Nico di Angelo had been shunned by his father, King Hades, for two years after he came out and told him he's gay. Since then, the young boy lived two years as a normal commoner, lying to others about others about whom he really is and where's he's b...
It had been three day since Nico's shoulder was checked out on. He could move it now, though it still sting. Doctor Yew said not to do too much with it till be said so. He hadn't really specified what he meant by too much, but Nico quickly found out when Hazel pulled on his arm.
Since then, Bianca and Will were both busy with royal wedding stuff. Because of that, they hadn't had time to hang out with Nico and Hazel much, leaving them both bored with nothing to do. Most the time, Nico would play with Hazel or read, but today the queen had offered to have the little girl off his hands. He agreed, hoping to have some time to himself, but now he was sitting in his room with nothing to do.
He was debating whether or not to find the library again for a book when Bianca came in. She didn't knock or ask if she could come in; she just did. Typical Bianca.
Nico sighed. "Hey, B."
"Well, don't you sound like a bundle of joy," she stated sarcastically, flopping down on the couch beside him.
"That's cause I'm bored."
She chuckled. "I can tell," she stood up, pulling him up with him. "Well, luckily for you, the king had summoned us to discuss the assassin situation."
Once again, he sighed, walking out the door. Bianca followed along, skipping as she did so. Will met them halfway to Apollo's office. He joined the little group on the way there. Five minutes later, the three children stood in front of the door. Will knock four times on the door, then opened it. Nico and Bianca looked at each other for a moment, shrugged, and followed Will in.
The room was fairly large. There was a desk in front of a window. In Front of the desk, three chairs were placed, which Nico assumed was for the three of them. To the left of the room was a fire place with two more chairs and a table in between. Beside both sides of the fireplace were shelves full of books. The walls were painted gold, shining at every angle the light could touch.
"Come on you three. Sit down. Naomi should be here any minute." Just as he said it, the queen entered.
"Sorry I'm late," she apologized. She walked over and pecked Apollo on the check. "I had to take Hazel back to her nanny."
"That's alright, dear. Please, sit," he stood up from his chair, offering it to her. She refused at first, but Apollo instead. In the end, she sat in his chair behind the desk.
Bianca thought it was the most adorable thing in the world. Will was used to it, so he didn't think twice about it. Nico was caught in between; he found it nice and caring, but at the same time, gross and cheesey.
Apollo pulled up another chair, beginning the meeting.
"As all of us know, a close family member of ours has chosen to do a very bad thing. We don't know why he did this, so we were wondering if you three would have any ideas. You all meet Octavian."
"Actually, I didn't," Nico peeped.
"You didn't?"
Nico shook his head. "No. Why would I have?"
Before Apollo could answer, Bianca spoke up. "He was one of my potential suitors. He came to the castle for a few days. You were visiting Uncle Zeus for trading negotiations."
"That crazy bastard was in our home?" Nico nearly shouted in a foreign language so the other didn't know what they were talking about.
"Nico, not now," Bianca hushed him. "We'll talk about it later."
Nico slouched down, pouting. Bianca waved it off, apologizing for her brother's behavior. She then indulged them all into the story of her past with Octavian.
"It was a little over a year ago," she explained. "My father had invited him for a visit in hopes to negotiate an agreement over money. He had asked me to help out a little, so I did. In the process, Octavia developed feelings. He... he tried to ask my father for my hand in marriage."
"What!" everyone in the room exclaimed. Bianca turned red and nodded.
"Unfortunately, yes. He did and my father denied. He must have felt humiliated and now he's after revenge."
Nico, not know how to react, stood up and started pacing the room. He ran a hand through his hair as he thought about the new information. Will watched him, and Apollo stared off, also thinking about what he had heard.
"Why though?" Naomi whispered to herself. "Why would he do this?"
The king and queen sat in disbelief, trying to process the new knowledge. Bianca snapped them out by asking them what their plan would be.
"We need to set up a situation so lure him out," Apollo said. "Except he can't know that it's a trap."
"But how?" Bianca asked.
"A ball?" Will suggested.
"But for what reason? If a random ball is held, then it will look suspicious."
"A birthday ball?" Nico added, hoping to get some
"Last I checked no one has a birthday will September."
The king nodded, seeing her point. They all thought a little more before Apollo spoke his idea.
"It's a little risky, but Open Palace Day is coming up next month. Octavian will use that as opportunity for sure. Naomi and I were thinking about canceling the day because of these recent events, but we could use it to our advantage."
The queen stared at him wide eyed. "Apollo, we'd be putting innocent citizens at risk. Think about the dangers this will cause. What if someone get hurt?"
"I did say it was risky for a reason," he argued back with a little attitude. Before a real fight could break out, Bianca spoke.
"I think it would be worth the risk," Bianca thought outloud. Everyone's attention was turned to her. "Be then, Nico will be healed and be able to wield his sword. Now, I'm not an expert on what happens at these type of events, but there's activities. I could have my bow there and show some of the people how to shot. Therefore, I have a weapon in case my guard of here has some trouble." She nudged Nico at the end, not knowing she had hit his bad arm. He flinched, but it was nearly unnoticeable. Will noticed though.
"Yeah," Nico agreed. "That's a great idea. Plus, your security is better than the ones at home, so I'm not as worried. Though he still have to think about Hazel."
"That's true," the queen said. "We'll make sure she's safe and far away from where the action could be."
Bianca and Nico looked at each other. With a simple nod, they both agreed that was the best decision.
Apollo sighed, folding his hands together. "Now, down to some other business."
So here's an update. Sorry for the long wait. I took a little break because I wrote so much last month. A word of advice: never take on two writing challenges. You'll want to die. I did and had to write 17 things. But I'm still here so YAY!
Other note, my birthday is on the 27th. I'm going to have a live stream at 8 EST. It's on a a Friday and stuff on YouTube. Easy access for everyone, I think. There's a link on my profile if you want to set a reminder and stuffs. Nico's b-day special will also be out then on the 27th. And before anyone asks, I'll be 17.
Random question: When's your birthday?
Random fan art:
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