Chapter Text
"Nico! Wake up!" Someone screamed in the prince's ears, abruptly causing him to shriek and scramble away. As he tried to focus on what was happening, he found his giggling little sister on the foot of his bed.
"Hazel! I told you not to do that!" Nico exclaimed, throwing a soft pillow at her. It hit her in the head, but that only resulted in her laughing even harder. He glared at her, but it had no effect. So, he laid back down and closed his eyes, determined to ignore her until she left.
"Nico!" She whined, smacking his bare back. She didn't hit hard enough for it to hurt, so he was content with just letting her do it until she tired herself out. But when she did, she switched to yelling.
"Nico! Nico di Angelo! You! Ugly boy with black hair! Emo! Niccaroni! Nicoooooo!" This continued until she huffed and got off his bed. He smirked, thinking she had left. In reality, she had walked over to the curtains and ripped them open. Nico hissed as sunlight erupted behind his eyelids, and reluctantly sat up on his own.
"You're up! Finally!" Hazel said as she wrapped a small hand around his wrist and dragged him out of his beloved bed. He groaned as he was taken to the doors that opened up to his closet. Hazel yanked on his arm, signalling for him to get up. Not wanting to get screeched at again, he did as she requested and followed her inside his closet. Racks and racks of clothing met him, all of which had something in common; they were all black. Hazel looked around, trying to find the cheeriest thing her big brother owned. She soon realized her endeavor was fruitless and opted to instead look for the brightest color of black he owned.
"Why are you so happy?" Nico asked as she scanned through a row of tunics. She giggled and grabbed a dark gray coat. "Father said he has a surprise for us during breakfast! And I don't think he's gonna tell us unless you're there, so hurry!" She exclaimed, throwing the clothes she had grabbed at her brother's face. Nico caught them with faint interest and motioned for Hazel to leave while he changed. Before she left, however, she pecked his cheek and rushed out of the small room, leaving Nico with a small smile on his face.
He dressed himself rather quickly, and when he walked back into his room, he saw two servants already making his bed and fixing his curtains from when Hazel ripped them open. But the moment they realized he was in their presence, they stopped everything and bowed at him with the utmost respect. Nico didn't pay them any heed and left, not wanting to be late and disappoint Hazel.
The halls of the Lunares castle were as dark as the night sky, giving little way to light and drowning anyone walking through in utter darkness. Nico, though he would never admit it, still stumbled in the halls as he tried to find his way around. But he liked it this way. Shrouded in darkness, he walked until he saw the small sliver of light under the dining room doors. He pushed them open curtly, almost slamming into a servant who had been on his way out. The man muttered quick yet sincere apologies as Nico walked by, but the prince didn't even look at him or acknowledge his presence.
His stepmother Persephone gave him a small smile as he sat down, to which he gave her a nod. "Nico! I see Hazel was an effective alarm system." His father, King Hades, joked. Hazel beamed in response to this.
Nico rolled his eyes at her. She only stuck her tongue out in reply.
The royal family waited silently as servants rushed inside, setting plates of food down onto the table and leaving as quick as possible, scared of drawing attention to themselves. Then, as quickly as they had flooded the room, they left, leaving Persephone to break the silence by asking Hazel, "So how did you sleep last night dear?" Hazel gasped and began explaining her dreams in full detail.
Normally, Nico would've listened and given witty commentary, but he couldn't help but stare at his father as Hazel spoke. Hades was known for being the ever stoic King of the Lunar Kingdom. A man who was rumored to be one of the cruelest kings of all and held his kingdom in an iron fist. A man with an army of demons at his disposal and a kingdom of monsters and darkness. But the man sitting before Nico seemed nervous and rather on edge. Nico was tempted to ask him why he seemed so off, but he didn't know if he'd like the response. If something had the ability to make Hades scared, Nico could only imagine how horrible it could be.
"... so I'm sitting there, the dog is choking, I'm slipping on the ice, and Cerberus is floating- Nico!" Hazel yelled, causing her brother to whip in her direction with a nervous, "W-What?!" She sighed in exasperation. "You're supposed to be listening!" Nico scratched the back of his neck. "Sorry Haze. What about your dream?" He asked, and immediately, her eyes brightened again. Sometimes Nico had to wonder if she was really only one year younger than him. "So anyways, I-" Hazel was abruptly cut off by her father. "That's enough Hazel." He said, the nervous energy inside of him building up.
She faltered, but nodded, looking down at her plate. The sight made Nico fell very defensive of his sister, and was going to confront his father had he not continued, "I have some... news." Hazel gasped and stared at her father. "Oh yeah! That announcement!" She was suddenly very excited. This relieved Nico to some degree, but he wasn't sure her happy attitude would continue much longer given how uncomfortable her father looked. In fact, Nico nearly gasped as his father tugged at his collar, trying to release some of his anxious energy.
"I uh..." He started, staring at Hazel with... sadness. He seemed so sad. Hazel realized it, and her smile faded. "Dad? What's wrong?" She asked, and Nico squinted his eyes at his father, beckoning him to go on. Hades cleared his throat, but felt a sudden reassurance when Persephone clasped his arm, giving it a loving squeeze. He turned to look at her, and she gave him a nod, as if saying 'go on'. The king looked at his two children and the empty seat beside Nico before sighing. "Recently, as you've noticed, our kingdom has had its first taste of sun in over five thousand years."
Nico immediately realized why his father was so nervous. A year ago, if you had told the eldest prince that he would wake up and the sun would be in the sky, he would've laughed. No, Lunares never got sun. Just endless night. Occasionally the moon would be a bit brighter, but that was all. Until a year ago, when he woke up only to find his kingdom in panic as the sun floated above, casting the streets in sunlight. If Nico was to be honest, he thought the world was ending when that happened, and he had to hold Hazel until she stopped crying.
