The Golden Prince | Solangelo Royal AU

Chapter VIII: The Mask

The Peace Mafia attacked again, this time with much more people than usual. Much more.

The entire Royal army was sent to help. Nico, Hazel, and Hades attempted to fight as well. A few civilians joined the fight. It wasn't enough.

Not until the Golden Army came, of course.

Even with them, the battle was gruesome. To Nico, it felt like it never ended. He wasn't even sure when the Golden Army showed up, they just did.

He fought. He fought harder than he ever had before. He defeated many foes in that battle alone. But more kept coming.

"Hey you! I'm talking to you, prince," a voice said. He spun around to find someone in front of him. Someone awfully familiar...

"Remember me? I wouldn't be surprised if you didn't. Your family never paid my family any attention," he said. Then he charged, not giving Nico any chance to answer.

They fought. The person attacked, Nico parried, and vice versa. They fought until the person nearly gave out. When that happened, Nico saw the opening. He killed his attacker.

After more fighting, there was one member left. Fighting him was the Golden Prince. He was injured badly, but so was the last member,

Nico ran towards them to help... and almost slipped on a fallen golden masquerade mask. He picked it up. It had a slash through it.

Golden masquerade mask... the golden prince. Nico made the connection and looked up. He realized the golden prince had no mask on, and was covering the place where his mask used to be with a bloody hand. In front of The Golden Prince was his attacker, ready to attack him. Before the attacker could do anything, the Golden Prince removed his hand from has face, nocked an arrow, and shot the attacker in the heart. The attacker collapsed, and the battle was over.

Nico got a closer look at the golden prince. He dropped the mask. As soon as Nico saw his face, he knew.

"No," he said quietly. It was Willam Solace, former prince of the Sun Kingdom. Will turned his head towards Nico. There was sadness in Will's eyes.

"No," Nico said louder. "No, you can't be alive. You died. The guards found your body!" Will looked ashamed. "It was fake," he said softly. "My death was faked."

Nico was in denial. "No," he said much more forcefully, trying to convince himself. Will shook his head. "I'm sorry, Nico," he said.

Streaks of blood ran down his face from the scar he just got from the attacker. His white and gold clothes were ripped and stained with dirt and blood. He had many scars. Not just from the battle that just happened, but from previous battles.

He turned around, back facing Nico. "Will—" Nico started, but with a flash of light, Will was gone. "Will..." Nico said quietly.

He fell to his knees and started crying. So... he is alive. He did leave us.

He picked up the golden masquerade mask he dropped. Nico studied it, every golden swirl, every line of black. The slash through the from the enemy sword.

His vision got blurry from tears. He felt a hand on his shoulder. It was Hazel. "Nico..." she said. He looked up at her. "Are you okay?" she asked.

Am I okay? I have no idea. Deep inside, I knew Will was the Golden Prince. It just hurts more now that he revealed himself.

Nico decided not to say that outloud. "I-I'm fine," he said, clearly lying. "You don't look like you're fine," Hazel said. "I am," he said. He got up and ran to the castle.

He stayed in his room for the rest of the day until Hades came and said he had to eat dinner. Nico reluctantly exited his room and headed to the dining room. The family ate their food in silence, with the occasional attempt to start a conversation from Hades.

The young prince of the shadow kingdom returned to his room. He sat alone in his chambers, exhausted after a long and emotional day. He thought about what had happened earlier for a moment, then stopped himself. I'll get more upset thinking about it. Maybe I should just sleep. I need it. He told himself.

It took at least 30 minutes to get ready and fall asleep. When he finally did, Nico had a dreamless sleep. Given the circumstances, it was a miracle.