The Golden Prince | Solangelo Royal AU

XIII: Peace... Then Panic

Nico watched as the leaders of each kingdom got into the carriages. He was waiting the Shadow Kingdom's turn. When it was their turn, he looked at Will for one last time before he left, then got in the carriage.

The whole way back, Nico took no part in the conversations going on. He just stared out the window. Stared at the trees they passed. Stared at the sky. Stared at the clouds.

When they arrived back at the Shadow Kingdom, Nico was the first to get out. He went to his room as fast as he could without seeming suspicious. He spotted Hazel sneaking out of the castle, but he didn't do anything about it. He let her have the time to herself.

As soon as he got to his room, he sighed. He sat on his bed and put his head in his hands. He couldn't stop thinking about the meeting.

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For the next few days he couldn't get his mind off Will. He didn't understand why. He noticed Hazel was a little extra happy those days, which was exactly the opposite of what Nico was.

One day, Hazel came up to him. "I've noticed you're not happy lately. How about you come with me to leave the castle for a bit?" She asked. "You mean sneak out?" Nico asked. "That's one way to put it," Hazel said. He sighed and said, "Sure. I have nothing better to do." He puts on a simple black jacket and exits his room.

Hazel led Nico out of the castle, on a route she's obviously taken often. Nico followed her. When they were farther into the town, Hazel said, "Welcome to the main town of the Shadow Kingdom, Umbra."

Nico looked around. He realized he's rarely ever gone here. Only for the occasional battle outside the gates of the castle, or whenever Hades let him visit. But he never got to explore it. It was a nice change from the extravagant castle.

Hazel looked at him and asked, "Do you want to explore on your own?" Nico nodded. "Okay, I'll be at the park," Hazel said. She walked off. Nico started walking around.

No one payed him much attention. He liked that. He never enjoyed the attention he got for being a prince, anyway. He wasn't wearing some fancy outfit to make people even suspect he was a prince.

Nico walked around for a while. He didn't talk to anyone. No one talked to him. When he was ready to leave, he went to the park to find Hazel. He found her, sitting on a bench, talking and laughing with a boy. Nico stared at them for a while. They didn't see him. He had a slightly amused expression on his face.

"So, Hazel, wanna introduce me to your friend here?" Nico asked. Hazel looked up at him, surprised. "Oh uh- Nico, this is Frank. Frank, you know who he is," she said. "Frank. Okay. Nice to meet you, I guess," he said. "You too," Frank said. "Hazel. Can we leave?" Nico asked. "Um... can you go off on your own?" She asked. He looked at her, then Frank, then her again. He sighed. "Sure," he said. "Bye."

He found his way back, and headed back to his room. That slightly boosted his mood. But it changed, a few minutes later, when a guard came in. "This letter came from a man named Kronos. He is the Supreme Commander of the Peace Mafia. It was addressed to everyone in this family. Except... well, Hades requests that you read it," the guard said.

Nico grabs the letter. He opens it and reads it.

"King Hades, Queen Persephone, and Prince Nico,

Hello. I am the Supreme Commander of the Peace Mafia. Well, no longer that. It was Luke's idea for that name, but he's dead. It's now my army.

We're here to give you a choice. Face me and my army, all of you; bring your army too, or your princess dies.

I haven't captured her. But by the time you get this letter I probably will have. I have sent this letter to every kingdom with the same message: surrender or they die. The Golden Army and Prince won't be here to save you now. We've got them. After years of our me and the Golden King being enemies, I have their prince.

What you should take from this letter is this: face me and my army, or they all die. I give you a week. If you don't come on the 7th day, they die. And you'd be lucky if I let you live. I'll be at the ruins of the Othrys castle.

- Kronos, Supreme Commander of Kronos' Army."

Nico froze. Hazel. No. I should have never let her stay there. Now Kronos probably has her... He put the letter back in the envelope. He gripped it and he left his room and headed to the living room, where Hades and Persephone were.

"What are you going to do about this?" Nico asked. Hades and Persephone looked at each other. "We believe that going will cost too many of our soldiers lives..." Persephone said. "WHAT?! At first, Kronos' Army didn't pose as much of a threat, but now HAZEL'S LIFE IS ON THE LINE! Father, you would sacrifice your daughter's life? This is our chance to take them down! To save Hazel! And all the others," Nico said. Hades looked torn. "I- we'll see," he said. "We'll see? What does that mean?" Nico asked. Hades sighed. "Son, leave. Me and Persephone need to discuss," he said. Nico slowly walks out, mad.

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A day letter, they received word from King Zeus of the Sky Kingdom. He was calling an emergency meeting, and that all kingdoms should arrives as soon as they can.

Hades left his royal advisor, Thanatos, to watch the kingdom while they were gone. Hades, Persephone, and Nico immediately set off to the Sky Kingdom. They were the last to arrive, since the Sky Kingdom was farther away from them than any other kingdom, but they made in within the day.

Inside, the leaders were gathered around a large table. Nico noticed many people were missing.

Zeus slammed his hands on the table. "What are we doing about this? Princess Thalia has been taken, and I see many of your princes and princesses have been taken as well," he said. There was some murmuring around the table, but one spoke up. It was Calypso, Leo's girlfriend. "I believe we should go. I'm not leaving Leo there to die. Even if you disagree, I'm going."

Annabeth then spoke up. "I agree. I'm saving Percy, not matter what it takes."

Travis joined in. "I need to save my brother. I need to save Connor. I don't care what anyone else thinks."

Then Clarisse. "As much as Drew hates her, I'll admit Piper isn't so bad. She deserves to be saved."

Nico decided to speak up. He was scared to, but he did. "I don't care either. I'm saving Hazel."

Next was Austin. "I'm going too. To save Kayla."

Slowly, more and more people started to agree. Even a few queens ands kings.

Suddenly, a voice said, "we're coming too." It was the Golden King. The Golden Queen was right behind him. "Kronos assumes we don't have our army because the prince is captured. But we can still command it. We will save him. Save all of them. But we need your help," the Golden Queen said.

"I'll agree if you're helping, but I must ask, what are your actual names?" Hermes asked. They hesitated, then the Golden King said, "Mine is Aurelius. The queen's is Orla." Hermes nods. "Thank you, King Aurelius and Queen Orla, for saying you'll help us," he said. "You're welcome. Will is also captured, so we're saving him," Orla said.

Then slowly everyone agreed. They started planning. Planning for the battle that was inevitable...