Amina

“You are the ghost king, a voice said.

I am, Nico thought.

This is where you belong.

But then Nico raised his head. Looked at the other two passengers. Will, whose face was strained as he reached down with a shaking hand to grab at him.

Nico took it, gripped his boyfriend’s hand tight, and thought, No. This is where I belong.”
― Rick Riordan, The Sun and the Star: A Nico di Angelo Adventure

“Will had kissed Nico for the first time in a moment of impulsiveness, something Nico didn’t know Will had in him. The kiss had been just like this one, short and sweet.
Then Will had pulled away, worry on his face, an apology tumbling from his lips.
Nico had stopped him. Then kissed him back.
In a moment so full of grief and rage and sadness, Will had given him …
Light.”
― Rick Riordan, The Sun and the Star: A Nico di Angelo Adventure

“Hey, don’t do that.’ Will touched Nico’s face, stared into his dark eyes.
‘You survived. You continue to survive. You’ve been through more in your fifteen years than most people will endure in an entire lifetime.’
Nico looked away, but Will knew this grumpy ball of darkness – his grumpy ball of darkness – and he refused to let Nico off the hook.
‘I don’t always understand you, Nico,’ he said, ‘but I do know that you’re resilient. And in that sense you are just like this garden.”
― Rick Riordan, The Sun and the Star: A Nico di Angelo Adventure

“Pain is a part of all lives, mortal and immortal,’ said the nymph. ‘It is inescapable. We all must navigate this river to get where we want to be.’
‘Shouldn’t we aim to avoid pain?’ Will asked. ‘Or at least mitigate it?’
Nico shook his head. ‘You know it’s not that simple.’
‘Pain helps us learn,’ said Gorgyra. ‘It is unfortunate, but we rarely forget the lessons taught to us in moments of pain.”
― Rick Riordan, The Sun and the Star: A Nico di Angelo Adventure