picked Nico up in a bear hug, “We did it! By the Gods we did it!”

Nico laughed as she spun him around, he briefly saw Hazel and Frank also sharing a victory hug and a very amused Jason smiling behind his kit. “Oh I see how it is, I spin you around and you get grumpy but Reyna does it and it’s okay.”

“She’s on a whole other level then you, Will. Sorry not sorry,” Nico replied with a grin and a shrug.

Will pretended to look hurt for as long as he could, which was about 30 seconds, before his smile broke back onto his face. “So you guys up for a celebratory feast at the Greek place?” Hazel asked beaming at everyone.

“Sounds great, as long as someone agrees to help me load my kit back into the van,” Jason flashed them a cheeky smile, earning several eye rolls in return. Frank and Will still helped him though.

Once everyone was packed up they all piled into their vehicles and met back up at the restaurant. Nico smiled as they all sat around eating and laughing, things couldn’t get better.