Chapter Text
His hands were raw and tender from the detergent, the grimy water reaching up to his elbows. A curl of sweat slicked hair was pasted against his forehead and his face was flushed from the humid heat of the day.
"Death Boy!" A voice screeched from inside the manor. He paused his washing and cocked his head, listening for the thumping footsteps of disaster. Thump thump thump, each footfall was a crack of rolling thunder.
The door slammed open behind Nico. He continued scrubbing the garments in his hands.
"Would you care to explain what this is?" Demeter clawed at her grey hair that was stained a sickly shade of green, contrasting with the eggplant bathrobe she wore. Her scrawny legs poked out like chicken bones from her rumpled bathrobe. Gag gag puke. Darkness spewed out of Nico's mouth.
"Interesting choice of colour, m'lady. I myself thought you were more a bright pink kind of gal." He smirked back at the forest, refusing to acknowledge her presence.
"You- you insolent child! Your father will hear about this!"
He'll hear but he won't care. Nico rolled his eyes, knowing that his father was too busy frolicking with other girls to care about his existence.
He heard the door slam shut behind him and the thunder retreated from the sky. A self satisfied smirk was pasted onto his face.
Absent mindedly, he reached up his wet hands and pulled out the skull ring that hung from a chain around his neck. He smiled at it sadly, wishing that Bianca was still with him. She would have laughed with him - heck, she'd probably have done the prank better herself!
But she was gone, and he was here, and his father never was. Instead, he was imprisoned with his stepsister, and her mother, and her awful mother too.
Pommie, short for Pomegranate, was irritating, insensible, and just all around annoying. She was the physical manifestation of Annoying.
Persephone, posh and aloof, loved beautiful things - and beautiful he was not. She treated him rather like a piece of unwanted furniture that she didn't particularly like, but didn't care about enough to get rid of.
Demeter, on the other hand, now he was full on cockroach to her. She made his life a misery, full of chores and destruction and blame, so Nico saw it as his duty to return the favour.
A prank a day keeps the old hag away, after all. He gave a small chuckle at that, then returned to scrubbing the stains out of his life.
Bianca still lingered in the back of his mind, never a second away from his thoughts. Sometimes, Nico would feel her right behind him, only to turn around and find nothing but the empty air.
☆☆☆☆☆
Prince William Solace was bored out of his mind. Here he was at yet another party full of chandeliers and wine glasses, as if the twenty three he had been to in the past month weren't enough already.
He spotted his father talking to King Poseidon who ruled most of the ocean (Will sometimes wondered if he was a mermaid) and was a very powerful acquaintance. Will's dozens of brothers and sisters were running around in varying stages of respectability, Kayla flirting with a son of King Hermes whilst Michael talked business with another.
His mother and all the other wives of his father were chatting merrily to each other. Sunlight and laughter filled the air as forks clinked against plates, and Will was still terribly bored.
He wanted to be like Kayla, find someone he was interested in and enjoyed talking to. Someone who didn't share the same blood as him (which was actually quite difficult, considering half of the room's occupants were the children of King Apollo).
He was going to be 18 soon, and he knew his father probably had a "surprise" wedding ball planned. Like he'd had for the last 8 brothers on their 18th birthday.
The problem was that none of the girls interested him. Sure, many had flirted with him before, but he'd just found them annoying and clingy. Annoyingly clingy. Not a single person interested him.
He sighed again. I hope the fun will appear soon.
☆☆☆☆☆☆
A delicious aroma wafted from the pan that was full of mouth watering food. Nico stirred it gently, quietly singing to himself as he swayed left and right.
"I might have to wait
I'll never give up
I guess it's half timing
And the other half's luck"
He spun over to the shelf and grabbed some spices, expertly flicking them into the pan. He could hear Pommie attempting to play piano in the living room, a few clanks here and there.
"Wherever you are
Whenever it's right
You come out of nowhere and into my life"
He smiled to himself, imagining what his soulmate might look like (yes, he was an emotional, romantic sap). Blonde hair and green eyes? Brown hair and blue eyes - no, a blue eyed blonde. Yes. He mentally swooned at the Mr Handsome who had formed in his mind. Bianca would definitely approve.
"And I know that we can be so amazing
And baby your love is gonna change me
And now I can see every possibility"
After he'd separated the food into four dishes, he turned off the heat with a flick of his elegant fingers. A slight frown in his face, he wondered if he would ever meet Mr Handsome.
"But somehow I know that will all turn out
And you'll make me work so we can work to work it out
And I promise you kid, I'll give so much more than I get-"
"Nico! Hurry up with the food, will you? You're so slow!"
Pommie had apparently given up on torturing the instrument and had decided to torture Nico instead. She was sprawled across the dining room chairs, her elbow on the table and her sharp fingernails tapping the plates. Tap tap tap.
Nico turned to smile sweetly at her, deftly dumping a bottle of ground pepper onto her plate. Balancing the dishes in his hands, he leisurely made his way to the dining room entrance.
His eyes were sparkling, lips curved up into a smile.
"I just haven't met you yet!"