Golden Waves (Solangelo AU)

Chapter 6

Here is chapter six, and near the end is when I've started adding and hopefully will be better quality! Thank you so much for reading!

~~~~~~~~~~

Nico hadn't seen his cousin in eight years. If he remembered correctly, Percy would be around twenty two now, which was hard to think about as the last time he saw him he was only fourteen. He tried to imagine grown-up Percy which proved to be difficult, as the only memories Nico had of him were when he was being immature or doing something stupid.

As it turned out, he hadn't changed that much.

The three of them walked up to the palace doors, the guards letting them through after Nico told them who he was. He then asked them to lead him to wherever Percy was, and they obliged, no questions asked. Nico could see Reyna judging them, no doubt thinking about how unprofessional that was.

Nico noticed this castle was much different than his own, and it felt strange as he had never left his kingdom before. The palace of Okeanos was airy, with many opened windows and balconies that let the sea breeze pass over.

The theme seemed to be light coral and sea foam green, which was much different than the erie black that covered his palace back home. The whole castle reminded him of the sea, calming, welcoming, and naturally beautiful.

Nico would lie if he said he wasn't at least slightly amused to see the awe on Hazel's face. In a way, everything here was foreign to him too, just in a different way than her.

Finally, the guards stopped in front of a door, telling them that it was what Percy called, "his hang out room". They then left, leaving the three standing outside the door.

Nico was more nervous than he remembered being about three seconds ago. Now, everything seemed real. He and his cousin left on a bad note...what if Percy was still mad at him? Deep down, the prince wondered if he was the one who was still mad at Percy.

"It's alright Nico, but we've come all this way," Reyna said, her voice kind but still powerful. "No use in turning back now."

Nico nodded his head, and with all of the courage he had left, he knocked on the door with one hand, clutching that little glass bottle with the other, as if it would make him braver.

After about four seconds, the door opened and Percy appeared. Taller, broader, more muscular, but still the same overall. He had a large smile on his face, and his black hair was as messy as ever. He looked like he was about to say something like he already knew who had knocked the door, when he finally looked at Nico, and his smile dropped.

"Nico...?" Percy said, his voice breathless and his eyes a bit glossy, as if he were looking through a mirror.

Percy didn't even see Reyna and Hazel standing behind him. "Yeah..." Nico trailed off awkwardly, not sure what to say. "Look, I get it if you're mad-"

He never got to finish what he wanted to say, as his words were cut off by Percy engulfing him in a giant bear hug.

"Oh my gods! Nico! I never thought..." his cousin trailed off as he backed away from him, seeming to try and take it all in. He ran a hand through his hair. "Gods, I've missed you."

"It's...it's good to see you too," Nico said quietly, and it was true, but he knew that deep down he still blamed him for what happened. He hated himself for that.

"You've gotta come in! The rest of us are all here!" Percy said, dragging Nico into the room by the arm, the latter not fully understanding what was happening until he was standing in the middle of the room, another five pairs of eyes on him.

All of them were silent, and Nico could feel himself panicking, and the bottle grew wram against his chest. These people didn't want him here...

"Nico?" he heard a shaking voice call. The young prince looked up through his hair to see that Jason's eyes were watering behind his golden framed glasses. Jason was the person Nico was closest to, and the first person besides Reyna who he felt truly accepted him. "We thought...we thought we'd never see you again."

"I'm sorry, okay?" Nico said, then cursing himself for sounding hostile. He really wasn't used to talking in front of so many people like this. "I just...I needed to get away. Reyna helped me."

"We're here for the plan, Percy," Reyna said, now standing close to Nico, which he silently thanked her for. "We hope you have room on your ship for three extra people."

"Of course!" Percy said enthusiastically. Then, a look of confusion crossed his face as he looked at Hazel. "Wait...who's that?"

Hazel fiddled with her hands shyly, staring at her feet. She had never been around so many important people before, and Nico could tell she must have been overwhelmed.

"This is Hazel," Reyna said, speaking up. "We ran into her on the way here, and she was alone and needed a place to stay."

Hazel gave Reyna a thankful look. In return, the soldier smiled at her young friend.

"Cool!" Percy said, then motioned for all of the others to follow him outside. "C'mon, we've got to leave before my dad comes back. The ship's just this way."

Nico followed behind the group, Reyna and Hazel by his side. He looked at all of the others, recognizing most of them. There was, of course, Percy himself, the heir to the throne and prince of Okeanos. Jason was his other cousin, and prince of Ventus. His older sister, Thalia, had run away when he was young, leaving him with the pressure of becoming the next king. Apparently, that pressure had been too much for him to bear.

Then, there were the people Nico didn't know. A young woman with tan skin, honey blonde hair and stormy gray eyes. She reminded him of Reyna - that same intelligent, determined look in her eyes. She stuck close to Percy, so Nico guessed that she was the strategist Reyna had told him about.

There was another girl, one with bronze skin and dark, choppy brown hair. Her eyes seemed to change from blue, to green, to brown every time he blinked. Generally, she was a very pretty woman, and Nico noticed the way Jason kept looking at her.

There was also a tall guy, probably the tallest out of all of them. He was big and buff, like many of the other palace guards. But even though he was a big guy, he still had a kind, shy face that made you think he wouldn't hurt a fly.

Finally, there was the last guy. He had copper skin and curly brown hair. He had an elfish face that was covered in what I guessed was oil grease. His eyes were brown, and by the way he kept jumping around, you'd think he'd had a hundred cups of coffee that morning.

Nico had almost forgotten what it felt like to be around so many people, having spent the majority of his life in solitude. And while he was technically part of the group now, just like how he longed for as a child, he still felt left out. He was still alone, now he was just an outsider looking in. He bit his lip, getting lost in his thoughts.

Then, the bottle around his neck grew warm once again, and he heard that same familiar, yet foreign voice echo in his mind.

Don't think about it too much, Neeks, the voice said. Big kids are dumb anyways.

Nico was caught off guard by what the voice said. It was such a funny, child-like thing to say, that he had to hold back a laugh. Where did that thought come from? Surely it wasn't his; he hadn't referred to Percy and his friends as 'big kids' in forever. And yet, the phrase - the voice - felt so familiar that he felt if he reached out far enough, he could grab it.