Chapter Text
At this moment in time, his tailcoat was the thing making Prince Nico Di Angelo crave sinking into the ground for good. The pure discomfort at the raised collar, tight waistline, and god awful things that hung off the back of the dreaded piece of clothing as enough to push the young prince over the edge.
Nico wished the gardens of Ilios had slightly less bushes that lined the edges of the garden. So far, six times this afternoon, Nico had been startled by an important member of the Ilios court, spun around in just the wrong way, and had been subjected to his tailcoat’s tail getting caught in a bush. His first time ever leaving the kingdom of Asphodel, and he was really making a fool out of himself.
People kept trying to get his attention. Obviously, people were trying to get his attention. It was his first time out of the kingdom. After 16 years of only having to deal with his sisters, his parents, the castle’s skeleton staff, in a literal sense, and on occasion, Prince Percy, Nico was pretty much petrified by everyone that afternoon.
A week after Nico’s father, King Hades, reopened the borders, an invitation came from the Kingdom of Ilios that the Di Angelo family was invited to party in the gardens. Only Nico and his sister, Princess Hazel, were sent to Ilios.
Nico had already known the ins and outs of the Kingdom of Ilios when the invitation arrived. It was one of his favorite kingdoms to study the history of. The current King and Queen of Ilios were born as twins, neither wanting to marry or to rule alone, so their parents gifted them both the throne. Queen Artemis bore no children, but her brother, King Apollo had three. Princes William and Austin, and Princess Kayla. One of them would inherit the throne.
That was who Nico was here to meet. Princess Kayla was only a year younger than he was. So, she had just begun looking for a suitor. King Hades felt Nico should go to seize this golden opportunity or something like that.
However, Princess Kayla was not who Nico was interested in. Nico had known he was gay ever since Prince Percy started coming to his castle.
Asphodel was located in a giant valley between two mountains. Over the west mountain, the kingdom of Olympus, over the east, Ilios. The mountains had a small opening to the south that revealed a vast expanse of forest and to the south, they opened to an ocean, with a port almost adjacent to the Kingdom of Atlantis. King Poseidon and King Hades had a good relationship to where they visited and traded with them frequently. Nico’s only friend outside his sisters was Perseus Jackson, Queen Sally and King Poseidon’s only child.
Percy also doubled as the boy Nico had a crush on. Nico supposed that wasn’t anyone’s fault. You isolate a kid from everyone, chances are they are going to have a crush on the first person around their age they meet. It was sort of unfortunate for Nico’s sanity that person had to be Percy Jackson.
Someone tapped Nico on the shoulder. Nico jumped slightly and whirled around.
“Hazel!” He whispered. “Why would you do that?”
“You weren’t answering when I called. I had to take drastic measures.”
Nico nodded. “Alright, well, did you need something?”
“I came to check up on you. You seemed lost.”
“I’m fine. Just out of it. Lots going on.”
“I understand. I’m not exactly having the easiest time either. Speaking of, take these.”
Hazel took her other hand out from behind her back and dumped a handful of rubies into Nico’s hands.
“What- Why-,” Nico spluttered trying not to drop them.
“I got nervous talking to some important person and they just started appearing. Luckily the important person did not notice and I got them all before anyone else saw. And you have pockets. I don’t.”
Nico sighed and shoved the gems into his pockets. This was not an uncommon thing to occur when Hazel got nervous or scared. It was also not uncommon for royal bloodlines to contain magic. Nico inherited his father’s ability to shadow travel; Hazel had an entirely new ability in the bloodline, to summon gemstones from the earth.
“Thank you, Nico, I should go back to socializing. Talk to someone, please.” And with that she was gone. He watched her easily integrate herself into a conversation between a few members of the Ilios court.
“Prince Nico!”
Nico turned, a tail getting caught in the same bush it was just caught in. He cursed, tugging it free.
‘Yes?” He looked up in front of him to see a boy with dark skin, dreads that reached just below his ear, and a bright smile.
“I’m Prince Austin. It’s nice to finally meet you.” Austin bowed slightly.
Nico blinked. “Finally? Didn’t realize I was so popular.” He returned the bow.
“You and your sister are the only people here I’ve never met before.”
“I suppose.”
“I was hoping to meet your parents as well as your other sister, but it seems they did not come.”
“My parents have other things to attend to. They only just reopened the kingdom.” Nico narrowed his eyes.
“And Princess Bianca?”
“Is none of your concern. Me and Hazel are here. If that is too much, we can leave.”
“I didn't mean to pry. My apologies. I was just curious. If you follow me I’ll introduce you to my siblings.” Prince Austin walked past Nico gesturing for him to follow.
And so he did.