To this day, no one knew why, but suddenly, the kingdom had a night and a day. Nico stared at his father, but felt disappointment nestle in his chest when he said, "We still don't know why the sun has traveled into our kingdom, but a recent report from the Kingdom of Diell has shown that about a year ago, they started to have night." Hazel gasped and Nico felt his eyes widen.
The Kingdom of Diell was known for having endless day and clear skies at all times, so the fact that they had night at all was appalling. Hades looked down and continued, ignoring the reactions he was recieving for his words, "Recently, I came in contact with Queen Hecate. She has informed me that there is a reason this is happening. It's magic." Nico grit his teeth.
Magic was very real, but it was forbidden to use since you break the laws of nature in doing so. It was outlawed in every kingdom except the Kingdom of Sahar. Where Queen Hecate ruled.
It was arguably the smallest kingdom in the land, but because of her allowance of magic, no one dared attack it, for fear of what her army was capable of. And though the kingdom was quite closed off, Hecate and Hades were friends, so they often communicated. "I thought she swore only to perform magic in her own lands!" Nico exclaimed, suddenly furious that it was a single person's fault that his kingdom and family had gone through horror and hysteria. Hades only shook his head, both denying Nico's accusation and telling him to sit. Nico did so.
"She claims this isn't being done by a sole human. She says this is nature's way of communicating a message."
"So what is it?" Hazel asked, not in annoyance, but in awe. Hades swallowed, his adams-apple bobbing. "The story is quite long, but Hecate told me the sun and moon will continue to act this way... unless..." Hades trailed, seemingly unable to go on. Almost like it was too painful. Persephone sighed and intertwined their fingers. "Hades is having trouble coming to terms with what needs to happen. I am too, but it's only fair you children know now." She stared at them, and said, "Hecate claims the way this was fixed before was by uniting the Kingdom of Lunares and the Kingdom of Diell." Nico slumped back in his chair, utterly disappointed in the anti-climactic result of this conversation. "So what?" He asked, annoyed with how nervous he had been moments before. "That just means you have to sigh a couple documents and shake someone's hand-"
"I didn't finish Nico." Persephone said. This effectively made him close his mouth.
She sighed, staring at Hazel. "The kingdoms must unite, but only under..." Hazel's eyes gleamed gold as she stared into her stepmothers. Persephone suddenly looked as sick as Hades, but managed to sputter out, "... marriage. The kingdoms can only unite under marriage."
The feeling in the room suddenly grew tense. Hazel's eyes widened to saucers and she froze. When she finally moved, she lifted a finger to herself, and said, "M...Me?" Persephone bit her lip. "Yes honey... you. You were the only princess we had, and King Apollo was only willing to let his eldest son marry into this-" Persephone gasped as Nico shot up so fast his chair flung backwards.
He slammed his pale hands onto the table, shaking the dishes and making his father snap out of his daze. "What the hell do you mean marriage?!" He yelled, not remembering what it was like to be this furious. Hades swallowed and mumbled, "There wasn't anything I could do-" Nico growled and punched the table again. "Yeah right! So what, you're just gonna listen to a crackhead queen babble about magic and take her every word for it! You just gave away you're daughter you mother-"
"Nico!" Persephone exclaimed, cutting him off. The prince grit his teeth, but didn't stop yelling. Not yet. Not until Hades realized how wrong this was. "You're gonna let some boy marry the only daughter you have left! He could be a pedophile!"
"He's a year older then you." Hades replied, but if anything, that made Nico more furious. Nico was seventeen, so that meant the prince of Diell was eighteen, meanwhile Hazel was close to sixteen, but she was still technically fifteen.
"Oh! Even better He's not quite a pedophile, just a borderline one! That's exactly the kind of man I want my little sister to marry! Way to go dad!" This made Hades sigh.
"Nico, I don't like this anymore then you do-" But Nico wasn't done. "What's gonna happen when they're expected to have an heir, huh?! What then?! What if he doesn't care if Hazel wants to wait?! What if he turns out to be abusive-"
"Nico!" Persephone hissed, and gestured to the side. Nico looked over, and locked eyes with Hazel. She was staring at him, slack-jawed in horror at everything he was suggesting, as if his words had finally dawned on her, and these were all possibilities.
Nico swallowed and bit his tongue. But he still turned back to his father and said, "What about Bianca?! Huh?! What if she was here?! Would you so easily wed her off?! How do you think she would feel about you giving Hazel away to a complete stranger?!"
Hades' eyes widened and he stood as well. "Nico di Angelo! I've heard enough of this! You don't think I'm scared for Hazel's well-being?! Do you actually think I want this?! I have to do this! If it was my own freedom, I'd do the same as well! Because that is my duty as king of this kingdom! We aren't the only families that are afraid of the sun when it comes out, so stop suggesting that I, for even one second, was okay with this when I first heard it was our only option!"
Nico wanted to argue. He wanted to say something, but when he looked at Hazel, every bit of fighting spirit died, as if being stamped on. She just stared at the wall, tears silently streaming down her face as she watched everyone argue.
It's my fault. Nico gave his father one last glare before stomping away, making sure his father could hear every single thump of defiance. When he reached his room, he slammed the door shut so loud he thought he might've broken it off its hinges. But it stayed in place, and kept the sounds of him throwing books at the wall and yelling curses sealed in his room, leaving only Nico to hear his destruction as it echoed off the marble floors and wooden walls.