Golden Waves (Solangelo AU)

Chapter 3

Here, the story starts to kick off, and I hope you like it! 

~~~~~~~~~~

"I can't live like this anymore, Reyna," the prince said to the guard. It had been eight years since the accident. "Father's new wife, Persephone, wants me out. Since my mother was originally a commoner, she doesn't think I'm a true royal, even though when my father married my mother she became queen."

"Nico, your father won't let her kick you out," Reyna said, trying to reassure her friend.

"I don't know, I mean, I just barely exist to him as it is. I'd be surprised if I ran away and he noticed," Nico scoffed, fiddling with one of his daggers. He then froze, the beginning of an idea sprouting in his mind. "What...what if I did run away?"

"Nico...you know you can't do that," Reyna said sternly. "If you leave then they'll be no one to take the throne when your father passes on."

"That's not my problem. It's not like them or anyone else in this gods' forsaken kingdom ever cared about me anyway," Nico said through dry laughter. "And you could come too. You could get away from all of those idiotic guards who mock you just because you're a female soldier, and the best one at that."

"Nico..." Reyna trailed off, but Nico knew her well enough to tell she was considering what he said.

"Just imagine, we could run around from kingdom to kingdom, do whatever we want, be whoever we want," Nico said, his eyes cloudy with dreams, dreams that seemed so close and within their grasp. "C'mon, Reyna, no one will miss us."

Reyna knew that was true. Her mother had left her before she was even born, her sister chose ruling a small, but powerful country over her, and her father...well the less said the better. Reyna was never one to go off of impulses, she always liked things to be well organized and planned out, but maybe, just this once, she could listen to her gut.

"Alright. But we have to leave soon, your father comes back from his trip tomorrow afternoon. To make sure we have a safe getaway we must leave by midnight tonight at the latest," Reyna complied, already forming multiple different strategies in her head.

"Thank you Reyna, I promise we won't regret," Nico said, hugging who was his only real friend. "We better start packing then, we've only got about three or so hours."

"We'll meet in the stables ten minutes before midnight, pack a bag with everything you need, especially weapons. The world is a sick place," Reyna said, standing up, Nico following suit.

"Got it, I'll be there," Nico said, thinking about smiling but quickly holding himself back before he ran off back towards his room in the palace.

~~~~~~~~~~

The prince quickly grabbed a black bag and began stuffing it with clothes, food, toiletries, and other essential things they'd need. He began wandering around his room, searching for other things he might want to bring. He opened the drawer of his desk and found his old sketchpad, which was barely half filled.

"Maybe I can take up this hobby again," Nico spoke to himself, placing the sketchpad as well as some pencils in his bag.

He began digging through it some more and found his first set of knives which were bound in some, old, but sturdy leather. Those would definitely be useful and could be a backup in case he ever lost his sword, so he put it in the bag.

He shuffled through the desk once more, and came across something that caught his eye. He picked it up and examined it, feeling a pull in his gut as he did so.

It was a small, black box.

Curious, he opened it, not really knowing why, as it didn't seem very significant, but he almost felt obliged to. The inside of the box was cushioned with velvet, and in the center lay a thin, silver chain. Attached to it, where he would've thought some sort of pendant would be, was small glass bottled closed off with a cork. Inside the bottle was a dark, crimson liquid that only made the tug in his gut stronger.

He stared at the object much longer than should be normal, and felt as if he had vague memories of it and where it came from. But the images were like fog on glass that he just couldn't get rid of. The necklace felt important...vital even. When he looked at it he felt like he was looking at a lost, childhood memory that he had pushed deep down and never thought he'd see again.

Nico closed his eyes and held the necklace close to his chest, and when he did, he heard a small voice echo something in the back of his mind.

"...promise me you'll always keep it on you, okay?"

The voice, it felt so familiar yet so strange at the same time. It was the voice of a young child, and it was happy and cheerful, void of any sadness or problems, something that Nico longingly craved. The voice echoed in his mind over and over again, and he couldn't help the shivers that went down his spine when it did. He opened his eyes once more and stared at the necklace, carefully putting it over his head and around his neck, tucking the small bottle into his shirt.

Nico looked around his room to check the time on the clock, it was already 11:47. He pulled one of the straps of his bag over his shoulder, tucked his sword in his boot, and carefully made his way out of the castle and towards the stables.